Roy Latas <admin@netket.com>
Craig Flanery
<cflaner@exchange.calstatela.edu>
Adjunct
faculty demonstrate at Palomar College
Adjunct professors gather on Mission Avenue Tuesday morning as
the fight for better pay and working conditions continues at Palomar
College.
Waldo Nilo
Link
to North County Times
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By: KEN MA - Staff Writer
SAN MARCOS ---- Wearing costumes that symbolized their cause,
25 adjunct professors staged a demonstration at Palomar College
on Tuesday morning, seeking higher wages and better working conditions.
Part-time
professors from Palomar and MiraCosta colleges held signs and
made speeches in front of Palomar's bell tower as part of Campus
Equity Week, a national campaign at community colleges to bring
adjunct faculty issues to the forefront.
The demonstrators,
the majority of whom teach at Palomar, were pushing for pay increases,
compensation for holding office hours and preparing for classes
and seeking office space to meet with students. Many were members
of the Palomar Faculty Federation which represents 870 both full-
and part-time faculty members at the two-year community college
which serves as many as 30,000 students.
The protesters
wore ghost masks and partial caps and gowns that symbolized what
they say is their anonymity on campus and their claims of being
undercompensated. Some wore bird masks because they say they are
forced to flock from campus to campus.
"It
is true we don't teach for the money but we should be paid the
same (as full-time faculty)," said Mary Millet, a part-time
Palomar English professor who helped organize the event and wore
the sleeve of a graduation gown and part of a cap.
Between 750
and 850 adjunct faculty at Palomar, many of whom hold master's
and doctorate degrees, are paid $40.71 an hour and, according
to state law, are only allowed to teach a maximum of nine classroom
hours per week, said Cindy Sabato, Palomar's spokeswoman.
Based on
those wages, the average annual salary for adjunct faculty who
teach nine hours a week is about $11,000 at Palomar, Millet said.
About 300 of them teach part-time at other 4-year universities
and 2-year colleges to make ends meet, she said.
"The
pay is degrading," adjunct English professor Roy Latos said.
In contrast, the 287 full-time faculty members at Palomar have
offices, teach about 15 hours per week and earn an average annual
salary of $69,170, Sabato said.
Because Palomar's
adjunct professors don't have offices, they meet with their students
in cars, on top of garbage cans, benches, lawns and whatever is
convenient, Millet said. Part-time English professor Julie Ivey
said she meets with students outside her classes before they begin.
Better wages,
Millet said, are possible if the Palomar Community College District
releases state equity funds, which is money given to Palomar and
community colleges throughout the state that is specifically earmarked
for adjunct faculty salaries.
By next summer,
Palomar will receive a total of $2.7 million from the state equity
fund, Sabato said.
Even though
Palomar officials can release those funds now, Sabato said they
will not do so until the college district and Palomar Faculty
Federation reaches an agreement on contract negotiations that
began in August 2001.
Sabato said
that like most employers, the college wants salaries, benefits,
hours and vacation days to be part of one package in the contract
before any state equity funds are dispensed.
"The
district has every intention of passing that money on to our part-time
faculty," the spokeswoman said. "Unfortunately this
funding from the state came to us in the midst of our funding
negotiation."
The contract
will also address the issues of office space, student consultation
and class preparation pay, Sabato said. In December, the college
will begin renovating its faculty lounge to provide tables and
Internet access for adjunct faculty members to hold office hours
with their students, she said.
Without the
equity funds, Sabato said, budget limitations make it difficult
for the college to boost adjunct salaries. Palomar receives $3,600
per student for its operating budget, while the state spends an
average of $5,000 per student at most community colleges, she
said.
MiraCosta
spokeswoman Bonnie Hall declined to comment on the wage issue.
Contact staff writer Ken Ma at (760) 761-4408 or kma@nctimes.com.