Know Your Rights

By Barbara Hanfling, FA, AFT 6157 Executive Director

1. Adjunct Non Instructional Faculty: Adjunct faculty who are in non instructional positions must also ensure that they are appropriately accruing sick leave and the right to jury duty/personal necessity, bereavement etc, according to Article 9.19. Whereas instructional adjunct faculty are assigned their load at the beginning of the semester, adjunct non instructional, don’t always know their load until the end of the semester.

Even so, it is incumbent upon Academic Support Services to ensure that all adjunct faculty members have sick leave accrual placed on their pay stub each semester based on the load that the faculty member worked.

Also if non instructional adjunct faculty members are scheduled to work and become ill, they may use their sick leave; or if called for jury duty, they will be reimbursed for their time off; or if there is a death in the family, they will have a pro rata amount of bereavement pay. Please remember, our goal in achieving 100% parity is not just an economic goal. Our goal is to also enhance the rights of all adjunct faculty too.

Please notify the Union if your sick leave accrual is not appearing on your pay stubs.

2. Overload Assignments:

Article 15.3 of the contract spells out very clearly how overload is to be offered both inside and outside the academic semester.

Full time faculty always have first priority for an overload assignment. During the summer and intersession, there is no limit on the amount of overload that a full time faculty may work; in contrast, during the academic semester, faculty members are allowed up to 40% overload; see Article 15.3. Therefore full time faculty get offered overload first, and then it is offered to adjunct faculty. SRP adjunct first, then the remainder of adjunct faculty.

There is a specific order in which overload inside and outside the academic year must be offered. Please read this carefully and ensure your dean is following these contract sections.

15.2.3    Priority of Assignment for Overload within Academic Semesters of 156* Day Calendar. Faculty shall be selected and assigned at a college on the following priority basis:

1.      Full-time regular academic staff from home campus;

2.      Full-time regular academic staff from the other District campus(es);

3.      Temporary full-time contract academic staff.

15.3.3 Priority of Assignment for Overload Outside of Academic        Semesters:

1.   Contract or regular faculty from home campus who were not employed the preceding summer and/or winter sessions

2.   Contract or regular faculty from other District campus not employed during preceding summer and/or recess sessions;

3.   Contract or regular faculty from home campus who were employed during preceding summer and/or winter sessions;

4.   Contract or regular faculty from other District campus who were employed during preceding summer and/or winter sessions.

What Happens if You Work in One Department But Want to Teach Overload in Another?

There is only one logical interpretation of the FA, AFT 6157 Contract: full time faculty on the same campus in another department but with the appropriate FSA’s would fall into number 1 of 15.2.3 and 15.3.3 (see above) both during both the outside and the academic semester Here’s how it should work.

Once the full time faculty in a department receive their full load, then all full time faculty with appropriate FSA’s at that college who want an overload shall work together to appropriately divide up the remaining courses for them to teach. It is very important that we follow the contract when assigning overload on the campuses.