Archive 1

March 23, 2000
April 18, 2000
May 1, 2000

March 23, 2000
TO: Adjunct Faculty
FROM: Rev. Michael J. Ludder, Adjunct Representative, Academic Senate & AFA Executive Council 527-4999 x5215, e-mail: mludder@s antarosa.edu
RE: News and Action Items

Academic Senate: There are two items of special importance to the adjunct faculty under discussion.

#1. The Senate passed a resolution to create an Ad Hoc Committee to work on issues stemming from the Adjunct Intradepartmental Relations Survey. Members of the committee will likely come from the Senate, AFA, and the Department Chair Council. The committee's charge is to develop guidelines for all departments to follow in their treatment of their respective adjunct faculty. Also if you want to see an informal comparative ranking of each and every departments, copies are available in the Academic Senate office (527-4595), the AFA office (527-4731) and Plover Library.

#2. The Senate is still continuing its discussion on the issue of adjunct representation on the Senate. The recommendations of Elections Committee were:
a) the adjunct faculty were, indeed, underrepresented,(now we have two adjunct seats representing only the 300+ adjuncts teaching 40% or more)
b) all seats on the Senate should be open to both full-time and part-time faculty members by cluster,
c) the clusters should be reapportioned to equalize the voting power of each cluster with this new open seat configuration, and d) only adjunct faculty teaching at 40% or above would be allowed to vote or be seated on the Senate.

What also came out in the discussion was that some Senators felt that the adjunct electorate should be further restricted by adding a unspecified length of employment qualification. Probationary full-time faculty, it appears, would not be bound by this same restrictive qualification. Others felt that it might be difficult the get the full-time faculty to vote for any amendment that would allow for more representation of adjuncts on the Senate. (Only the full-time faculty can vote on amendments and then an amendment needs two-thirds vote to be ratified). If you want to more adjunct seats/ representation on the Senate speak to any Senate member and/or leave a message at the Academic Senate office (527-4595). Make your voice heard!

AFA : In your mailbox is a survey on adjunct health care benefits. Please fill it out, so AFA can negotiate with the administration on the anticipated needs and costs associated with extending health benefits to the adjunct faculty. Pro-rata pay and other issues are also under negotiation and it is expected that AFA members will be asked to ratify a contract proposal sometime this Spring. If you want to vote on any new contract provisions you must be a member of AFA. Membership dues are .004 of your monthly gross income (under $5/mo for a 40% load). Contact Judith at the AFA office for more details at 527-4731.

A2K: During the week of April 3-7th there is a State-wide effort by both part-time and full-time faculty to pressure the legislature, Governor, and our own administration and Trustees about giving all adjuncts pro-rata pay (equal pay, for equal work). On both the Santa Rosa Campus and the Petaluma Campus there will be tables with information that will educate and advocate for ending this part-time pay inequity issue. It is expected that there will be petitions to sign, information distributed to the community and media, and meetings held where you can speak directly to your elected officials, administrators, and Trustees. The statue to the "unknown adjunct" will also be unveiled. In your mailbox you will see flyers describing the A2K activities. We will need volunteers to work the tables and help organize these events! Contact those persons identified on the A2K flyers. Remember the State has a $4.2 billion dollar surplus this year, and every major faculty union and association in the State is behind this effort.

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The BOOTLEG ADJUNCT NEWSLETTER
COPY, SHARE, POST
APRIL 18, 2000
TO: Adjunct Faculty
FROM: Rev. Michael J. Ludder, 527-4999 x5215,
mludder@s antarosa.edu
Adjunct Representative on Academic Senate & AFA Executive Council

RE: Information and Action Items
A2K was very successful! We secured about 700 signatures on our petitions. We had three legislators ,or their aides, on campus to hear our call for "equal pay for equal work."
Also a group spoke to the Board of Trustees on adjunct faculty issues. Now we all need to:

1. phone, write, or email our legislators and the Governor before the budget revise in early May in support of several bills; (see attachments)

2. turn in any petitions you have to me in the Social Science Department;

3. and attend the May 9th Board of Trustees meeting in the Pedroncelli Building to support an adjunct equity discussion and resolution.

