BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1343
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 2, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 1343 (Mendoza) - As Amended: April 9, 2007
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote:4-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) and
the California State University (CSU) to achieve 75% full-time
equivalent (FTE) faculty by 2014-15, to achieve certain
standards in pro-rata salary and benefits, and provides
preferential treatment for part-time faculty in the hiring
process for new full-time faculty positions. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires each CSU campus and CCC district to determine the
number of undergraduate courses that will be taught by
part-time, temporary, non-tenured, tenure-track, and tenured
faculty in each campus of that institution.
2)Requires, beginning in Fall 2008, and for every term
thereafter, any campus that does not have at least 75% FTE
full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty to increase the
percentage so the 75% minimum is accomplished no later than
Fall 2014 by reducing the gap between 75% FTE full-time
faculty and the current percent FTE full-time faculty by at
least 10% each year.
3)Requires each CSU campus and CCC district to:
a) Determine, subject to a collective bargaining process, a
minimum salary goal for part-time and temporary faculty,
which shall be prorated to the salaries of full-time,
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tenured faculty who perform comparable work; and,
b) Increase part-time and temporary faculty salaries every
year, beginning in Fall 2008, by an amount sufficient to
close the gap with full-time faculty salaries by 2014-15,
with annual increases of not less than 15% of the gap.
4)Requires each CSU campus and CCC district to provide the same
health care benefits as those received by full-time tenured
faculty for any person who teaches at least 40% of the hours
per week normally considered to be full-time in any calendar
year.
5)Requires each CSU campus and CCC district to establish a
process, subject to collective bargaining, by which part-time
and non-tenure-track faculty may, after completion of a
probationary period, receive:
a) The accumulation of seniority.
b) Timely notice, prior to notice given to persons outside
the institution, for teaching assignments.
c) Preferential consideration for tenure-track positions.
6)States legislative intent to appropriate, beginning in 2009-10
and in each year thereafter, sufficient funds to advance at
least 20% toward meeting the five-year goal of increasing the
percentage of full-time faculty to at least 75% on each campus
and ensuring that part-time faculty and non-tenure-track
faculty receive salaries and benefits that are fully
comparable to those received by full-time, tenured and
tenure-track faculty.
FISCAL EFFECT
CSU . According to its 2007-08 budget request, CSU estimates a
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current cost of $153 million to achieve a 75/25 ratio. This
estimate does not take into account the recent tentative
agreement between CSU and the California Faculty Association.
Based on this estimate, reaching 75/25 would require annual
budget augmentations of about $30 million for five years
starting in 2009-10. Additional costs for parity in pay and
health care benefits for part-time faculty are unknown, but
would be at least in the tens of millions of dollars.
CCC . Based on the current full-time/part-time ratio of 57/43 for
36,000 FTE faculty, the system would need an additional 6,500
FTE full-time faculty to reach 75/25. Assuming an additional
cost of $30,000 per full-time FTE, total GF costs (Proposition
98) would be about $200 million, which would require annual
augmentations of about $40 million for five years starting in
2009-10. (In its 2007-08 budget proposal, the Chancellor's
Office has requested $45 million to improve the
full-time/part-time ratio by 2%.)
The total cost to achieve pay parity by 2014-15 for 9,000 FTE
part-time faculty (based on 25% of the current total of 36,000
FTE) is unknown, but would probably exceed $100 million over
five years. (In its 2007-08 budget proposal, the Chancellor's
Office has requested $50 million to move toward part-time
faculty pay parity. A 2000 Bureau of State Audits study
estimated the cost for eliminating all existing pay differences
in the CCC to be $144 million annually. The 2001-02 budget
included $57 million to address this issue.)
Additional health insurance costs for part-time faculty would be
in the tens of millions of dollars. Under the current part-time
faculty health insurance program, participating districts paid
$11 million for premiums in 2005-06. However, only 3,000
part-time faculty members participated in this program
statewide. There were over 41,000 part-time faculty in the
system in 2006, though not all would be covered under the bill,
which is limited to those teaching at least 40% of a full-time
teaching load.
COMMENTS
1)Background . AB 1725 (Vasconcellos)/Chapter 973 of 1988,
required CCC districts below a 75/25 standard to use a portion
of their "program improvement" money to hire more full-time
faculty for credit instruction. The CCC Board of Governors
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(BOG) adopted regulations regarding program improvement
funding, however, the State stopped providing this type of
funding soon thereafter. In subsequent years, the BOG adopted
regulations to require districts to provide a portion of their
growth funds to hiring more full-time faculty and then sought
and received statutory authority to continue this approach
toward achieving a 75/25 standard.
