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u   Item number one on the agreement touches on the issue of "block scheduling." This is a method of scheduling courses that creates less overlap of classes so that students can easily fill their day with classes without any down time. The college feels that this will allow students to matriculate through the system more quickly. It will also greatly impact some courses that have a lab component. Since the new time blocks will be held in two-hour or four-hour segments per week, those courses that now are structured in an odd-hour configuration (i.e. three or five hours) will need to be revised in some way. We may also be moving toward two 15-week "regular" semesters and intersessions that divide up another 15 weeks into different length sessions.

All part-timers also need to be aware that the beginning and ending times for teaching blocks for Fall 2002 have been changed. On some days the difference will be as much as 45 minutes earlier, while on others days the difference may be 15 minutes later. This change was made in order to move the "college hour" (which is when faculty, departmental and committee meetings take place) back to the old start time of noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All part-timers, particularly those who have other work or teaching responsibilities off-campus, should talk to their division chairs regarding how this change might affect their teaching schedule in the fall.

u   The compensation that the district will be paying to part-timers, as a result of the State Chancellor's addition of extra teaching days to this year's calendar, will be distributed to those who taught in fall 2001. This is because those teachers were unaware when they were hired that their teaching obligation had increased. This money will come in a separate check around mid-April and should be a little more than $300.

u    The state of California will begin distribution of the "parity" money that part-timers receive from the state in April. Those who teach on the B-1 schedule (generally those who are paid in five equal flat-rate monthly paychecks per semester) will receive a retroactive check dating from September 2001 (smaller checks, of course, will be sent to those who started in winter or spring 2002). All part-timers should be aware that the allocation of this "parity" money and how much of it each of us receives may change in the future. The State Chancellor has required that the Guild, in conjunction with the district, come up with  a plan that moves part-timer pay closer to that of full-timers in each discipline area. While part-timers in some departments are paid proportionally almost as much as their full-time counterparts, in other subject areas part-timers only get 58 percent of what a full-timer receives for the same work. This is the troubling issue that this pool of money was meant to address. Over the coming year the Guild negotiating team will be coming up with a course of action that will hopefully and eventually bring all part-timers into alignment with the pay of full-timers doing the same job.

u    The Guild felt that the issue of office/conference hours needed revisiting as well. The way office hours have been distributed, those teaching fewer than five hours get no office hours at all. At the same time teachers in activity disciplines that allow more part-time teaching hours per week (because of the higher load factor) are sometimes finding themselves with proportionally more office hours than even the full-timers in their department. The Guild, with the cooperation of the district, wants to see office hours spread out so that more credit part-timers can benefit. The district has agreed to increase the office-hour funding in order to achieve this. The state partially reimburses the district for office hours given to those part-timers teaching credit courses. Unfortunately the state does not reimburse the college for non-credit-course office hours, which is why part-timers in that area are not receiving conference-hour pay.

u    Flex activities are professional growth and college-related work that every member of the faculty is required to do by the state of California. A faculty member's flex obligation is equal to the number of hours taught in a week under the new compressed schedule. If a part-timer has differing hours in fall and spring an average of the two semesters' weekly loads  is used to calculate the hours of flex obligation.

This year the district allowed all faculty, including part-timers, to claim six hours of flex for reworking their syllabi and lesson plans to fit into the new compressed schedule. Part-timers still need to submit the paperwork associated with flex activities, but on it they may include the six hours for course adjustments. Of course, any flex obligation over six hours has to be completed with other allowable activities. Please contact the Staff Development office for the paperwork, due date, and any further information regarding flex.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this article please contact Phyllis Eckler at x5646 or peckler@glendale.edu. v