Part-Timer
Community College Council of the California Federation of Teachers American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
Fall 2009 Volume 21, Number 1
PRO M OTIN G PART- TI M E F A C U LT Y RI G HTS
Adjuncts lose classes, incomes, livelihoods
Part-timers feel the brunt of biggest-ever cuts to colleges While reports and statistics illustrate the dire situation in the state’s community colleges and universities — summer and winter sessions cancelled or drastically reduced, hundreds of classes cut in the spring and fall semesters — the real picture is reflected in the stories of our members who have been adversely affected. As unions try to influence decisions made on the campus, district, and state levels to keep part-timers in their jobs and to minimize the impact, adjunct faculty are struggling to find work, limit their spending, retain their health benefits, and keep up their spirits. Joni Caldwell lost her class on the psychology of women this fall at Cabrillo College when the entire program was cut. She usually teaches three classes on human sexuality at Monterey Peninsula College but now has two. “I’m living on
Not only has Caldwell had to curtail her spending but she now rents a room in her house and started a dog-sitting business. “I’ve gone from college professor to this.” – Joni Caldwell, Cabrillo College
When Joni Caldwell lost classes, she started a dog-sitting business to earn extra cash.
one-third of what I made last fall,” she said. Not only has Caldwell had to curtail her spending but she now rents out a room in her house and started a dog-sitting business. “I’ve gone from college professor to this,” she said. Even though she had more takehome pay from unemployment in the summer, she has
no desire to stop working. “I’m managing to fill the time, but I’d rather be teaching. I make a positive impact on students.” Lonnie Teper has lost nine classes this past year at East Los Angeles College and Pasadena City College. “I’m down $25,000 from what I was earning two to three years ago,” he said. After teaching summers
for nine years in a row, he lost both classes at East when summer session was cancelled. Being qualified in two disciplines — P.E. and Health — has given him more opportunities to teach, but his 2-unit activity classes require him to teach more courses. Though he’s an editor and columnist for a body building magazine, Teper relies on teaching to support himself. “I was planning to move to an apartment in a better See Job Crisis back page
photos sharon beals
“Share the pain” plan helps prevent layoffs in San Francisco While thousands of part-time faculty across the nation are being laid off during this economic crisis in which college budgets have been cut to the bone, City College of San Francisco has tried to minimize layoffs of its employees, including part-time faculty, by following a “share the pain” philosophy. Faculty, staff, and administra-
Carmen Roman-Murray
tion at City College have all made sacrifices to save jobs. Salary step
increases were frozen for the current academic year. Administrators’ salaries were cut by 6 percent, and the chancellor voluntarily cut his own salary by 25 percent. The Part-Timers Committee of San Francisco Community College Federation held several meetings last year at which adjuncts decided that both job security and more full-time positions were
their highest priorities. “Union leaders and a district trustee were present to hear our concerns,” said committee chair Carmen Roman-Murray. “They got the message loud and clear.” As state budget news grew increasingly ominous during the spring and summer, the union leadership team came up with a See San Francisco, back page