Academic Senate is discussing whether or not to make all Senate seats open to both full-timers or adjunct faculty. This Wednesday at 3:10pm in the Senate Chambers will be probably the final discussions this semester. If the Senate resolution passes, the constitutional change still requires a two-thirds vote by the full-time faculty. Come out and listen to and comment on the discussions.

Adjunct Intradepartment Relations survey results lead to the creation of an Ad Hoc Committee on Adjunct Relations composed of members of the Senate, AFA, and the Depart- ment Chair Council. The Committee's charge is to make recommendations to each respective body on how to improve adjunct intradepartment relationships (communications, policies and procedures, facilities access and use). AFA is looking for adjunct faculty members who would like to serve on the Executive Council.

We need outspoken activists for this paid District Service position. Contract negotiating experience a plus. Contact Judith at the AFA Office (527-4731 or afa@santarosa.edu) before the deadline on Friday April 21st to obtain the nomination form. You must have been a member of AFA for the last 5 months to be eligible. District Activities Fund forms are due May 5th. If you have served on a district-wide committee submit your form and, if approved, get paid at the base hourly rate. Again contact Judith at the AFA office. May 8th Rally Day in Sacramento at the Capitol. Support Adjunct Equity and lobby the legislature.

 

CONTACT YOUR ELECTED 
OFFICIALS:

Governor Gray Davis

State Capitol 
Sacramento, CA 95814
916/445-2841

State Senator Wes Chesbro
50D Street, Suite 120-A
Sacramento, CA 95814                   
Santa Rosa, CA 95494
576-2771 e-mail:wesle
y.chesbro@sen.ca.gov 

Assemblymember Pat Wiggins             
50 D Stret. Ste.301
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
546-4500
e-mail: pat
ricia.wiggins@asm.ca.gov     

Assembymember Virginia Strom-Martin
50 D Street, Suite 450
Santa Rosa, CA 95404                   
574-2526
e-mail: virginia.strom-martin@assembly.ca.gov


Other Influential Legislators: 
(web sites: assembly.ca.gov or sen.ca.gov)
Carol Midgen, Chair
Assembly Appropriations Committee
Sate Capitol.Rm 2114
Sacramento, CA 95814
916/319-2013
                  
Patrick Johnston, Chair
Senate Appropriations Committee
State Capitol, Rm 5066
Sacramento,CA 95814
916/445-2407 

Assemblyperson Ted Lempert, Chair       
Chair Higher Education Committee         
e-mail:ted
.lempert@assembly.ca.gov     

Assemblyperson Sarah Reyes,     
Chair Budget Subcommittee: Education 
Assemblymember.
e-mail:Reyes@ass
embly.ca.gov 

Senator Deirdre Alpert, Chair           
Higher Education Committee             
State Capitol, Rm 5114                 
916/ 445-3952

Senator John Vasconcellos
State Capitol, Rm 4074
916/ 445-9740
 
Senator John Burton                     
State Capitol, Rm 205                   
916/ 445-1412                           

Assemblyperson Kerry Mazzoni
Chair, Education Committee 
State Capitol, Box 942849

SAMPLE LETTER

Date
Honorable (elected official's name)
State Capitol, Rm. xxxx
Sacramento, CA 95814
(your name and address)
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Dear xxxxxx;

The California community college system ranks 44th in funding/per student in the nation, 2.5x less than the CSU, and nearly 4x less than the UC system. We can not leave this legacy for future generations, especially with Tidal Wave II coming. The number of community college students will soon increase by 500,00 to 2.5 million.

Before you are several bills that will end the inequities that the community college adjunct faculty face each and every day. At Santa Rosa Junior College, which is the 3rd largest in the State, the adjunct faculty teach 35% of the credit hour classes, but receive 36% less than a full-time faculty member for like duties, have no health benefits, receive a minuscule STRS retirement plan, lack adequate office space and educational resources, and are the last hired and first fired. We can not be asked to containually shortchange our own families to serve SRJC's 18,000FTE students because the State has failed to fund the community college system adequately.

(Use this paragraph to highlight a personal story that demonstrates how you and your family have suffered, or have been asked to teach with few resources.)

