The Problem & The Solution

The Campaign for Faculty Equality (CFE) is seeking to eliminate this unfairness by fighting for a basic principle of the United States and democracy: EQUALITY. That would mean that faculty would no longer work under a two-tier system in which those who are equally qualified and equally experienced are not equally compensated. CFE seeks to eliminate the inequality faced by part-time faculty when compared to their full-time colleagues by establishing a One-Tier System in the California Community Colleges. CFE is part of a nationwide effort to eliminate two-tier contracts in higher education. 

Unlike other groups that purported to advocate for non-tenure-track or contingent faculty (e.g., New Faculty Majority in 2009, Higher Ed Labor United in 2021) that have sought incremental general improvements, CFE has a clear vision of an extant one-tier faculty labor system: the Vancouver Model. In this remarkable Collective Agreement between Vancouver Community College and the Vancouver Community College Faculty Association, all faculty are compensated according to a single multi-step salary schedule, and after completing a probationary period, become “regularized”. Regularization, which provides ongoing employment secured by due process, true freedom of speech, and the ability to increase one’s load to 100%, is conferred upon the individual faculty member and not on the position itself. 

There are many obstacles to achieving equality in the California Community College system. Laws are in place that work against equality such as one that limits part-time teaching load, the number of classes one may teach in a particular district, to no more than 67% of what a full-time faculty member teaches. With low pay based on separate part-time hourly pay schedules, many part-time faculty are forced to seek additional employment, often teaching in multiple districts in order to make ends meet. Those who do so are called “Freeway Flyers” or “Road Scholars” and may spend hours driving from one college to another, passing other faculty doing the same thing but in the opposite direction. Students are hurt by a teacher who may have less time to meet with them since they are constantly on the move, adding to congestion and the burning of fossil fuel. Many of these faculty turn their cars into their offices. 

Also harmful to part-timers, their students, and colleges are the job security and healthcare benefits which are too often denied to part-time faculty. Without these, part-time faculty often disappear from a department and the class schedule, leaving continuity in a department broken and students without the opportunity to be mentored by their part-time faculty. In addition, many must teach when they are ill and often get sicker and spread their illness. Unlike their full-time colleagues, their jobs are precarious. Most, if not all, have no guarantee of work from one term to the next. Many are not offered healthcare benefits at all and those that do qualify for them find that the cost is outside their budget due to their inadequate pay.

These conditions have been getting worse. Four decades ago, the majority of faculty in higher education had full-time, permanent positions. Now, most of these teaching positions are contingent and usually part-time. These teachers are often called “adjuncts”, indicating that they are supplementary to their institutions rather than essential. And yet, colleges and universities balance their budgets by relying on the much lower cost of employing cheaper “adjunct” faculty. 

The responsibility for this unfair situation falls squarely on three parties: the State government, the colleges, and the unions. There are great financial benefits derived from having a cheap workforce that can work when needed and can easily be discarded. 

The State balances its education budget on the back of the Community College system. Funding in the CCC is half or less than the CSU, UC, and K-12 systems receive per full-time equivalent student. 

The colleges save money whenever they assign a lower-paid part-timer to teach a course. Administrators benefit from this situation by paying themselves more and by increasing their numbers. 

The unions, dominated by tenured faculty, bargain contracts with higher pay and better benefits for themselves and very little for part-time faculty. When enrollment drops occur, full-time jobs are insulated by the buffer of the many part-timers who can be laid off by simply not offering them a class. 

CFE supports labor unions, seeing them as necessary to protect the interests of workers. Unfortunately, far too often, faculty unions do not fight for equality, but instead champion the interests of full-time faculty at the expense of part-timers.

CFE is dedicated to achieving equality in the California Community College system. This will require not only increasing funding but also changing legislation that currently limits part-time workloads, classifies part-time faculty as temporary, regardless of how long they have taught at an institution, and does not mandate equal pay and due process. CFE calls for mobilizing people to rally for equality as well as lobbying government officials to change the laws and the budget.

Please join and support our Campaign for Faculty Equality!