This is Now!

 This school year, the CCCAFF celebrates its twelfth anniversary. A lot has happened in twelve years:

·         We have had regular negotiated pay raises. At the end of our present contract, we will be making $1950/ three credit course. DO THE MATH.

 

·         Most new faculty hires have adjuncted at either CCC or another academic institution. They are respected for their classroom experience rather than rejected for it. 

 

·         Adjuncts with twenty and thirty semesters of service are given preference in course selection for the next semester.

 

·         Adjuncts are permitted and encouraged to have a union representative present in their dealings with the college administration.

 

·         After four semesters, adjuncts have one personal day/semester. After twenty semesters of service, they get two personal days/semester.

 

·         Changes in working conditions are always a matter for negotiations between the College and the CCCAFF.

 

·         By contract, adjuncts own their own intellectual property unless the College has contributed heavily to its development.

 

·        Adjuncts with 20 semesters at CCC have some protection against frivolous bumping in the week before the semester begins: they will be given a mutually acceptable replacement or paid for the course.

 

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A UNION MAKES!

Adjunct Excellence  Awards

Applause is in order for three colleagues – Michael McNasby, Sondi A. Lee, Esq. and Theresa Norman - recipients of the 2007 Adjunct Excellence Awards, who were acknowledged on August 30 at the Adjunct  Orientation.  This year’s recipients were singled out by their students, faculty and a committee from their departments for exemplary teaching in their respective fields and their dedication to students.

 Michael McNasby, who teaches Algebra for the Math Department, is described by students as an instructor who provides the foundation for the future successes at CCC.  “McNasby” challenges the class to think and question the methods and processes.  One student remarked “Although I was far from being an exemplary math student, I did have an exemplary instructor who taught me to persevere, have patience, and take the time to understand the problem at hand.  He renewed my faith in my abilities to further my education.”

 Since the fall of 2000, Sondi A. Lee, Esq. has been a valued member in the Paralegal Studies Program.  Dr. Rosalie N. Duren,  the Paralegal Studies Program Coordinator, stated that Ms Lee has made substantive contributions to the ongoing development of the program.  To help make learning relevant, Ms Lee shares real-world events with students, stemming from her position with the Department of Children and Families, Division of Youth and Family Services.

Theresa Norman was honored by the Academic Skills Reading & Writing Department, where she teaches Writing Skills III classes.  This is her tenth year with the department and Ms Norman has earned an enviable reputation among the adjunct and full-time faculty in the Academic Skills Department as a highly effective teacher, demonstrating caring and skill. Her mentor and portfolio partner, Professor Ellen Hernandez, notes “she is firm but fair with her students, has good rapport with them, adeptly handles classroom management and rarely complains about any inconveniences.”

That Was Then…

·         For twelve years, or so I’ve been told, CCC adjuncts did not get a pay raise. Then, when President Della Vecchia took office, she raised adjunct pay $50/three credit course to $1025.

 

·         She also told the adjunct community that rather than giving preference to adjuncts in hiring, she preferred hiring people who were out working in their fields - not teaching at the college.

 

·         Adjuncts had no expectation of being rehired no matter how long they had taught at the college and could be fired at any time without being given a reason.

 

·         They were not entitled to personal days, no matter how long they had been at the College.

 

·         Administrative decisions about changes in working conditions were made independent of how these decisions would affect the contingent faculty.

 

·         Adjuncts had no specified rights to their own intellectual property. There was no guarantee that if we created something, we would own it.

 

·        Frivolous bumping in the week before the semester begins was common.

 

·         There was no union and no collective bargaining organization. Without a union, there was no expectation that things would be any different today.