Resolution to Improve Student Success and Retention by virtue of Securing Adequate Funding for Pay Equity and Paid Office Hours for Temporary Faculty, and the Conversion of Existing Temporary Faculty to Full-Time Permanent Status. • December 1, 2014

WHEREAS, the California State Budget is the strongest it has been in years; and
WHEREAS, many programs that benefit temporary faculty and contribute to student success and retention have been cut or eliminated during the Great Recession and have yet to be restored; and
WHEREAS, temporary faculty now comprise 75 percent of higher education instructors in the United States; and
WHEREAS, temporary part-time faculty are required to hold the same academic qualifications and credentials as their full-time colleagues; and
WHEREAS, at most colleges full-time instructors are paid significantly more than part-time faculty for the same duties of preparation, teaching, and grading/assessment; and
WHEREAS, many colleges do not fund or underfund office hours for temporary faculty; and
WHEREAS, due to poor prospects for career advancement and inadequate pay many qualified temporary faculty leave the profession annually; and
WHEREAS, the retention of qualified instructors supports institutional viability and directly contributes to student success; and
WHEREAS, most temporary instructors are not compensated for, yet are essential to, the task of realigning courses and updating programs to meet the needs of a changing world; and
WHEREAS, recent studies have shown that a well-paid, stable faculty workforce contributes to student success and retention; and
WHEREAS, student access to faculty outside of the classroom and during office hours is an important contributor to student success; and
WHEREAS, current full-time faculty are already overworked and overburdened with many of the responsibilities of shared governance and serving student needs;
Therefore, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Faculty Senate of Palomar Community College requests that the Governor and the Department of Finance allocate additional funds in the January 2015 budget proposal for parity/equity compensation and paid office hours for part-time temporary faculty in the California Community College system in the amount of $30 million for paid office hours, and $50 million for parity/equity compensation; and
Therefore, be it further RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate of Palomar Community College requests that the Governor and the State Legislature allocate $100 million for the conversion of existing part-time temporary faculty to full-time faculty status