Category: News & Updates

Categories
News & Updates

Public Comment, 7/15/2021

Good evening. My name is Cheryl Baunbach-Caplan, president of the College of DuPage Adjuncts Association.

I am here tonight to ask that the College follow core Values listed in its Mission statement by treating our adjunct members in a respectful and equitable manner. The College can do this by allowing CODAA members, who will be losing eligibility this fall, to remain in our bargaining unit.

Adjuncts teach more than 60% of the courses at College of DuPage. In some departments, more than 80% of the courses are taught by CODAA members.

Due to the pandemic and the subsequent loss of enrollment, seventy- three CODAA members are faced with loss of eligibility in fall 2021. This is a record number – more than double that of a normal year. Loss of eligibility means loss of income, loss of benefits such as professional development funds, and loss of right of assignment over non-CODAA adjuncts. It takes a minimum of three years teaching at College of DuPage to become a CODAA member. This means CODAA members have demonstrated their dedication to the College and its students as well as honed their teaching skills. Some of those losing eligibility have taught at the College for more than 20 years.

President Caputo is rightfully proud of the fact that the College showed compassion and respect by protecting the employment of almost all employees during the pandemic, even if it meant shifting some individuals to other work. How then can the College decide that adjuncts – those impacting more students than any other constituency group – do not deserve similar treatment when the impact of the pandemic on enrollment was beyond their control?

Allowing our members to retain eligibility costs the College nothing – the higher compensation members receive has already been budgeted.

Due to the anticipated impact of the pandemic, CODAA began talking with the College about a Memorandum of Understanding to retain eligibility on a one time basis for one year only as early as December 2020. Those facing loss of eligibility have suffered long enough wondering if the College will protect them like they protected others, wondering if the College values them at all. A simple MOU can demonstrate that the College truly believes in its core values of respect and equity for all.

The College should not look at allowing these CODAA instructors to retain eligibility as a “union matter” for which the College bears no responsibility. Rather, it should view these dedicated instructors as valued employees, who like everyone else, suffered more than just a disruption of employment during the pandemic. Showing them compassion, respect, and equity should be an obvious choice.

Thank you.

Categories
News & Updates

Statement to the board, 15 July 2021

by Bonniejean Alford, MA (Sociology and Communication)

Chairperson Dunn, Members of the Board, and Members of the Community, I come to you as both an individual within the community that College of DuPage serves and as an adjunct faculty member in the Sociology Department at College of DuPage greatly impacted by the last year and a half due to the fallout from the COVID-19 shutdowns. As Vice President of Policy for CODAA, I am also aware of many adjuncts in the same or worse predicament than I have been facing.

On a personal level, I lost 2/3 of my income during the last Academic year and received only 2 classes for the upcoming fall, when for 14 years at this institution I have received 4 classes each fall and spring. I hope the classes run. All of this impacts me greatly. And yet, I stand before you as one of the lucky ones. I didn’t lose eligibility and I have been able to find some grant assistance to mitigate a part of the lost income that is directly connected to the drop in enrollment caused by the conditions of this time under COVID-19. My colleagues have already spoken more on this eligibility matter, but this is only part of the impact on a population of employees that serves our students with integrity and a great sense of duty, even in the face of their own struggles – all while wearing a smile (even behind a mask) and remaining ever a source of stability for the students that worry each day about the great unknown that had and may continue to befall upon us.

They do this – we do this – because our students are a priority to us, just as they are a priority to the college. During the COVID-19 crisis, we stepped up. Alongside our Full-time counterparts, we put in extra time, energy, and care to provide a safe and continuous learning environment for our students. Other local colleges recognized the extra effort and time and compensated their adjuncts for said act of going above and beyond the standard call of duty. But not at College of DuPage. Time and again, we were told it was a compensation matter, and it should wait until bargaining a new contract. Time and again, we were told through inaction that we were not worthy of assistance, even as many of our adjuncts have been financially drowning, barely staying afloat. The small amount of help we asked for, are asking for, will go a long way to show our value, should it be provided. Now, cost is argued as reason for not providing assistance.

To mitigate this cost, I am aware that the college received funds thanks to the American Recovery Act, of which a portion has yet to be allocated for use. We ask that a portion of these funds be used to recognize the dedication of our adjuncts, especially in light of the struggles they have faced due to the COVID-19 crisis. This is acceptable, provided that the assistance need was created as a direct result of the crisis, which it is and has been.

For years, Adjuncts have felt the lack of respect, even if we are told we matter. If we do matter, we at least deserve this small consideration. I mean after all, since we teach more than 60% of classes, we must be at least as important as the softball and baseball fields, each of which are being allocated in the college’s budget to receive $375k and $1M in funds respectively. While these are important parts of student life at College of DuPage, the wellbeing and time of our adjuncts is also an important resource that is often taken for granted. Please consider this more than reasonable request to show adjuncts the dignity and respect they deserve.

Now, I must take my leave, as I do have class at 6:30. Thank you for taking the time to hear me in these concerns.

