FA leaders James Keller and Roger Marheine represented the PCCFA at the annual Advocacy & Policy Conference sponsored by the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC) March 7-9th in Sacramento.

Approximately 225 faculty and 100 students attended the annual lobbying event. Workshops on “Faculty and Student Priorities in the 2020-21 State Budget Proposal,” “Understanding the Needs of Part-Time Faculty in 2020 and Taking Action,” and “Legislation in the Classroom” (a round table on how the community college partners drive education policy) were featured.

Keynote speaker Professor Jeff Duncan-Andrade of San Francisco State University gave a spirited and very well received address on pedagogy and equity. Duncan-Andrade emphasized that the number one determiner of student success was student-faculty relationships.

Noting that 74% of all of California college students are enrolled at community colleges, FACCC President Debbie Klein pointed out that current funding formulas contradict the state’s supposed commitment to student equity and fair treatment of part-time faculty.

Sadly, community college faculty remain two-thirds of the total faculty, a percentage that has been unchanged for over a decade, even though the goal is 25%. The current budget proposal allots only $10 million for part-time conference hours–and the money is one time only! Please also see the regular column elsewhere in this newsletter, “Empowering Part-Time Faculty,” for more details.

FACCC and its allies will be lobbying for an improved budget in the weeks ahead that will eventually emerge as the May Revise that will then move toward adoption by the senate and assembly. Naturally, the Covid-19 casts a shadow on funding. For more information on the efforts of FACCC for all faculty, please also visit www.faccc.org.