BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 950
AUTHOR: Chau
AMENDED: June 12, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: July 3, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo
SUBJECT : Community College Full-time Instructors.
SUMMARY
This bill requires that a full-time faculty member, as defined,
for a community college district shall not be assigned a
workload that includes overload or extra assignments if the
overload or extra assignments exceed fifty percent of a
full-time workload in a semester or quarter that commences on or
after January 1, 2014, with several exceptions, as specified.
BACKGROUND
Existing law defines "faculty" as those employees of a community
college district who are employed in academic positions that are
not designated as supervisory or management, as specified.
Faculty include, but are not limited to, instructors,
librarians, counselors, community college health services
professionals, handicapped student programs and services
professionals, and extended opportunity programs and services
professionals. (Education Code � 87003)
Existing law defines any person who is employed to teach for not
more than 67% of the hours per week considered a full-time
assignment to be a temporary (part-time) employee. (Education
Code � 87482.5 and � 87882)
The Board of Governors (BOG) of the California Community
Colleges (CCC) has had a longstanding policy that at least 75
percent of the hours of credit instruction in the CCC, as a
system, should be taught by full-time instructors (commonly
referred to as "75/25"). Existing law requires the BOG to adopt
regulations regarding the percent of credit instruction taught
by full-time faculty and authorizes CCC districts with less than
75% full-time instructors to apply a portion of their "program
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improvement" funds toward reaching a 75% goal. However, the
state has stopped providing program improvement funds and the
BOG has since required CCC districts to provide a portion of
their growth funds to hiring more full-time faculty. (Education
Code � 87482.6)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Requires that a full-time faculty member, as defined, for a
CCC district shall not be assigned a workload that includes
overload or extra assignments if the overload or extra
assignments exceed fifty percent of a full-time workload in
a semester or quarter that commences on or after January 1,
2014.
2) Requires that the prohibition not apply to the following:
a) A summer or intersession term.
b) A community college district with fewer than
3,000 full-time equivalent students.
c) Programs in the Taxonomy of Programs Code 09
for Engineering and Industrial Technologies, as
described in the California Community College Taxonomy
of Programs.
3) Provides that the prohibition not supersede the pertinent
requirements of a collective bargaining agreement
containing restrictions regarding limitations on overload
or extra assignments that are in effect at the time this
section becomes operative.
4) Provides that with respect to a CCC district with
collective bargaining agreement that, as of January 1,
2014, prohibits a full-time faculty member from being
assigned a workload that includes overload or extra
assignments if the overload or extra assignments exceed
fifty percent of a full-time workload, the bill's
prohibition become operative on January 1, 2015.
5) Provides that the prohibition apply to the workload of
supervisory or managerial personnel of a community college
district who are performing faculty work that is allowed
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under an applicable collective bargaining agreement.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : According to the author's office, the
quality of instruction at community colleges is hampered
when full-time faculty teach course sections that are well
beyond their already heavy teaching loads. While current
law defines a part-time faculty member as an individual who
works not more than 67% of the hours considered to be a
full-time teaching load, it does not address the maximum
workload for full-time faculty. The sponsor of this bill,
the California Federation of Teachers, argues that allowing
full-time faculty to work in excess of 50% of their
full-time workload essentially reduces the number of
classes available for part-time faculty to teach which can
have the effect of reducing income and health benefits of
part-time faculty. This may also reduce the overall
quality of instruction provided to students.
2) Overload assignments . The term "overload assignments"
refers to the practice of full-time faculty electing to
teach additional courses (with additional pay) beyond their
normal full-time teaching load. While policies regarding
overload assignments can vary significantly among community
colleges and departments, they are generally designed to
ensure that the primary responsibilities of faculty are not
compromised by the overload assignments. Some colleges
require individual assignments to be approved by department
deans while others have negotiated district-wide caps that
range from one course to 67% of a full-time load.
According to the CCC Chancellor's Office, a recent survey
revealed that 13 of 44 responding colleges indicated that
they have a policy or bargaining agreement allowing
full-time faculty to have more than a 50% overload.
According to the Chancellor's Office, for the Fall 2011
semester, of the 14,489 tenured or tenured track faculty
teaching California Community College (CCC) classes, 172
(1.2%) had an overload exceeding 50%. Note that the Los
Angeles Community College District, which encompasses about
8% of statewide CCC enrollment, was not included in this
data.
3) Is the bill necessary ? This bill establishes a statewide
cap on the overload assignments a full-time faculty member
may teach. Given that most full-time faculty appear not to
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be teaching overload assignments that exceed 50% of their
full-time workload and given that some districts and
faculty have negotiated overload caps that meet local
needs, it is not clear if the remedy this bill prescribes
is necessary. While prohibiting excessive overload
assignments may make it easier for part-time faculty to
continue teaching, the bill could reduce the flexibility of
districts to meet local needs. Districts that offer unique
programs where the number of experts available to teach may
be limited could find it particularly challenging to comply
with the requirements of this bill.
4) Related and prior legislation .
AB 1826 (Hernandez, 2012), similar to this bill, would
prohibit a full-time faculty member from being assigned a
workload with an overload or extra assignments exceeding
50% of the full-time semester or quarter workload, as
specified. This bill passed this Committee but
subsequently failed passage in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
SUPPORT
California Federation of Teachers (sponsor)
California Labor Federation
OPPOSITION
California Community College Independents
Glendale City Employees Association
Organization of SMUD Employees
San Bernardino Public Employees Association
San Luis Obispo County Employees Association
Santa Rosa City Employees Association
University Professional and Technical Employees