ACR 73 (Strom-Martin)/Resolution Chapter 121 of 2001, urged
the CSU to jointly develop a plan with the California Faculty
Association (CFA) to raise the percentage of tenured and
tenure-track faculty to at least 75%, provide that no
lecturers (CSU's terminology for part-time and temporary
faculty) lose their jobs as a result of this effort, provide
that qualified lecturers be seriously considered for
tenure-track positions, and provide for the continued
diversity of CSU faculty.
2)Purpose . According to the author, an increasing percentage of
courses in California public colleges and universities are
being taught by part-time and other non-tenure track faculty.
Our system of higher education has become dependent upon a
contingent workforce that is poorly compensated and too often
lacks basic supports such as health insurance and paid office
hours.
3)CCC Teaching Load and Salaries . According to the CCC
Chancellor's Office in its "Report on Staffing for Fall 2006,"
there are 59,821 faculty in the system. On a headcount basis,
18,196 are tenured or tenure-track faculty (30%) and 41,625
are academic temporaries (70%). When calculated on a FTE
basis, there are 36,025 FTE faculty, with 57% tenured or
tenure-track and 43% temporary. A June 2000 report by the
Bureau of State Audits (BSA), "Part-time Faculty Are
Compensated Less Than Full-time Faculty for Teaching
Activities," found significantly lower wages and benefits
provided to part-time faculty. The BSA estimated the cost for
eliminating all existing pay differences to be about $144
million annually. At the time of the report, the headcount
ratio of full-time to part-time faculty was 67% to 33%. A
California Postsecondary Education Commission report produced
pursuant to AB 420 (Wildman)/Chapter 738 of 1999, echoed the
findings of the BSA, noting that on an average part-time
faculty earned 50-60% of a comparable full-time faculty
salary. CPEC also noted that 41% of part-time faculty reported
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they received no benefits.
4)CSU Teaching Loads . October 2005 data show a split of 67/37
split between tenure-track and tenured faculty and lecturers.
The situation is complicated by the fact that some tenured
faculty are part-time (it is a retirement option) and some
lecturers are full-time.
5)The Efficacy of Full-Time Faculty . The Academic Senate for the
California Community Colleges (ASCCC) finds in its recent
report, "Part-time Faculty, A Principled Perspective" that,
"Maintaining a corps of full-time, tenured faculty is central
to academic excellence, academic integrity, and academic
freedom; it is key to serving our students well." Part-time
faculty are less able to serve students through regular office
hours and participation in other campus events and may be less
able to meet the unique needs of the CCC student population.
National research validates the importance of a sufficient
complement of full-time faculty - particularly for the
population served by the CCC.
6)On the Other Hand . The BSA report mentioned above states,
"Depending on one's policy perspective, the unequal
compensation of part-time faculty either creates problems that
should be addressed or reflects an appropriate balance of
market conditions at the local level that should not be
tampered with." In noting that the existing pay disparity
creates an incentive for districts to utilize part-time
faculty, BSA points out such an incentive is not in keeping
with standards that stress the importance of maintaining a
balance, but on the other hand, mandating equal pay for equal
work could interfere with the collective bargaining process
and limit local flexibility. Districts interviewed for this
report cited their dependence on the State for financial
resources and indicated funds are not sufficient to meet all
of their needs.
Is the 75/25 standard too rigid? Is it the "right" ratio?
Should the state even be focused on such "inputs" as faculty
makeup and compensation, or should it leave those decisions to
the CSU and CCC districts and instead hold the CSU and
districts accountable for outcomes measuring student success?
Since the requirements of this bill could be achieved through
collective bargaining, should the Legislature prescribe such
matters?
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7)Related Legislation . The following three bills are pending in
this committee: AB 591 (Dymally), requires CCC districts to
achieve parity in salaries and benefits for temporary
employees by closing the gap with full-time employees 50% each
year. AB 1305 (Calderon), requires at least 75% of the hours
of credit instruction in the CCC to be taught by full-time
faculty by 2010, requires districts to allocate a portion of
excess funds toward achieving this goal, and forbids the BOG
from waiving these requirements. AB 1423 (Davis), on today's
committee agenda, requires CCC districts to adopt academic
salary schedules that are uniform in application and effect.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081