Contract and Salary

April 24, 2020 the following tentative agreements have been signed for for 2019-2021.  Please take the time to review the agreements.  As a member of CCFT, you can expect to have an electronic ballot sent to you on  May 7.  Please watch for the email to vote.  These are the important topics for these TAs with links to the a PDF copy of the signed document:

1. Compensation: A one-time payment of 20 hours at D9 rate ($89.61/hr), prorated for spring 2020 load up to 100%, in recognition of the tremendous effort put forth by the faculty in transitioning to emergency online teaching and supporting students.
2. Enhanced Noncredit ESL: loading at 15 hours
3. Article 3-Academic Freedom: Completely revised
4. Division Chair selection process: (same as proposed in spring 2019, in effect now for fall 2021)
5. Extension for grade due date: to noon on Thursday June 4 2020 (one extra week, students should not be assigned work after finals week)
6. Large class loading PT adjustment: (capped at 67% if large lecture loading would cause 3rd overload in 6 semester period)
7. NCC Cluster Coordinator: provisions for interim/replacement due to leave
8. Online counseling appointments: by mutual agreement
9. Senate Reassigned Time: The TA formalizes the 1.8 FTE granted to the Senate as reassign time in the CBA (it was not formalized prior to this). The Senate Council will determine the distribution. The TA also increases the reassign time granted to CCFT from 1.2 FTE to 1.8 FTE.

Full Summary

Compensation: CCFT Tentative Agreement – Compensation – signed

The EB and the negotiations team considered various ways for compensating faculty. No method proved to be 100% equitable. We recognize that everyone has had unique challenges that would be impossible to quantify. After consulting with several faculty outside of the EB, we determined that the load-based formula was closer to equitable than other formulas.

The compensation will be processed by HR after our ratification vote and Board approval. This means that your payment will likely be processed in June (provided the approvals occur). We have been informed that withholding and normal tax rates will apply to your payment but that it is not pensionable. Please consider a small donation either to Academic Senate dues (for scholarships) or to the Cuesta CASE fund to further help students in need.

The District administration and management has been remarkably cooperative, supportive, and proactive in helping faculty and students throughout the C-19 crisis. Their negotiation team (all of the VPs) has worked with us in a collaborative manner to trouble-shoot challenges and work towards positive solutions since the crisis began. Their proposal for compensation included this statement: “The District agrees that there has been remarkable work completed by all District faculty and staff in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” The administrative staff have expressed this sentiment verbally many times in many different venues.

Enhanced Non-Credit ESL: CCFT Tentative Agreement – Enhanced NC ESL – signed

The district had been requesting that our non-credit enhanced ESL faculty teach a higher load (25 hours vs 15 hours per week). CCFT was able to work with the district to inform them that doing so would be damaging to a program that is working exceptionally well for some of our most disadvantaged students. They are now contractually protected and I’m sure will sleep better this weekend.

Academic Freedom: CCFT Tentative Agreement – Academic Freedom

The district has accepted a slightly modified version of the recently approved Board Policy 4030 regarding Academic Freedom. With a major push from the Academic Senate, faculty now have expanded and better-defined academic freedom rights including intellectual property protections.

Division Chair Selection Process: Tentative Agreement – Division Chair Process

CCFT revised the division chair selection process in year 2018-2019 but the new language did not get approved in time for the spring 2019 ratification vote. All faculty will now have a vote to determine their chair.

Grade Due Date Extension: Tentative Agreement – Grades – signed

The district readily agreed to our request to extend the deadline for grades to be submitted by one full week to noon on June 4, 2020 in recognition that faculty may have new assessments or extended due dates for students facing COVID-19 related obstacles.  Please remember that students should not be assigned work to be collected after the end of the semester, but one could allow extensions for extenuating circumstances.

Large Class Loading: Tentative Agreement – Large Lecture Loading – signed

Last year, the district and CCFT agreed to extend large-class loading. There was a concern that a PT faculty member could be inadvertently overloaded due to this policy and therefore be “Peralta’ed” into a FT position by accident. We agreed with the district that a PT faculty load due to large class loading will be capped at 67% to prevent such an occurrence.

North County Cluster Coordinator: Tentative Agreement – North County Cluster Coordinator Process – signed

The NCC Cluster Coordinator position did not have a process for replacement due to leaves, illness, or early retirement. Now we do! It’s just like the new division chair process.

Online Counseling Appointments: Tentative Agreement – Online Counseling

Our counselors are now protected from being forced to conduct online counseling appointments against their will (just like instructional faculty can’t be forced to teach DE) unless the college is forced to close due to a wildfire or some other disaster. We’re sure that this will never happen of course.

Senate Reassigned Time: Senate Reassigned Time

The District agrees to provide 1.8 FTE reassigned time to Academic Senate Council leadership for the purpose of conducting senate business, managing curriculum, promoting and managing the assessment of student learning outcomes, and organizing faculty professional development.