{"id":441514,"date":"2024-09-30T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?p=441514"},"modified":"2024-09-28T19:31:26","modified_gmt":"2024-09-29T02:31:26","slug":"part-time-community-college-faculty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_ko\/education\/2024\/09\/part-time-community-college-faculty\/","title":{"rendered":"\ucee4\ubba4\ub2c8\ud2f0 \uce7c\ub9ac\uc9c0 \uad50\uc218\uc9c4\uc740 \uc885\uc885 \ucea0\ud37c\uc2a4\ub97c \uc62e\uaca8 \ub2e4\ub2d9\ub2c8\ub2e4. Newsom\uc740 \uadf8\ub4e4\uc758 \uc0b6\uc744 \ub354 \ud3b8\ub9ac\ud558\uac8c \ub9cc\ub4e4 \uacc4\ud68d\uc5d0 \uac70\ubd80\uad8c\uc744 \ud589\uc0ac\ud588\uc2b5\ub2c8\ub2e4."},"content":{"rendered":"
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A bill vetoed by the governor would have increased the number of classes part-time community college faculty can teach at a single campus. Part-timers often have to commute between multiple campuses to make ends meet. The governor cited potential costs for his veto.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n

Adrian Castillo is not accustomed to job security. He\u2019s a part-time professor who simultaneously teaches media arts courses at three different Los Angeles-area community colleges, while also working as a high school substitute teacher to make ends meet. Castillo often doesn\u2019t know which colleges will offer him classes to teach next, or whether those classes will be online or in person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is stressful just trying to balance everything,\u201d said Castillo, who has taught at the community college level for 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castillo\u2019s experience \u2014 an ever-fluctuating schedule and lower pay <\/a>compared to his full-time colleagues \u2014 is common across the California community college system, where 68% of faculty<\/a>, about 35,000 of them, are classified as part-time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Existing law <\/a>caps part-time faculty at teaching 67% of a full-time load, which typically equates to three courses, at any single California community college campus during a semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sept. 22, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 2277<\/a>, which would have raised the cap for part-time faculty to 85% of a full-time load, or about four courses, at a single community college. The state Legislature approved the bill earlier this month. In his veto message, Newsom wrote that<\/a> \u201cthis bill continues to create unknown, but potentially significant costs or cost pressures in the millions to tens of millions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Association of California Community College Administrators argued in a letter<\/a> opposed to the bill that \u201cAB 2277 would infringe upon the local authority of community college districts to collectively bargain their own paid leave provisions at the district level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fragmented health care coverage a concern<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The administrators association has also opposed previous iterations of the bill due to concerns that allowing part-time faculty members to teach more courses at a single campus could trigger the Affordable Care Act, requiring colleges to expand health care coverage for part-timers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, faculty unions say AB 2277 wouldn\u2019t have triggered the Affordable Care Act<\/a> because of a provision in the bill stating part-time faculty assignments at any single community college must be fewer than 30 hours per week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They have to understand that I’m as much of a gig worker as many of them are.”<\/p>kirsten olson, part-time anthropology professor based in oakland<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The vetoed legislation was supported by the California Part-Time Faculty Association, which said in a letter <\/a>that AB 2277 would \u201cimprove quality of life for part-time faculty\u201d by \u201callowing them greater opportunities to be a resource to their students and participate in the campus community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health care is a focal point for part-time faculty, with many not receiving health insurance <\/a>from the colleges where they teach. In 2022, the state provided $200 million to a fund to help community colleges<\/a> pay for health care for their part-time faculty, and that funding is ongoing. But it doesn\u2019t fully bridge the gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirsten Olson, a part-time anthropology professor in Oakland, relies on receiving benefits through her partner, who is a full-time professor at Laney College. The districts where she teaches offer some health coverage for part-timers who qualify based on their per-semester course load. However, she said she prefers her partner\u2019s plan because it\u2019s \u201cautomatic, easy and I don\u2019t have to fill out paperwork every semester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olson teaches \u201can extraordinary number\u201d of classes \u2014 eight to 10 per semester across four colleges. That\u2019s twice the load typically taught by full-time faculty.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m very honest with my students because I’m great at getting into the classroom, (but) I may not have their work graded for them by the next class,\u201d Olson said. \u201cI will get to it as quickly as I can. But they have to understand that I’m as much of a gig worker as many of them are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Scott Douglas, a part-time math instructor, wears a California Part-Time Faculty Association pin at MiraCosta College in Oceanside on Sept. 26, 2024. Douglas splits his time teaching at various colleges in the San Diego area. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently vetoed AB 2277, which would have increased the number of classes that part-time community college faculty are allowed to teach at a single campus. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Students feel effects of absent professors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When part-time faculty are spread thin, it can have an adverse effect on students, said Ivan Hernandez, a computer science major at Diablo Valley College who serves as the president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges. Hernandez said most of his peers probably don\u2019t notice if their professors are part-time or full-time, but their learning can be harmed when part-time faculty don\u2019t have time to be on campus often or hold regular office hours. That\u2019s why Hernandez said he supported AB 2277.