Dear SDCCD Faculty Colleagues,
I wanted to share some small, but important, agreements we have reached with the District over the last several weeks in response to the changes in our working conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes will remain in effect through May 31, 2021 or until the pandemic has subsided, whichever occurs first.
1) The current 0.67 FTEF limit of online assignments is waived. No approval is needed to exceed that limit for classes taught in either the traditional DE or “Remote Teaching” (RT) format.
2) Adjunct faculty who would like to give up part or all of their fall or spring assignments for any reason will not lose their POA rights provided their Dean approves. Just contact your Dean and ask for this approval.
3) Class caps for RT courses will not increase any higher than they were when the class was scheduled face-to-face on campus.
4) For fully online, curriculum approved DE courses, colleges and Continuing Education will continue to follow the past practice of the District (SDCCD Online Pathways) which has been to require the online training certification (or equivalent) in order to be assigned one of these courses.
5) For the “Remote Teaching” type of DE course platform, like our faculty converted to during the course of this semester, there is no prerequisite certification required, and faculty may be assigned these courses without completing the SDCCD Online Pathways certification. However, the District encourages faculty to complete the certification, and/or attend a college-based support institute this summer.
6) Faculty who participate in this year’s college-based summer institutes may submit such training for salary advancement as allowed under Section 7.13.7 of our contract (“Unit members who are required to undergo training in order to accept a Distance Education assignment, or due to a change in the District’s Distance Education delivery system, shall be allowed to submit such training for salary advancement.”) or for FLEX credit if the time worked is after July 1.
7) Any “make-up” classes which need to meet after the semester ends on June 1 will be paid just as if they were a regularly scheduled summer session. Work with your Dean on this.
8) Faculty who need to borrow small equipment from their office (like an ergonomic chair, etc.) should request approval from their Dean.
9) Faculty desktop computers will not be allowed to be removed from campus, but we are working on setting up a method where faculty can access a Virtual Personal Network (VPN), or something similar, in order to access their desktop computer remotely.
10) Faculty in need of closed captioning services should contact their site DSPS department for assistance.
11) Other hardware or software needs to be able to provide services remotely should be discussed with your Dean.
Also, I wanted to remind everyone that we are strongly encouraging tenured/tenure-track faculty who can afford to do so to give up their overload assignments to help keep as many of our adjunct faculty employed as possible. In addition, we have set-up an emergency assistance fund to help out our adjunct faculty in need. We are just asking for pledges at this point, but if you believe you will be able to contribute, please click this link and let us know how much you would be able to contribute during the upcoming academic year.
We are still working with the District on: a) the possibility of voluntary furloughs for tenured/tenure-track faculty so those faculty could voluntarily reduce their load to address personal needs, b) potential stipends for taking part in the online training/certifications needed for those assignments, c) campus re-opening plans.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding any of the foregoing topics.
In Unity,
Jim
Jim Mahler, President
AFT Guild, Local 1931
