BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: ACR 138
AUTHOR: Nava
AMENDED: May 28, 2010
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 30, 2010
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : California Community Colleges: Faculty.
SUMMARY
This resolution states legislative intent that part-time and
temporary faculty receive pay and benefits that are equal to
those of specified tenured and tenure-track faculty, to the
extent funding is provided, and that the California Community
Colleges increase the percentage of full-time tenured and
tenure-track faculty.
BACKGROUND
Existing law requires the Board of Governors (BOG) of the
California Community Colleges (CCC) to adopt regulations
regarding the percent of credit instruction that shall be
taught by full-time faculty, and authorizes CCC districts
with less than 75% full-time instructors to apply a portion
of their "program-improvement" funds toward reaching a 75%
goal. However, the state has stopped providing
program-improvement funds and the CCC BOG has since required
CCC districts to provide a portion of their growth funds to
hiring more full-time faculty.
ANALYSIS
This resolution :
1) Makes various statements regarding the increasing
percentage of courses offered in public college and
universities that are taught by part-time and other
adjunct faculty, the limited ability of the state's
public higher education system to provide high-quality
education, research, and support for economic
development, and the difficulties in funding education
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as a result of state and federal tax policies.
2) Resolves that it is the intent of the Legislature that
all part-time and temporary faculty receive pay and
benefits that are equal to those of tenured and
tenure-track faculty of comparable qualifications doing
comparable work, as determined on a pro rata basis, to
the extent funding is provided.
3) Resolves that the longstanding policy of the BOG of the
CCC that at least 75 percent of the hours of credit
instruction in the colleges be taught by full-time
instructors should be advanced and that each community
college district should develop and adopt plans to meet
the requirements related to increasing the percentage of
full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty.
4) Resolves that the development and adoption of plans
related to increasing the percentage of full-time
tenured and tenure-track faculty should be subject to a
collective bargaining process.
5) Resolves that each community college district should
establish a process under which a part-time and other
adjunct faculty, after successful completion of a
probationary period, may receive timely notice of, and
priority consideration for, appropriate teaching
assignments in future academic terms and preferential
consideration for attaining a tenure-track position when
one becomes available.
6) Resolves that each community college district should
make progress toward the goals described in the measure
and provides that the provisions of this resolution are
intended by the Legislature to the extent that funding
is provided to CCC districts to achieve these goals.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the sponsor, the
California Federation of Teachers (CFT), part-time
faculty are compensated at significantly lower wages and
benefits than full-time faculty and too often lack basic
supports such as paid office hours. An increasing
percentage of the courses in California public colleges
and universities are taught by part-time and other
non-tenure track. According to the author, this trend
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holds nationwide indicating that higher education has
become more dependent on this part-time workforce to
provide instructional services to students. CFT notes
that studies have found that community college districts
pay temporary faculty significantly less than full-time
faculty performing the same duties. The sponsor
contends that increasing pay and benefits for part-time
faculty and ensuring that these faculty members have a
process by which they can become full-time faculty will
allow the CCC to better serve its student population.
2) Background . The Legislature has considered various ways
to address the reliance on part-time faculty by the CCC.
Much of the reason to hire temporary faculty is the
lower costs associated with such faculty. Many believe
that students are under-served by not having access to
more full-time faculty who are more accessible and may
have more teaching expertise. Arguably, the practice of
using temporary faculty raises equity concerns due to
the fact they are generally paid lower wages and don't
receive benefits. In 2008, 18,200 members of the CCC
teaching faculty were full-time (tenure or tenure-track)
compared with 45,257 faculty classified as temporary.
3) Related and prior legislation .
ACR 31 (Ruskin, 2009) expressed the intent of the Legislature
that the CCC increase the number of full-time tenured
and tenure-track faculty and increase salaries and
specified benefits for part-time and non-tenure track
faculty. This resolution was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee Suspense file and was later
amended to proclaim April 12-18, 2010 as California
Holocaust Memorial Week.
SUPPORT
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
California Federation of Teachers
California Teachers Association
California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
OPPOSITION
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None received.