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long term, Hernandez said he hopes part-time faculty receive \u201cmore fair compensation\u201d and are able to teach at just one campus, not just for the sake of their own wellbeing, but for the sake of students, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re part-time and doing multiple things, like teaching at different institutions, that affects the flexibility of the professor,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cAnd they work really closely with the students. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AB 2277 was authored by Assemblymember Greg Wallis, a Republican representing Rancho Mirage in Riverside County, who issued a statement saying he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d by the veto.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Republican, State Assembly, District 47 (Rancho Mirage)<\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile this is a setback, I am confident we can find a solution,\u201d Wallis said in the statement. \u201cWe must be fiscally responsible, especially in tough budget years, but improving our education system remains one of my top priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty say more needs to be done<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Scott Douglas, a part-time professor at several community colleges in the San Diego area, worked as part of the California Part-Time Faculty Association to push for the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Students<\/figure>\n
\uccab \ubc88\uc9f8: <\/strong>Scott Douglas, a part-time math instructor at MiraCosta College,<\/strong> splits his time teaching at various colleges in the San Diego area. \ub9c8\uc9c0\ub9c9: <\/strong>Students walk through the MiraCosta College campus in Oceanside on Sept. 26, 2024. Photos by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Five days a week, Douglas drives a 100-mile loop between MiraCosta, Palomar and San Diego City colleges and the University of San Diego to teach math. He works out of his mobile office, a 2016 Ford Escape that has about 120,000 miles on the odometer. A lengthy commute has been Douglas’ reality since he started as a part-time professor in 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdjunct faculty are so dislocated,\u201d Douglas said. \u201cThey’re so spread out on all these different campuses and disengaged, that they don’t become faces or names that their full-time counterparts are aware of, and they’re not incorporated into the system and part of the system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said AB 2277 would have helped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s sort of psychological, if you can get more work on a single campus, be more present, helping students, be more engaged, more in the faculty meetings,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But some other part-time faculty, such as Siobhan McGregor-Gordon, aren\u2019t as disappointed by the veto as much as in the situation overall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

McGregor-Gordon has taken on many responsibilities as a part-time faculty member at Santa Rosa Junior College. She teaches courses under the English for Multilingual Students umbrella, represents her college on the Faculty Association for California Community Colleges and serves on her college\u2019s Academic Senate, among other roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McGregor-Gordon said AB 2277 \u201cperpetuates the same bad system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur California Community College system is run on the backs of part-timers, just like Walmart,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it infuriates me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Siobhan McGregor-Gordon, an associate faculty member in the English for Multilingual Students department at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa on Sept. 26, 2024. Photo by Adahlia Cole for CalMatters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Part-time faculty looking for job security often have to rely on their seniority. Jeff Judd, a part-time professor of 20 years at Las Positas College and five years at Contra Costa College, says his work is more stable than part-time professors who are just getting into the field because he gets preference in the courses he can teach. That\u2019s because Las Positas College, where he began his teaching career, gives priority to faculty who have been there the longest. Contra Costa College allocates a certain number of units per semester after teaching for several semesters. Both systems put new part-timers at a disadvantage, making it hard to get even one class on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The changes AB 2277 proposed could \u201ccertainly make life easier\u201d for part-timers, Judd said, but would require the professors to do more professional development, such as attending workshops and conferences, in some community college districts including his. In Judd\u2019s district, the more units a professor teaches, the more hours they must commit to professional development. If a professor teaches at multiple campuses, as many part-timers do, those hours can become untenable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several part-time faculty said they would like to see community colleges across the state offer more full-time roles. They also want the campuses to offer better pay and benefits to part-timers teaching across multiple colleges, with course loads that are equivalent to their full-time counterparts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castillo, the part-time professor in Los Angeles, said teaching is a passion that \u201coutweighs the cons.\u201d So Castillo, a community college graduate himself, will keep at it despite the challenges he and many of his colleagues face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI made a lot of great friends (as a community college student) and it really just kick-started my career,\u201d Castillo said. \u201cI try to pay that forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desmond Meagley, Amy Moore and Lizzy Rager contributed to this story. Brumer, Meagley, Moore and Rager are fellows with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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