Faculty Association leaders Alexis Moore and Preston Rose sat down with Walter and asked him about his experiences as a part timer and “freeway flyer”.

FA: Tell us about your background and what you teach. 

I am a painter and art instructor. I graduated from Duke University with an Art History major and received an MFA in Painting from the University of Denver. I have taught at community colleges in the Los Angeles area since 1988, and have been at PCC since 1992. I have taught at places as far away from one another as Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut and Compton College, in Compton. I have taught Art Appreciation, Painting, Intro to Painting Mediums, Watercolor, Drawing 1 and 2, Life Drawing, and 2-D Design. My first class at PCC was a Life Drawing class, which I lost after 5 or 6 years to a full-time instructor who wanted to teach it, and I have taught Beginning Drawing ever since. I am still teaching at three community colleges (Los Angeles Valley College, Mt. San Antonio College, and PCC), as well as teaching two hours every morning at a private high school, Ribet Academy. I taught there for 13 years as “tuition exchange” when my daughter attended but have stayed on since, and now I actually receive a paycheck. My daughter has gone on to UCLA, and one reason I am still teaching so much is to make some money to help send her there! After she graduates…. who knows? Maybe graduate school, so I will be teaching for a long time to come! Luckily, I still like teaching very much and continue to find it satisfying, so I don’t want to “retire” anyway.

FA: How long have you been a member of the Faculty Association here at PCC? 

I have been a member of the PCC Faculty Association for a number of years – don’t remember how many, but I should have registered sooner.

FA: As a part timer, do you feel supported by the College/ your Division? 

At PCC, I feel I get a prompt response from the Dean’s office, on the occasion I need something. In general, though, I feel there is not a lot of regard for part-timers from the school or faculty. At all the colleges I have taught at, one gets the distinct feeling that the school exists for two groups of people – the students and the full-time faculty.

This is odd, at the least, since part-timers make up a majority of the teachers!… but that is the way it is everywhere. Just one example from PCC – when the new art building had a grand opening a booklet was published in which all the tenured art faculty were mentioned, but not a single part timer! – including those of us who have been here a long time, work with commitment and passion, and rarely call in sick, year after year.

FA: How has the FacultyAssociation helped you? 

One way I have been helped by the Faculty association is that the issue of Seniority for Part-timers was finally addressed and instituted. This has always been the case at the other two schools I have taught at for a long time, but here there was no protection here. I, for one, am grateful to know that given my place in the Seniority list, I should be safe to teach at PCC as long as I am willing and able! I do feel I could contact the Faculty Association for help if I needed it without fear of reprisal, although I have never had to.