The FBI and DOL have both put out warnings related to a spike in unemployment fraud as a result of COVID-19. Fraudsters are always looking for any opportunity to take advantage of the system and take advantage of their next mark. Please don’t let that mark be you.
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:
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.
From time to time, CODAA likes to highlight and celebrate the accomplishments
of our talented members. Congratulations to everyone featured in the document here
After careful thought and deliberation, and based on concerns expressed by CODAA members, the CODAA board decided to file a Demand to Bargain, based on a change in working conditions, on behalf of our members.
CODAA leadership had several conversations with College leadership regarding recognition of and compensation for the extra work involved in the conversion to remote instruction, preparation for teaching in fall 2020, and the College’s plan to require submission of quarter and mid-term grades. Unfortunately, these conversations went nowhere.
Therefore, on June 3, 2020, CODAA sent a Demand to Bargain to the College. Due to challenges in scheduling, the first meeting to discuss our demands will likely be in early to mid-July. The bargaining team will consist of CODAA President, Cheryl Baunbach-Caplan, CODAA V.P of Policy, Bonniejean Alford, CODAA Treasure, Steve Mecker, and Bonnie Booth, IEA UniServ Director.
| POSITION TITLE | NAME of OFFICER |
| President | Cheryl Baunbach-Caplan |
| Vice President for Policy | Bonniejean Alford |
| Vice President of Operations | Sabeeha Shariff |
| Secretary | Neal Heatherly |
| Treasurer | Steve Mecker |
| Regional Council Representative | Mike Dusik |
| Joe Trahey | |
| Grievance Chair | Deborah Rogers-Green |
| Membership Chair | Rob Robson |
| Communications Chair | Suzanne Weigos |
(terms begin in August)