Dear GCCCD 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 0.70 LED limit of online assignments is waived. No approval is needed to exceed that limit for classes taught in either the traditional DE or Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) 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 ERT courses will not increase any higher than they were when the class was scheduled face-to-face on campus.
4) Faculty who need to borrow small equipment from their office (like an ergonomic chair, etc.) should request approval from their VP.
5) Faculty desktop computers will not be allowed to be removed from campus, but faculty should work through their VP to set up a Virtual Personal Network (VPN) in order to access their desktop computer remotely. The district will also be providing information for using “One Drive,” where faculty can store their files in the cloud (via One Drive) and access them without VPN. More information will be forthcoming on this.
6) Faculty in need of closed captioning services should contact their site DSPS department for assistance.
7) 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 can 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) clarification of the 40 hours of non-classroom pay for the first time teaching to apply to either ERT or traditional DE courses, c) potential stipends for taking part in the full DE or ERT training/certifications needed for those assignments, d) campus re-opening plans.
Regarding the last item of the preceding list, the District created several ad-hoc “rapid response” task forces to investigate what would be needed to be in place prior to and during any type of campus re-opening. We had AFT representation on each of these teams. You can find the summaries from each of the task force reports here:
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o Facilities: https://intranet.gcccd.edu/dec-er/facilities-rapid-response-team.html o Technology: https://intranet.gcccd.edu/dec-er/technology-rapid-response-team.html o Student Services: https://intranet.gcccd.edu/dec-er/student-services-rapid-response-team.html o Human Resources: https://intranet.gcccd.edu/dec-er/human-resources-rapid-response-team.html o Instructional Delivery: https://intranet.gcccd.edu/dec-er/instructional-delivery-resources-rapid-response-team.html |
I would like to thank all of our AFT members and officers who served on the above task forces, and Chancellor Neault and her management team for their collaboration as we continue to work through these uncharted waters.
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