Whereas, Many resolutions of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges support assuring that part-time faculty have the same rights as full-time faculty in different, specific areas, including 01.02 F20 Develop a Resource to Communicate and Encourage Part-time Faculty Leadership [1], 19.01 S21 Create a Paper on Part-Time Faculty Equity [2], 17.02 S22 Increase Part-time Faculty Representation and Communication through Local Part-time Faculty Liaisons [3], and 01.01 S23 Add a Designated At-Large Part-time Representative to the Executive Committee [4];
Whereas, According to the American Federation of Teachers’ An Army of Temps: AFT Contingent Faculty Quality of Work/Life Report, 2022 [5], more than two-thirds of part-time faculty respondents to a survey have considered leaving the academy in the past two years, finding that part-time faculty struggle with low pay, inadequate access to benefits, little or no job security, a lack of professional respect; and lack of professional shared governance opportunities with or without compensation;
Whereas, Given that most disciplines and instructional areas, including non-credit, career technical education, and continuing education, have far more part-time than full-time faculty teaching courses, and faculty representation within local senates is more likely to be more accurate and complete if both part-time and full-time faculty can serve as committee representatives, senators, and officers; and
Whereas, Part-time faculty have the same educational qualifications and increasingly are faced with more of the same expectations as full-time faculty, adding to the rise of a growing movement toward a “One-Tier Faculty System” [6], and thus any senate traditions, practice, language, or policy that does not allow part-time faculty to serve as representatives or senators in a voting capacity is inequitable and does not affirm equality of esteem or fair representation practice;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges encourage local academic senates to enable part-time faculty to serve as senators in a voting capacity in their local or district senates;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local academic senates to include part-time faculty membership in their constitutions and bylaws, and actively recruit for part-time faculty participation; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local academic senates to work with their local bargaining units to advocate for part-time faculty participation by adequately compensating them.
MSU
1. https://www.asccc.org/resolutions/develop-resource-communicate-and-encourage-part-time-faculty-leadership
2. https://www.asccc.org/resolutions/create-paper-part-time-faculty-equity
3. https://www.asccc.org/resolutions/increase-part-time-faculty-representation-and-communication-through-local-part-time
4. https://www.asccc.org/resolutions/add-designated-large-part-time-representative-executive-committee
5. https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2023/Contingent_Faculty_Survey_2022_interactive.pdf
6. See “CFT task force to end the two-tier system in the community colleges convenes” (https://www.cft.org/article/cft-task-force-end-two-tier-system-community-colleges-convenes) and the CFT’s March 19, 2022 Resolution: “Develop a strategic plan to end two-tier system in the community colleges” (https://www.cft.org/resolution/develop-strategic-plan-end-two-tier-system-community-colleges)