THE ROAD TO THE PRESENT: A Short History of CODAA (College of DuPage Adjuncts Association)
The year was 1967. On a former farm in the shadow of Glen Ellyn, a new community college was founded with a small number of full time faculty and a very small number of adjuncts, most of whom worked in surrounding businesses and industry, lending their expertise to educating the district students. The college was organized into a variety of ‘clusters,’ each with its own full time and adjunct instructors. The college had a very small central administration and each cluster had its own focus.
Over the next twenty years, the college grew at a rapid pace; by 1987 the college had over three hundred full time faculty, and possibly over a thousand adjunct faculty members. The clusters had given way to divisions which consolidated and used the same faculty; however, the college administration was still decentralized, and there was little oversight of the treatment of the adjuncts, or any standardization regarding practices.
The college went through a very intense and rapid expansion during the 1980’s and 1990’s. Beset with growing pains, during this time the full time faculty unionized under the IEA. Hiring of part time faculty was still done by each division, and the number of part time faculty soared. Centralization of the college under one administrative umbrella occurred at this time. The college began consolidating the number of credit hours every adjunct taught, and limiting those to 10 quarter hours (the college was still on quarters at this time; conversion to semesters would not occur until 2006). However, associate deans had complete, unquestioned authority over their part time faculty. Favoritism and abuse often occurred, and arbitrary decisions were the norm. If a dean did not like you, you could at worst be fired, but usually just had no classes assigned, or assignments were for classes that usually got cancelled. Names were technically purged from the adjunct ‘pool’ after three years, but in reality, unless you were a favorite or taught a highly specialized course, if you didn’t teach one of the three quarters of the academic year, the chances of a class the following year were close to nil. In addition, the salary for part time teaching at the college was one of the worst in northern Illinois.
In 1997, full- and part-time English department faculty formed a study group outside of college recognition, due in the main part to English full time faculty and their professional association who were concerned over college policies and minimal oversight of English part time faculty nationwide. About this time the college consolidated part time faculty mailboxes and support in one location. Prior to this, few adjuncts knew who else was also part time. Adjunct English faculty joined other part time faculty in creating a loose association for dissemination of information and news, part of which included some of the abuses, including fear-mongering, arbitrary or capricious decisions of associate deans, and more. Moreover, there was nowhere to turn for redress. Adjuncts were not recognized as a constituency of the college, and were regarded as temporary employees, hired, employed, and fired at will.
Eventually, our union began as a voluntary association. Founding mother Loretta Pyrdek coined the name “College of DuPage Adjuncts Association (CODAA),” and Pyrdek, Sue Dreghorn and other early members met and drafted the first bylaws that were subsequently rewritten after the vote to unionize was taken and approved. CODAA owes a debt of gratitude to many English faculty full timers like Tom Tipton and Jim Allen who offered their moral support and advice to us during the early years.
CODAA began as a small group, as many were afraid to join, fearing retribution by their dean or the central administration. Two long time adjuncts were asked by a sympathetic college trustee to present some information about part timers before the Board. While this went nowhere, and CODAA was still unrecognized by the college, it gained strength and credibility among the adjuncts. By 1998, a CODAA officer was attending each Board of Trustees meeting, and in the public comments portion of the meeting, often addressed the board on issues facing all adjuncts. In the spring of 1999, having been told by the Board that they didn’t have to listen to our problems, the small group was challenged by the Human Resources director to unionize (only then would we be listened to, or recognized). We took up this verbal gauntlet. Thus began the process of organizing, which was made more difficult by the fact that COD was on a quarter-based calendar, not semesters. Because of the wording of the state law, we were ineligible to unionize. In a series of meetings with the college, we agreed on a complicated eligibility requirement that met the spirit of that law. Of all the part time faculty, only 127 met the requirement at that time. An election was held to unionize, the result of which was close to unanimous. About two years later, we hosted a forum here at the college for the Illinois Senate subcommittee on education, to educate them about adjunct faculty issues. The room was packed with adjunct faculty who came from all over northern Illinois—not just COD. The law was changed and the union more than doubled. With the advent of semesters for the academic year, the unit expanded even more. Several years ago, grant-based adjunct faculty and part time advisers and counselors have been incorporated into CODAA.
From such humble beginnings, we have built a reputation for collegial collaboration with the college, but also standing firm in support of adjuncts. We have representation on most College-wide committees, including Shared Governance Counsel, the Board Academic Committee, and Future of Learning Task Force, and work with the college in addressing a multitude of issues and policies involving part time faculty. The CODAA president serves on search committees for all high ranking positions at the College. We respectfully challenge the College during contract negotiations. We challenge short-sighted policies and propose changes. We are now one of the highest paid adjunct faculties in the state. Most practices by the divisions have been standardized. Our Grievance Chair has solved many grievances either to the benefit of our members, or before they became formal grievances. As problems arise that need to be negotiated, we have on occasion reached an agreement with the college changing policies to the advantage of our members. As new issues confront us, we continue to work for solutions, despite whatever roadblocks are put up. Most members are proud to be in the unit, and enjoy the benefits of our contract with the college.
We now face new internal challenges. Many of the original leaders of CODAA are retiring, have medical issues or fatigued from many years of work on union issues. We need new people to come forward and take up the mantle of leadership to continue the work and preserve what we have already accomplished.