What's Fair?
by Sharien Hinton, Regular Faculty, Disability Resources
Department
I’m relatively new to the SRJC full-time faculty ranks. I started my career as an intern and then adjunct faculty member at Pasadena City College. There were no full-time opportunities at PCC in my field, and I moved 200 miles north for my first full-time position. As a part-timer I never questioned whether I deserved equal status in all ways with my full-time colleagues. I understood even then that they carried a heavier institutional load (i.e. committee participation, staff meetings, advising, curriculum development etc.). On the other hand, due to my willingness and ability to move for the job, I didn’t spend a great deal of time in the adjunct ranks.
For the last two semesters a group of faculty members has proposed that adjunct faculty should have absolute equality with their full-time colleagues regarding contract issues. Slogans like “equality for all” or “one voice–one vote” recall the glory days of the Civil Rights Movement. Any attempt at real conversation that might include different points of view meets with intolerance, accusations, name-calling, and veiled threats.
It seems as if certain adjunct faculty consider themselves the victims of the full-timers. I recall a conversation just after an AFA meeting. My opinion was requested. I shared my concerns, for the present and future, regarding FAFE’s proposal. With respect I stated my lack of support for it. I was accused of not trusting adjunct faculty. This wonderful person (and adjunct faculty member) whom I deeply respect could not list one essential benefit of this proposal to the College, students, or her colleagues. Not one reason was offered as to why I should support FAFE’s stance based on the merits.
So, what is fair? Should my full-time contract and working conditions be determined by the sheer weight of adjunct numbers? Am I describing a fair situation when the vote of an instructor teaching a one-unit class during a contract-sensitive semester is given the same weight as my vote? At SRJC this already exists.
Now, consider the demand that the adjunct faculty membership on the AFA Executive Council equal the full-time faculty membership. Who will guarantee that our working environment will not become a tyranny of the majority? How can representation be fair when it does not reflect the varying responsibilities of its constituents? How is this equal? Well, it is not equal or even reasonable.
SRJC has the finest faculty bar none, full-time and adjunct. I am reasonably sure that the current system of representation is less than perfect, a common malady of human institutions. I am not opposed to change when it is needed. I am certainly not convinced that the one option proposed by FAFE is beneficial to the long-term health of this college and on these grounds oppose it.
The AFA Executive Council’s response to FAFE’s concerns was both gracious and appropriate. A task force has been appointed to look into the matter with a timely deadline for bringing their findings to the fore. The best decisions in these times are made with clear heads and cool hearts.
If certain group members are not satisfied with the status quo, they should not bulldoze the rights and interests of others by refusing to enter discussion and entertain alternative solutions. Perhaps the interests of both groups can no longer be adequately represented by one body. I have seen many of my full-time colleagues bewildered and intimidated in this hostile environment. Isn’t it time for this to end and a true cooperative effort towards a viable solution to begin?