AFA

 

The Value of Numbers

by Ianthe Brautigan-Swensen, Adjunct Faculty, English Department

 

Like many of you, I am an adjunct instructor. At our English Department retreat this fall, there were more adjuncts in attendance than full-time instructors. Currently, there are about 1300 instructors at Santa Rosa Junior College—and only 300 of these instructors are full-time. Because of ongoing budget shortfalls, the college has not been hiring full-time faculty. The impact of this on my full-time colleagues has been rough. The administrators keep asking each department to address different important issues concerning our students, and these issues usually require a committee—so that in addition to teaching a full load and serving on the bread-and-butter committees which keep our department running, full-time instructors are asked to create, and serve on, more and more committees.

Recently, I asked a full-time instructor what she foresaw for the College if this trend continued. She responded, “They have told us that they’re going to give us new full-time hires, soon.” Another instructor told me that he felt that because the College wouldn’t “be chasing enrollment” any longer, it would have fewer students—and the need for adjuncts would therefore be diminishing soon.

Like many of you, I can’t claim an ability to predict the future and am willing to suppose that by turns, both of my colleagues may prove correct.

But suppose they’re not?

Last week, I spoke to someone in Payroll, who has no stake in this issue one way or another but understands numbers. She asked, “Why would the college hire full-time instructors in large numbers, when adjuncts are so much cheaper?”

The question prompts us to examine our current reality—quite simply, that this college employs a great many adjuncts. 

While it’s probably too easy to craft a short, provocative email that succeeds only in upsetting both full-time and adjunct instructors, we also need to remember that these issues are in fact difficult, complex, and requiring of careful consideration. Ours is a vital institution, and its contribution to our community and nation, in an era of shrinking support for public education across the board, has perhaps never been more important.

This is why I belong to the AFA, and why I’m grateful to the committee of full-time instructors and adjunct instructors who are researching the issue of representation for adjunct faculty and full-time faculty.

Santa Rosa Junior College is very dear to my heart. I began as a transfer student here; I met my husband here; and now I’m proud to say that I serve it as an adjunct instructor. I love my work here and guard a deep respect for all my colleagues and for this college—so it’s for personal as well as community-minded reasons that I would like to see us all take a collective breath and not rush to judgment regarding the issue of representation. Let’s examine the findings of the committee and work thoughtfully from there.  

Two years ago I faced a serious illness, and was gratified by the way my colleagues, both full-time and adjunct, supported me. They donated sick days, sent encouraging notes, and in myriad ways helped me weather that difficult time. I learned to believe in the value of numbers, and with the help of others I went on to do things I hadn’t thought were possible. As a college, by definition, we never stop facing challenging issues. But I believe that if we work together, we can only emerge stronger as a union—and thus able to give our students the best possible education.

 

 

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