Monthly Archives: April 2014

May 2014 Advocate – Skyline faculty gather to honor part-timers


PART TIMERS

Skyline faculty gather to honor part-timers and discuss how to improve their work lives


by Janice Sapigao, Skyline Part-Timer Representative

On Thursday, March 20th, 2014, the AFT 1493 Skyline College Chapter hosted “A Party to Celebrate Part-Time Faculty: Pizza, Prizes & Parity.” Over forty part-time and full-time faculty members gathered intermittently to honor adjunct instructors and take part in what were waves of conversation in a Socratic seminar style discussion. Skyline AFT Executive Committee members Katharine Harer, Nina Floro and Eric Brenner facilitated the discussion by asking attendees to introduce themselves. Part-timer representatives Janice Sapigao and Paul Rueckhaus and Executive Secretary Dan Kaplan were also in attendance to answer questions. The discussion began with the question, “What is one particular thing that you would like to change about teaching at Skyline?” 

SkyPTerEvent-2Though attendees represented a spectrum of disciplines, the causes for concern were the same. Part-time and full-time faculty came from a range of departments: English, Accounting, Early Childhood Education, ESOL, Dance, Kinesiology/Physical Education, History, Music, Mathematics and the Library, among others; most were interested in gaining healthcare benefits and matters of job security. Some members talked about the need to expand the stipend for medical reimbursement while others shared personal stories about their multiple stints, hustles and contracts at colleges including their classes at Skyline and the emotional drain of worrying about whether or not they’d be offered enough classes for the next semester. There was also conversation about the need for transparent hiring practices for full-time job openings. 

The event was punctuated with raffle items as the crowd came, built, left and built again.  Raffle prizes were gift certificates from the Skyline College Bookstore as tokens of appreciation for part-time and full-time faculty. 

Potential solutions were also a heavy discussion topic. Participants discussed desiring multi-semester contracts, encouraging classified staff to work with or become adjunct faculty, workshops specifically for adjunct faculty, research campus budgets and working interdepartmentally to build campus community and support. 

AFT 1493 Skyline College Chapter hopes to host more discussions and events like this one in the future.  Please feel free to contact your Executive Committee representatives should you have any more concerns or questions about the change you’d like to see at Skyline.

 

 

 

 

May 2014 Advocate – CSM Veterans get support at Resource Center


HIGHLIGHTING CAMPUS PROGRAMS

CSM Veterans get support at Resource Center 


by Rose Garcia, CSM Veterans Resource Coordinator

My name is Rose Garcia. I am the Veterans Resource Coordinator here at the College of San Mateo. I fell into this position and it has changed my life. I love working with the Veteran students here on campus.  

The Veteran students on campus are an amazing group of people and I am honored to do whatever it takes to help them. We provide many services at the center. We have academic, educational, career, and mental health counseling inside the center. We help each Veteran fill out Vonapp, Financial Aid, Ebenefits, VA Health Benefits, Certification and enroll at CSM. We help gain outside resources such as housing, childcare, food, books, computers, etc.  We hope in the future to provide bookstore vouchers, scholarships, mentorship programs with four-year colleges, and veteran peer counseling.  

We have recently celebrated our two-year anniversary, the number of students using the center and our resource services has tripled and it is only going to keep growing in volume.  We have approximately 300 Veteran students on this campus.  Our program’s goal is to integrate these students back into our communities and provide the skills necessary for them to succeed. The idea is to help these veteran students feel safe and supported and flourish as students throughout their academic careers here and to ensure an easier transition from service to student and eventually back into the workforce.

 

 

 

May 2014 Advocate – Peninsula Watershed hike


RETIREES

DART invites retired and current faculty for June 28 hike in Peninsula Watershed

by John Searle, DART President

DART (the District Association of Retired Teachers) is planning a group hike in the Peninsula Watershed area, which has limited access controlled by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. We invite current faculty as well as retired faculty to join us for the hike. The scheduled time is for Saturday, June 28 at 9:30 a.m. Participants must sign up ahead of time, providing their name and address. If you are interested, please contact John Searle by phone (650-595-4426) or by email (Searle@my.smccd.edu). The maximum number of hikers is 18. We will be leaving from Cemetery Gate, which is near the intersection of Highway 92 and Upper Skyline Blvd. (Highway 35.)  It is a very nice ridge-top hike. Hikers should bring their own drinking water.

watershed1

 

 

 

 

The Fight for Fair Accreditation

A six minute video on the epic battle by AFT 2121 and CFT to save City College of San Francisco from the out of control ACCJC. It is a brief primer on what has happened there, and explains its significance for fair accreditation practices across the state.

 

May 2014 Advocate – Adjunct Action Bay Area


PART TIMER ORGANIZING

SEIU launches Adjunct Action Bay Area

by Doniella Maher, Cañada College, English

On March 22nd, adjunct instructors from across the Bay Area came together to discuss issues facing part-timers who have increased significantly in relationship to their full time counterparts in colleges across the nation over the last 30 years. Adjunct Action Bay Area, organized by SEIU Local 1021, is part of a national campaign to fight for better conditions.  Over the last year, adjunct associations have formed at a number of community, state and private colleges.  These developments represent a significant step forward for a sector that has often been excluded from the local union or has lacked real, practical adjunct representation.  

Adjunct Action Bay Area is founded on five key concerns: 

  • the social justice issue, 
  • the fact that adjunct/contingent faculty working conditions are student learning conditions, 
  • the de-professionalization of the field,
  • the eroding of access and affordability of higher education, and 
  • the fact that the precariousness of contingent faculty threatens the free production of knowledge and scholarship.  

Even after making concessions for the additional committee work that full timers do, adjunct faculty are not paid equally for equal work while they are expected to maintain the same classroom standards and teaching excellence despite the fact they bring in significant funding for the colleges. Adjunct working conditions are also student learning conditions.  Providing a supportive environment and continuity for students is of primary concern for all college instructors.  If adjuncts have no space to meet with students, or if they are unavailable to students because they have to drive to other campuses or are not offered classes the next term, those students miss out.  Students also miss out in the classroom since part time instructors have little extra time to devote to developing their teaching skills and deepening their own knowledge.  

While the initial Adjunct Action Bay Area meeting was small, it showed the potential of organizing adjuncts across the nation to improve working conditions and address issues faced by an increasingly large contingent workforce.