View full May 2020 issue (pdf)

In this issue:

• Virtual May Day rally reignites contract campaign
  Over 120 SMCCCD faculty, staff, and students joined a Virtual May Day rally to discuss the impact of the COVID crisis on teaching and learning conditions, the need for fair compensation and for pay parity for part-time faculty. WATCH THE SPEAKERS.
• May 1st Negotiations Report
  AFT and District bargaining teams met on Friday, May 1, for the first contract negotiations session since the COVID-19 outbreak
• Resisting the push to make distance ed. the new normal
  Special focus on the rise of online courses and their impact:
  –  Face-to-face teaching must remain the core of higher ed.
  –  Concerns are raised about proprietary online education tools as Instructure (owner of Canvas) is sold for $2 billion
  –  Students’ perspectives on taking online courses
  –  Selected readings on the impact of online education
• Tightrope walkers: Faculty parents share their stories of teaching from home during shelter-in-place
• Undocumented students more vulnerable than ever
• Recalling Cañada student strike 50 years ago
• AFT survey looks at adjunct faculty issues
• How to safely re-open schools & communities
• Higher ed. union activists collaborating to build solidarity