January 11, 2017 Meeting

Agenda

Taft College Faculty Association Agenda

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

 

  1. Welcome and Lunch

 

  1. Approval of Minutes from November meeting

 

  1. Treasurer’s Report
    1. Cash balance

 

  1. Faculty Association Highlights

 

  1. TCFCBC Update
    1. Compensation for coaches driving teams to games (2nd reading approved 12/14/16)
    2. Compensation for Head Coaches (not fulltime TC employees)
    3. Retro pay
    4. SB 1379 “Part-time, temporary employees re-hire rights” Discussion
    5. AB 2393 “Parental Leave”
    6. Face-to-face teaching at correctional facilities

 

  1. Other

 

  1. Next Meeting: Wednesday, February 22, 2017, 12:10pm, Cougar Room (Lunch will be provided)

Minutes

Taft College Faculty Association

Minutes of January 10, 2017

 

Call to Order

President Diane Jones called the meeting to order at 12:12 pm.

 

Approval of Minutes

Treasurer Ruby Payne made a motion to approve the minutes. Mike seconded this motion. The motion was carried with one abstention.

 

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Ruby Payne reported a balance of $11,178.37 before lunch.

 

Faculty Association Highlights

President Jones summarized the bargaining team’s accomplishments over the last four years as follows: annual salary increases going forward; health benefit premiums valued at 100%; 8 club advisorships; an increase in division chair stipends; non-credit courses compensated as credit courses; salary credit of up to 8 years for new faculty; paid professional development hours for temporary faculty; sick leave for full-time instructors for fall, summer, and spring semesters; the Canvas stipend, expiring this summer; pay for coaches with a Class B license when drivers are not available; and numerous paid stipends and overload beyond the full-time teaching load.

 

TCFCBC Update

  1. Compensation for Coaches Driving Teams to Games (12/14/16)

President Jones mentioned that this item went to the December board meeting for a second reading and was approved and now is in effect.

  1. Compensation for Head Coaches (not fulltime TC employees)

President Jones explained that currently Taft College has three non-full-time head coaches, one in softball and two in golf, who teach 10 units in season, 6 units, off season, and earn approximately $20,000/year. However, to retain quality coaches while still abiding by the 67% law, other alternatives were explored, including the team’s research on what other community colleges do. Also, Kanoe Bandy provided a history of coach pay and the athletic budget, which was cut by $60,000 during the economic downturn, but was supposed to be gradually re-instated in annual increments of $20,000; however, that has not happened. Although the Administration expressed an interest in this issue, the suggestion was made to wait until the Vice President of Student Services came on board along with Kanoe Bandy and Dr. Daniels to explore options.

 

  1. Retro Pay

President Jones updated the Association on the status of retro pay, which has been paid, although some mistakes have occurred, including overpaying the longevity stipend, which faculty did have to pay back. While HR is working on resolving these issues, President Jones encouraged Association members to review their paychecks for accuracy since the District does require faculty to pay back the difference if overpay occurs. President Jones also mentioned that items are coded on the paycheck and suggested faculty contact Tiffany in HR to review paychecks.

 

  1. SB 1379 “Part-time, Temporary Employees’ Re-hire Rights” Discussion

President Jones explained that SB 1379 is a senate bill that ties Districts receiving SSSP funds to them negotiating a contract for re-employing adjunct and temporary faculty based on seniority rights among other factors, although contingent faculty are still “at-will” employees. The text is available online and includes four categories to consider: length of time taught, number of courses taught, evaluations, plus availability and/or willingness to teach certain classes. The bargaining team formed a subcommittee—Mark Williams, Diane Jones, Primavera Arvizu, Joe’ll Chaidez, Greg Golling, Jessica Grimes, and John Kopp—that will begin to look at these items Friday, January 20th. President Jones asked faculty to think about this issue and to consider the challenge of representing six different divisions with different needs.

 

Faculty offered the following recommendations:

  • Add SLOs to the evaluation process,
  • Include discipline-specific peers to evaluate adjuncts,
  • Include the Distance Education Coordinator for evaluating online classes,
  • Extend seniority rights to former full-time faculty-turned adjuncts upon retirement if the department agrees,
  • Discuss bumping rights if classes don’t fill, and
  • Allot time for adjuncts to seek alternatives if bumping is a possibility.

 

President Jones added these points to the discussion: the bargaining team’s research indicated an evaluation process after a period of probation that granted adjunct faculty “preferred status” contingent on on-going evaluations. She also clarified that although the Vice President of Instruction has the right of assignment, he still assigns based on the Chair’s recommendation. In addition, she explained that seniority would not conflict with minimum qualifications. President Jones ended the discussion by mentioning the law will go into effect in July as will “seniority” of adjuncts, if “seniority” is retained, but that the subcommittee is still in the planning stages.

 

  1. AB 2939 “Parental Leave”

President Jones explained that this law can be accessed online. The bill grants the same rights that K-12 teachers have to classified and certificated employees. While similar to the Family Leave Act, it removes the 1,250 hour requirement to use this leave. It also allows adjunct faculty to apply for up to 12 weeks of leave. The bargaining team plans to alter the language to reflect what the law states, although the law went into effect January 1, so the District is honoring it but still waiting for boilerplate language to put into the contract. Adopting the language will ensure accuracy and transparency.

 

f). Face-to-Face Teaching at Correctional Facilities

President Jones discussed Chris Flachmann’s recommendations for teaching at correctional facilities and mentioned several options: teaching would be voluntary; training would be compensated at the adjunct rate; mileage from TC to the facility would be compensated; instructors would have the option to switch from face-to-face to offline; and an escort would accompany the instructor. The District indicated it needed more time to reflect while the Vice President of Instruction researches answers to these questions: how a lockdown might affect an instructor’s TC classes, how many hours of training each facility requires, and what the mileage is for each facility. While the District isn’t in a hurry, the Distance Education Coordinator Dr. Dan Hall expressed an interest in having contract language in place by the summer. President Jones explained that the process includes crafting the language plus two readings before ratification.

 

She asked Association members if they wanted to include more considerations since there are two types of facilities. Members offered these suggestions:

  • a protected lot for staff,
  • a contract ensuring the protection of faculty so that violations can be addressed,
  • clarifying language that includes an escort inside the classroom versus an escort outside the classroom, and
  • More clarification on what TC’s ultimate vision is for offering classes.

President Jones mentioned that TC is still waiting to see the TCI contract. Chris Flachmann mentioned having courses to complement and/or supplement currently offered offline courses. President Jones ended the discussion explaining that technology, such as Skype, is not allowed, hence the request for face-to-face instruction.

 

Other

President Jones mentioned that the newly updated Faculty Service Area handout was available and reflected the split of the Liberal Arts division. Also, she mentioned the Association received thank you cards from a scholarship recipient and from Dr. Daniels for its contribution to TC Promise. Dr. Jennifer Altenhofel made a request to start the conversation on compensation/release time for program leads. She explained that she logged over 30 hours, excluding work on program review. Other faculty expressed an interest in clarifying language on what a program lead’s position entails. A suggestion was made that the Social Sciences Division might consider splitting. Another question was asked about whether sports were adequately funding, considering the frequency of fundraisers. President Jones explained that since the bargaining team has many items in the queue, these topics will probably be addressed next year.

 

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 12:55 pm.

Supporting Docs

 

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