Realizing that many GCC adjunct faculty weren't able to make the Part-Timers meeting on September 30th, I’ve assembled this “meeting in a box” (“on the screen” really) … a review of some of the pertinent points from the Part-timers meeting.
But first I would like to thank our outgoing part-time representative, Second Vice President Phyllis Eckler, for her years of indefatigable service to us adjuncts. As you know, I have some very big shoes to fill. It is both an honor, and a responsibility that I take very seriously.
The most important factor in my representing part-time faculty at GCC is my communication with you. I need to hear your questions, concerns and ideas. I will strive to get you clarification on issues that might be unclear, to hear your ideas about what needs to be improved, and to be a thoughtful, fair-minded, discreet, yet tenacious advocate. Please email me about anything, anytime, at jgamberg@glendale.edu. I will never use your name without your permission.
However, change is a need and responsibility that we all share. I am also looking to create an online meeting place just for part-time faculty at GCC. If any of you have expertise in wikki-type creations, please be in touch with me. I’m imagining a dialogue-centric space where we can communicate with one another and share resources and ideas, offer support, and have the opportunity to develop informal professional collaborations.
Please make sure you are actually a Guild member. Guild membership allows you to cast a vote on negotiated decisions on pay, working conditions and other important changes; moreover, it costs exactly the same as the fair share fees that every GCC faculty member pay anyway! These fees are automatically deducted from your salary. Please go to the Guild membership page http://www.glendale.edu/index.aspx?page=2542 and fill out an application form. If you’re not sure if you’ve filled one out before, fill it out again … we promise you will not be charged twice! Your signature on the form ensures your vote will count, and also provides you with additional benefits, such as admission discounts and access to disability and life insurance.
You should also be aware of the Adjunct Faculty page on the Guild website http://www.glendale.edu/index.aspx?page=2539. There are many helpful resources there including a PowerPoint about retirement plans, a synopsis of the “understanding your paycheck” discussion, Adjunct Faculty evaluation procedures, unemployment benefits for part-timers, and much more.
An important gain for adjunct faculty was made at the negotiating table and then ratified by us this spring. Adjunct faculty at GCC now receive full pay parity for classes taught during short sessions. While this is a huge win in theory, we do understand that in reality many adjunct faculty do not receive assignments during short sessions. However, negotiations continue on our “path to parity” and the Guild will continue to fight for equal pay for equal work.
As I’m sure most of you know by now, you will be required by law to have health insurance by January 2014. Although GCC offers subsidized health insurance to its adjunct faculty, there are qualification requirements. Further, depending on the coverage you choose, your family size, and your income level, you may be able to get a better rate through the California Health Insurance Exchange.
Adjunct faculty at GCC are eligible to purchase health coverage through the college after at least two consecutive semesters of teaching a 40%, or greater, load. This load may be split up between different colleges (as long as GCC is one of the colleges, and proof of the load portion at another school(s) is provided). Fifty percent of the district insurance premiums for an individual, couple or family is subsidized up to a cap of $3,000 per year. To find out more about the eligibility requirements and the plans offered by the Glendale District please contact Menchie Braza (mbraza@glendale.edu in payroll)
Adjunct faculty who don’t qualify for, or elect not to purchase, health insurance through GCC may want to check out these health insurance exchange pages. Covered California (https://www.coveredca.com/shopandcompare/#calculator) includes a calculator which allows you to plug in a few numbers to get a sense of how much insurance would cost for you or your family using the exchange. The California Health Benefits Exchange site (http://www.healthexchange.ca.gov/Pages/Default.aspx) is more comprehensive and includes ongoing updates.
It is important to note that in most cases, these plans offer a much smaller network of doctors and hospitals than similarly named plans not sold through the exchange.
The Guild is committed to maintaining its support of adjunct faculty health care as part of its ongoing negotiations with the District around health care issues. It is unclear how access to health care through the exchanges will impact these negotiations; however, support for the current health insurance subsidy has been extended through to the middle of next year, with negotiations underway to extend it through the end of next year.
For those of you still struggling with migration to the new email system, there is an IT page on our website: http://www.glendale.edu/index.aspx?page=5953 which even includes a handy link to help you get mail on your smartphone! You can also call the college’s main number and dial the extension HELP, which is 4357. It is recommended that you get a ticket number for anything that is not resolved right away. Please make sure to use and check your GCC email regularly during the semesters when you are teaching here. With this new email system, it will no longer be possible for adjunct faculty to receive emails from GCC at a non-GCC email address.
Does Census have you confused? Census is the way we count students who have actually come to our class so that the college can receive money for those students. Unfortunately this fall, the census software was glitchy. The administration is aware of this and is taking steps to fix it. Please know that no one will be penalized in any way for census issues this fall.
If you are delayed on your way to class, or will be absent, please be sure to call (818) 246-5094, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Per our agreement, “Please leave your full name, the time of the class you are canceling, the room location and any other important information as directed by the message.” This other important information, by the way, includes any message you would like conveyed to your students. Also, please be sure that if you meet somewhere else on campus for a class (like in a lab) that you leave a note on the board in the classroom for students who may have forgotten. Believe it or not, this is a very common complaint received by department chairs and the administration.
While I realize that it can be difficult to go from campus to campus, email system to email system, mailroom to mailroom, protocol to protocol, course outline to course outline, and ever actually feel a real part of any one campus environment, GCC does offer some significant opportunities for adjunct involvement. One of these is the Adjunct Ancillary Funds http://www.glendale.edu/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=6151. Ancillary Funds is a pool of money established in 2004 to “encourage adjunct faculty to become more involved in college life, specifically to participate in areas such as curriculum development, governance, and student organizations (as advisors).” If you are interested in advising a student club, contact Tzoler Oukayan at 818.240.1000. Ext. 3033 or e-mail toukayan@glendale.edu and she can connect you with student clubs who currently need advisors. Tzoler recommends that adjuncts consider co-advising student clubs, to ensure quality advising and continuity. Ancillary Funds are also a great way to become involved in the Academic Senate or the Guild, as you can request funds for working on committees.
I also want to highlight another unique opportunity, which is the opportunity to apply for a STEM/GAUSS or Gateway grant. These grants center around ideas to develop and integrate programs which serve basic skills students (Gateway) and the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM/GAUSS) disciplines. Stage one of the grant process has been streamlined so that if you are interested, you can simply start with a one-paragraph proposal and find out if it makes sense to move forward. For more information about the grants and links to grant proposals, check out GAUSS website at: https://campusguides.glendale.edu/titlevgauss, and Gateway: https://campusguides.glendale.edu/titlevgateway
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