Resolution to the AFT Guild 1931 to Explore Adjunct Faculty Upgrading
Whereas, adjunct faculty lack a pathway for promotion, that is an essential part of most professions,
Whereas, the City College of San Francisco, represented by AFT 2121, has successfully implemented an upgrading process to promote adjuncts since 2009, and
Whereas, this upgrading process accommodates diversity in hiring and is consistent with Ed Code Title V (53021); therefore let it be
Resolved, that the AFT Guild sponsor an open forum with a representative from AFT 2121 to discuss the pros and cons of their upgrading program.
It was great to see the adjunct turnout at the meeting, and it was sad to see Jim Mahler try to block another resolution to help adjuncts and oppose open forums. Another Orwellian example of how “unity” means “do whatever Mahler says”.
We need to celebrate the fact that Mahler is at least paying lip-service to hiring more full-time faculty, and the purpose of the resolution was to deal with issues that would arise if he actually follows through and gets the categorical money for more full-time hires.
One of the consequences of more full-time positions is that unless they are filled by local adjuncts, then the new full-timers will end up displacing adjuncts. If an adjunct teaching 6 classes in the county moves to one full-time job at one campus (5 classes + 1 overload), there’s no problem. Adjuncts may have to shift around to different districts to cover the classes the full-timer gives up to be at one campus, but the same number of classes are still available in the county; not a major problem. But, if the hiring committee decides on a new Ivy League PhD, with a fresh dynamic spirit (give them a few years of teaching community college and see how fresh they’ll be) and a lexicon of pedagogical gibberish (that will change in 2 years), then that new professor means 2 or more adjuncts will lose their jobs. The classes that would have gone to adjuncts will go to the new full-timer. So unless we do this right, more full-timers could increase the suffering of adjuncts.
San Francisco City College came up with a way to minimize the displacement of adjuncts, in a fairly simple upgrading program. When two candidates are otherwise equal, go with the adjunct who has been teaching at the campus. There are even better models, such as the Vancouver Model, where there is no difference between full-timers and part-timers besides the number of classes you teach.
Let’s continue to explore these options, even if Jim Mahler refuses to.
Arnie Schoenberg