Categories
News & Updates

President’s Report – Bargaining Update – May 2021

The Bargaining team presented all but our remuneration proposals to the College on May 7 and May 10, 2021. Each member of the team presented one or more proposal. While we cannot discuss the details of proposals at this time, they included protection of eligibility for members who lost sections due to remote instruction and a reduction in enrollment during the pandemic and compensation for expenses associated with teaching remotely. The College will begin giving its response to our proposals on May 24, 2021. We expect to bargain throughout much of the summer.

Cheryl made this opening statement on May 7, 2021:

I believe I am the only member of the either bargaining team that has ever been involved in negotiating a CODAA contract. This provides a unique opportunity for productive and cordial bargaining discussions, relatively free of pre-conceived notions. CODAA is committed to bargaining in good faith and treating everyone with respect.

The values listed in the College’s mission statement are: Integrity Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, and Equity. I am optimistic we will all keep these values in mind as well as remembering that we all work at College of DuPage to best educate and support our students.

Adjuncts teach more than 60% of the courses at College of DuPage which means students are more likely to be taught by an adjunct instructor than a full-time faculty member. And of all the adjuncts teaching, more than 700 are CODAA members.

Adjunct working conditions are students learning conditions. When adjunct instructors can only spend five minutes with a struggling student after class or feel overwhelmed by a request for a letter of recommendation because they are working two, three, or even four jobs just to make ends meet, students are negatively impacted.

Many years ago, adjunct instructors were in the minority at Colleges and Universities. Many of these adjuncts were spouses who did not need to work full time or retired professionals wishing to share their knowledge. While some adjuncts at College of DuPage still fall into these categories, many do not. A 2014 congressional report found that 89 percent of adjuncts surveyed worked at more than one college; 27 percent worked at three schools; and 13 percent taught at four or more.

It is time for Colleges and Universities to discard their antiquated notions of adjunct instructors and the antiquated standards for compensation and support. It is apparent that the use of adjuncts to teach the majority of courses, particularly at Community Colleges, is not going away. Only by recognizing the value and importance of these professionals – all of whom at College of DuPage are required to hold the same credential as their full-time counterparts – will students’ best interests be served.

In 2019, when negotiations with the FT faculty were at an impasse, the College offered CODAA an incredible compensation and benefits package if we would agree to cover full-time courses in the event of a strike. None of our proposals now come even close to requesting what was offered then. However, they are much smaller, but significant steps in a move toward equity – a value listed in the College’s mission statement – with the salary and benefits provided to full-time faculty.

Many Colleges site cost-saving and keeping tuition low as arguments for under-compensating adjunct faculty. However, studies by the American Institutes for Research show that many schools that reduced spending by using part-time labor increased expenditures on administration.

After the College moved to remote instruction in March of 2020, CODAA began advocating on behalf of its members for additional support and compensation to offset the many hours of additional work required by this shift. Our requests were modest and modeled after what every other Community College in the Collar counties (and even some outside the Collar counties) was providing their adjuncts. Yet all our requests were denied. A reason commonly cited was that “we would be bargaining soon and the College felt these were issues best brought up in regular contract negotiations.” CODAA expects the College will keep this in mind as it reviews our proposals.

The College requested that we present all our proposals at once, with the exception of salary compensation. Our concern in doing this is that, without the contextual narrative and research behind each proposal, the College’s first reaction may be to view the totality of our proposals as unreasonable. We are asking, therefore, that you reserve judgement until we have had time to present and discuss each proposal individually.

Categories
News & Updates

CODAA Trivia Night Social

May 26, 2021

Register your team here:  https://forms.gle/T4CkU55T6wEXgoNP7

Zoom link will be shared after registering your team

Register by May 10th to receive a surprise pack!

Fun!  Friends!  Prizes! 

Categories
News & Updates

CODAA President’s Comments to the BOT on 4/29/2021

Good Evening.  My name is Cheryl Baunbach-Caplan and I am president of the College of DuPage Adjuncts Association. 

I would like to thank the current Board of Trustees for their service and guidance to the College of DuPage during the challenging times we have faced since March of 2020.  

And, on behalf of CODAA, I would like to welcome the newly elected Board of Trustees.  I congratulate Heidi Holan on her re-election and Flo Appel and Nick Howard as newly elected Board members.  The role of a College of DuPage Trustee is important and  demanding and CODAA appreciates your willingness to serve the COD community.  

CODAA leadership very much looks forward to engaging in regular discussion with all of you so that we can better understand your vision for the college and you can better understand our issues and concerns and the way we serve College of DuPage students.  

CODAA will begin negotiating our new collective bargaining agreement with the College on May 7 th.  We look forward to engaging in cordial and productive bargaining sessions.  We hope that the College will recognize the extraordinary efforts the adjunct faculty and part-time counselors and advisors engaged in during the pandemic to best serve College of DuPage students.  And when it is time to present the proposed contract to the Board of Trustees, we hope the Board will treat our 700 plus members fairly and equitably.