The Governor's Task Force on Human Resources has recommended $80 million to help compensate adjunct faculty and hire more full-timers; Ducheny's AB 2337will back-fill lost Prop 98 funding; Wildman's AB 2434 will offer seniority re-hire rights to part-timers; we also need to fully fund the AB 420's health benefits program from last year; and your support for an increase in the STRS's retirement package for the 29,900 part-time faculty teaching in the California community college system. These issues are supported by every major faculty union and association the the State.

We ask for, not only your vote, but your active support of these bills as they proceed through the legislature and on to the Governor's desk for his signature.

Yours respectively;
xxxxxxxx
(your name, title) A2K COALITION

The State's Community College system is ranked 44th in the nation in expenditures per student. The CCC's is the poor step-child to the other State educational programs at (1998-99) $4,144/FTE, while K-12 gets $6,537/ADA, the CSU's $10,185/FTE, and the UC's receive $15,253/FTE.

Adjunct Faculty Factoids

	State	SRJC
Numbers	29,900	835/1100
% credit/hrs taught	38.6%	36%
Pay compared FT	37%	36% less
Medical Benefits	Exceedingly Rare	NONE
Retirement	Exceedingly Low	STRS - Very Low (15 years to vest typical)
Re-hire Rights	Most-last hired, first fired	after 4 years some protections if enrollment

We ask that you support and lobby in behalf of, the following bills in the State Legislature that offer some movement toward pay and benefit equity for the CCC adjunct faculty.

AB 2337 (Ducheny) Community College Funding Stability Act
Provides for equitable share of Prop 98 funding. CCC's have lost $2.3 billion over the last ten years.

AB 2434 (Wildman) Seniority and Job Protection Act
Provides for some re-assignment rights and protects diversity efforts of CCC's.

Assembly Budget Subcommittee's CCC Augmentation
$564.9m (Hertzberg) including $80m for adjunct equity (60%) and full-time faculty and staff hires (40%) and other activities.

Fully fund last year's AB 420 health benefits program for adjunct faculty. Mandate it's implementation in every district.

THE BOOTLEG Adjunct Newsletter Copy, Share, Post Special Edition May 1, 2000
TO: Adjunct Faculty
FROM: Rev. Michael J. Ludder
527-4999 x5215
e-mail:mludder@s antarosa.edu
Adjunct Representative on the Academic Senate and AFA Executive Council
RE: End of Semester Action Items

Academic Senate is voting on May 3rd in the Senate Chambers at 3:10 pm on an "open seat" constitutional change proposal. This means that all seats will be open to anyone, full-time or part-time (40% or more). Adjunct faculty members will also be allowed to become Senate officers, except for the President. The proposal, if it passes, will be put to the full-time faculty for their approval by a two-thirds vote in the Fall.

Shortcomings of the proposal are: only adjuncts faculty members working 40% or more will be members of the electorate; there will be a qualifying period of up to one year for adjuncts to vote (proof of 40% load in either of the two previous semesters); and only full-time faculty members will be allowed to vote on any future constitutional changes. I will seek to change these shortcomings and could use your vocal support.

Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday May 9th at 4:00 pm in the Pedrocelli Building will be voting on a resolution to support certain bills in the Legislature. One is the Human Resources Infrastructure Fund of $80 million of which 60% will go toward adjunct pay equity and 40% for full-time faculty and staff etc. In another resolution the Board will vote on various proposals for more State funds for the community college system. Come to the Board meeting and voice your support of these resolutions, especially the former.

Write the Governor and your legislators and ask them to support: the Human Resources Infrastructure Fund; AB 2434 part-time faculty seniority rights; AB 2337 equitable share of Prop 98 funds for community colleges; full funding the AB 420 health benefits for adjunct faculty; and SB 1960 mandatory "fair share" fees for union representation for educational employees. The petitions you signed during A2K Week have been given to your local legislators and are on there way to the Governor, along with others from throughout the State.

BBQ for all adjunct faculty members ,and supporting full-time faculty, will be held in our (mine and Carol's) backyard on Sunday May 21st starting at 3:00 pm. Come and celebrate the end of the semester, our achievements, and discuss the future. Please RSVP to Michael Ballou . He can be reached at 869-9774 or mbsrjc@webtv.net He is organizing the potluck and has directions to my home.
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