What Is a Representative Executive Council?
by Eric Stadnik, Adjunct Faculty, Business Administration
Department
Whether you are regular (full-time) or adjunct, let’s not forget that the reason we are all here is to serve the educational needs of the SRJC student population. We are not here to be self-serving. When we fail to keep that foremost in our actions and to do it to the best of our abilities, then we are not doing our job! While I’ve been an adjunct faculty member since early 1997, I also served as a full-time faculty member for a one-year temporary position a few years ago. So, I have experienced the perspective of both groups, and I have seen how each is viewed and treated. The term “representation” in regard to the Executive Council implies working on behalf of the diverse needs and desires of all the constituent faculty groups being represented. However, when the actions of a council treat one of the subgroups being represented in what appears to be a favored manner, the council ceases to be a representative council and instead becomes a self-serving special interest group pushing through actions that protect the interests of that one subgroup at the expense of the others. It would be like faculty deciding to preferentially instruct only one portion of our students and to intentionally provide less-equal or minimal service to the majority of students.
The stressful economic times of the last two years have caused what started as a constructive spirit of “let's pull together and share the painful path of necessary cuts in an equitable and fair manner” into one of chaos and increasing disillusionment and even calls of rebellion. There now exists a diverse mixture of self-protectionism, self-righteousness, anger, fear, frustration, and, sadly, even apathy. The sense of team spirit has been traumatized, but I believe it has not been destroyed.
While the recent election last spring is an opportunity for the “new” council to set a path of decisively correcting recent inconsistent and inequitable actions, that path will require a lot of soul-searching and tough decisions. Prompt action is needed to turn around the downward spiral trend in faculty morale. I won’t re-argue the countless email blitzes that have filled our email accounts in the recent past. It was clear that all too often each group argued from the perspective of either regular (full-time) or adjunct faculty needs, rather than from the shared needs of a unified faculty. As decisions on cuts evolved, instead of moving toward one another, battle lines were drawn, with many impassioned arguments on both sides of every issue. This created divisiveness instead of the solidarity that comes from working through challenges together in an equitable manner.
Years ago there were many collective bargaining groups in existence, yet a decision was made to create the SRJC AFA. This was a valiant attempt to create a union, rather than join an existing group. It was accomplished with countless hours of dedication by many faculty members. It is a tribute to their efforts because, in many ways, this seemed to work reasonably well during the many years of good financial times. Now, sadly, some of the weaknesses of the organization’s structure are showing during this tough financial time. Can it be fixed? Or is it time to ask for help from or to even reconsider other collective bargaining groups who can offer a wider spectrum of experience of viable solutions, research, and support? One thing is sure: we must avoid the call for splitting into multiple negotiating groups. Otherwise, we will divide and conquer ourselves, ultimately creating inequities in the quality of instruction to our students. There is much work to be done. A good beginning would be to promptly approve letting the constituents decide on a more equitable and representative Executive Council mix.