April 22, 2023

The PCC Faculty Association belongs to CCCI, a consortium of independent faculty unions from various California community colleges.  Recently, CCCI’s Legislative Advocate David Hawkins reported on the following CCCI priority legislation and sponsorship of several important pieces of legislation:    

AB 1190 (Irwin, D) Part-Time Faculty Paid Office Hours 

CCCI Position:  SPONSOR

Bill Status:  Assembly Appropriations Committee

Requires districts to include compensation for part-time faculty office hours when negotiating faculty collective bargaining agreements.  This will ensure that all community college students, whether taught by a part-time or full-time faculty member, have the opportunity to meet with their instructors outside of the classroom for academic assistance and advising.  Under current law – Education Code Sect. 87883- community college districts are not required to compensate part-time faculty to meet with students outside of the classroom.  According to the Chancellor’s Office, there are $86 million of unspent funds appropriated by the legislature for this purpose. Not paying part-time faculty to hold office hours has resulted in tens of thousands of students enrolling in classes where their access to academic advising and mentoring is compromised. Community college students should not be inhibited from meeting with their instructors, regardless of whether their instructor teaches full-time or part-time.  [FACCC co-sponsor]

AB 811 (Mike Fong, D) Credit Course Repeatability

CCCI Position:  CO-SPONSOR

Bill Status:  Assembly Appropriations Committee

Students could repeat a credit course up to five times if they receive a substandard grade, and up to three times for enrichment and skill-building coursework – arts, humanities, kinesiology, foreign language and ESL – when a student receives a satisfactory grade.  Districts would provide an annual report on the total number of students who repeat courses, and the total number of courses repeated. Amendments added a 2029 Sunset date and systemwide report to counter opposition groups.  [CFT-sponsor, FACCC co-sponsor]

State Audit:  Funding to Increase Full-Time Faculty Hires and Diversity

CCCI Position:  SPONSOR

Audit Requestor:  Assemblymember Evan Low, D

Release Date: February 2023 (#2022-113)

In its state audit report, the Auditor concluded much of the $450 million in state appropriations, allocated since 2018-19 to hire more full-time faculty, was improperly used or not used at all by the audited districts; the Chancellor’s Office failed in its oversight in accountability of these funds and did not verify district Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) compliance; the Chancellor’s office criteria for measuring the percentage of instruction taught by full-time faculty was invalid, and the Auditor’s revised calculations show that a district’s actual percentage of full-time faculty instruction can be significantly lower. Despite the Chancellor’s Office’s 13-page rebuttal to the report, the Auditor wrote “The Chancellor’s Office statement that the report is misleading is incorrect and deflects from its own responsibilities.”  [FACCC co-sponsor]