This month, I asked for questions from GCC part-time faculty about any aspect of our contract, your salary, benefits, or working conditions. Here are some of the questions you posed, and answers! Special thanks to Theresa Lorch, Rubina Hairapetian, and Richard Kamei for your assistance with some of these answers.
| Q: As part-time faculty, can I take a regular course at GCC? Does it count toward professional development? |
A: Both part-time and full-time faculty can audit a GCC course free of charge. However, both full-time and part-time faculty must pay regular, in-state tuition to take a course for credit. FLEX is another story though! You can absolutely get FLEX credit for professional development of all types. If auditing a class at GCC furthers your own development, you may use one of these two forms to get flex credit for your efforts:
(1) Use the Adjunct Attendance Verification form to record individual hours attending another class or workshop on campus.
(2)Use the Individually Planned Activity or Research form to record a plan to take another class for FLEX.
| Q: How about providing locker space (near the Adjunct Annex Office) for adjuncts since most adjuncts do not have private office space to store multiple textbooks and/or supplies and material. |
A: Good idea! The Guild will work with instructional services, facilities, and the campus police (phew!) to get unused lockers cleared out so that current adjunct faculty can use them. If the need is greater than what we have, we will request funds for new lockers.
| Q: Why don't adjuncts get reimbursed for sick days not used when they retire like the full-timers do? |
A: Full-timers do not get reimbursed for unused sick days.
| Q: I have accumulated 150+ hours of sick days that I haven't used. When I retire, will I get anything back for my good health and being there for my students? |
A: Please check with Cal-STRS to see how your accumulated sick days count toward retirement. We will make sure to include how sick time is accrued and rolled over when we compare the benefits of part-time and full-time faculty, and when we negotiate our contract. Your excellent health and willingness to be there for your students are appreciated by the Guild, and we will work to make sure that you see the reflection of that appreciation.
| Q: How do I find out how many sick days I have? |
A: You can check the" Oracle Serf Service Human Resources: My Information" page to find out how many sick hours you have available.
1. Login to Private Internal link.
2. Go to "Oracle Forms" under Oracle.
3. Click on "Apps Logon Links" then "E-Business Home Page." You will be asked to login. Use your email and password to login.
4. After login, click on "GCC SSHR Employee Academic" then on "iGCC Information." You’ll see a page with information about your used hours.
5. On the bottom left side of the page, click on "View Accrual Balances." You’ll be asked to login by using your email name and last 4 digits of your social security number (example: jsmith4589), and then you’ll see your used and available hours.
| Q: How do I find out what percent of load I am scheduled for? |
A: Recent discussions about the Peralta rule, which states that part-time faculty must be scheduled at less than 67% of full time load has many wondering how this percentage is determined. To calculate percent of load, you can divide your units by the teaching load assigned for your discipline. For example, if you are scheduled for 9 units in a Discipline which is loaded at 15, then you are scheduled at 60% of load (that is, 9 divided by 15). Check Article VI, Section 4 of the Guild Contract for a chart of Teaching Loads at GCC.
| Q: Are there any adjuncts anywhere in the U.S. who are able to negotiate a more equitable contract? |
A: Yes there are! In general, the issue of equity seems to moving to the “front burner” at many campuses. Take a look at this great news from Tufts! Although Tufts is not nearby, not public, and not a community college, this contract nevertheless demonstrates what I believe is a turning tide toward adjunct equity and a growing understanding of the tie-in between well supported adjunct faculty and positive student learning outcomes.
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