BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2705
AUTHOR: Williams
AMENDED: May 19, 2014
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE:June 25, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo
SUBJECT : Community college part-time faculty.
SUMMARY
This bill would amend various provisions in the Education
related to the California community college faculty and change
the references from "part-time" and "temporary" faculty to
"contingent" faculty.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1 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)
2 Existing law defines any person who is employed to
teach adult or community college classes for not more than
67% of the hours per week considered a full-time
assignment for regular employees having comparable duties
to be classified as a temporary (part-time) employee.
(Education Code � 87482.5 and � 87882)
3 Requires the governing board of a district to employ
faculty for the first academic year of his or her
employment by contract. Any person who, at the time an
employment contract is offered, is neither a tenured
employee of the district nor a probationary employee, as
AB 2705
Page 2
specified, shall be deemed to be employed for "the first
academic year of his or her employment." A faculty member
shall be deemed to have completed his or her first
contract year if he or she provides service for 75 percent
of the first academic year.
(EC � 87605)
4 Defines "academic year" to mean a period between the
first day of a fall semester or quarter and the last day
of the following spring semester or quarter, excluding any
intersession term that has been excluded pursuant to an
applicable collective bargaining agreement. (EC � 87661)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Replaces the terms "part-time" and "temporary" faculty
with "contingent" faculty in various provisions of the
Education Code, as specified, related to the California
community college faculty.
2) Makes the following findings and declarations of the
Legislature:
a) The terms "part-time faculty" and "temporary
faculty" do not adequately describe the
qualifications, contributions, and importance of the
community college faculty to whom those terms have
been applied.
b) "Contingent faculty" is a more accurate and
useful term with which to refer to these educators,
who are so integral to the successful functioning of
community colleges in this state.
c) There are inconsistencies in the Education
Code with regard to the definitions of community
college faculty, and the Legislature seeks to
standardize the terms "full-time faculty" and
"contingent faculty."
d) It is the intent of the Legislature, in
enacting this act, to act consistently with, and in
no way to compromise or limit, the holding of the
Court of Appeals in the case of Cervisi v.
AB 2705
Page 3
Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (1989), 208
Cal.App.3d 635.
3) Makes several nonsubstantive changes to existing law
and repeals the requirement for the California
Postsecondary Education Commission to conduct a
comprehensive study of the California Community College
system's part-time faculty employment, salary, and
compensation patterns as they relate to full-time
community college faculty with similar education
credentials and work experience. This study was due to
the Legislature and the Governor on or before July 1,
2000.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office,
"many part-time faculty have been searching for a more
accurate name/designation to better reflect their role
with the California community college system. The current
terms "temporary" and 'part-time" are not only applied
haphazardly but have also proven to be problematic due to
their negative connotations. There is a clear need to
differentiate between "temporary" and "part-time" faculty
because their appointment is contingent upon enrollments,
funding, or program need and many of these faculty have
been incorrectly classified as "temporary" for years or
decades while serving in the same position within a
district. Additionally, the current terms do not
adequately describe the role part-time/temporary faculty
have come to occupy within the California community
college system."
2) Effect on unemployment benefits ? The California
Federation of Teachers has expressed concern that this
bill could have legal ramifications on the Cervisi v.
Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board decision.
Specifically, "changing the definition of part-time
faculty in the Education Code may have the effect of
inviting courts to revisit the Cervisi decision held by
the California Court of Appeals (1989), and make it harder
to vindicate the rights of temporary community college
teachers to collect unemployment benefits." In 1989, the
Court ruled that part-time, temporary instructors are
eligible for unemployment if they have a teaching
assignment that can be cancelled for lack of funding, low
AB 2705
Page 4
enrollment, or other factors.
3) Arguments in support . The author's office and sponsor
of the bill-the University Professional and Technical
Employees, argue "the current terms do not adequately
describe the role part-time/temporary faculty have come to
occupy within the California community college system" and
that describing faculty who teach 67 percent or less of
full-time faculty, as part-time faculty, suggests that
these faculty members are only temporary." They argue
that this results in departments using this as an excuse
to prevent part-time faculty from engaging in various
decisions. Additionally, "referring to these instructors
as part-time faculty demeans their value, assumes they are
not giving their full attention to student success, and
negates the fact that they are the instructional backbone
of every community college." One could argue that the
bill could help bring more recognition to the role of
part-time faculty.
4) Community college faculty . The Board of Governors
(BOG) of the California Community Colleges has had a
longstanding policy that at least 75 percent of the hours
of credit instruction in the community colleges, 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 community college 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 BOG has since required community college districts
to provide a portion of their growth funds to hiring more
full-time faculty.
The Legislature has considered various ways to address the
reliance on part-time faculty by the community colleges.
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
AB 2705
Page 5
benefits.
The Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
indicates that as of fall 2012, the California Community
Colleges had a faculty headcount of 55,383 of which 38,135
were part-time faculty.
5) Related legislation : ACR 95 (Gomez) expresses the
intent of the Legislature that the California community
college districts not reduce the hours of part-time
faculty or part-time classified employees for the purpose
of avoiding implementation of the federal Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act. This resolution was
adopted by the Assembly on June 19, 2014.
SUPPORT
University Professional and Technical Employees (sponsor)
OPPOSITION
California Federation of Teachers
Letter from an individual