Petition for Support of Adjunct Faculty Teaching Remotely

The College should acknowledge the valuable contributions of the adjunct faculty who teach more than 60% of the courses at College of DuPage by compensating them for the extra work and expenses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While enduring the hardships shared by everyone, adjunct faculty are particularly hard hit by the move to remote instruction in March of 2020. Hardships include:

• Lack of compensation for the many hours spent in training and preparation for teaching remotely, particularly for those adjuncts who had never taught remotely and had designed their courses for effective instruction in a classroom setting
• Lack of access to the resources on campus offered through the Adjunct Faculty Offices
• Lack of compensation for expenses for working from home, including internet and phone usage.

College of DuPage received $9 million in federal CARES funds. While half of these funds are mandated for student support, the College had great flexibility in allocating the remaining $4.5 million. While most northern Illinois Community Colleges demonstrated they value their adjuncts by providing additional compensation for the move to remote instruction, College of DuPage’s refusal to do so shows a disrespect for its most economically vulnerable employees and is particularly demoralizing considering faculty are already facing numerous challenges associated with remote teaching.

Despite numerous requests and formal action by CODAA on behalf of its members, the College refuses to provide additional compensation and only established a formal process for submitting for reimbursement for certain expenses after months of petitioning by CODAA to do so. Further, this reimbursement process is cumbersome and denies many legitimate reimbursement requests.

We are requesting that the College reverse its position and prove it values adjunct faculty by compensating them for expenses associated with remote learning, as well as for the time spent learning and preparing to provide the best remote education experience for College of DuPage students.