faculty matters

Faculty
Matters
May 2013
A Look Inside
American Federation
Faculty
Association
of Teachers
Local 6157
Prez Sez
Celebrating Tenure
By Barbara Hanfling
PAGE 2
Something Is Rotten In Benoland
By David Yancey, FA, AFT 6157 President
I don’t think there is a community
college employee anywhere in the
jurisdiction of the Accreditation
Commission for Community and Junior
Colleges (ACCJC), aka “Benoland”
that is unaware of the latest actions
of the ACCJC. The President of the
ACCJC is Dr. Barbara Beno.
This commission is notorious for its
heavy handed, secretive and often
unjustifiable sanctions against over half
the Community Colleges in the western
region of the United States, the latest
and most outrageous example is the
unprecedented attack on City College
of San Francisco.
Last summer the ACCJC leveled
sanctions against City College of San
Francisco (CCSF) at the harshest level
possible – show cause. No warning, no
probation, just straight to fix it or your
accreditation will be taken away. Show
Cause is the most serious and most
threatening
of
sanctions
that can be
given and
it is the one
just before
the ACCJC
yanks the college’s accreditation and
can force closure.
It is important to note that the sanctions
against CCSF, like the sanctions at
all the other colleges in this region
had nothing to do with the quality of
education provided at these institutions.
If fact CCSF is rated as the fourth
best community college in California
transfer degrees.
ACCJC Gone Wild
To give some perspective to the “out
of control” nature of this commission
it is important to know that there are
six regional accrediting agencies in the
United States. Between 2003 and 2008
one hundred and twenty six sanctions
were issued in the U.S. by these six
accrediting agencies. Dr. Beno’s
commission issued 111 of those all
within this (one) western region. From
2001 until 2012 the Beno commission
issued 64% of the sanctions in the U.S.
where only 19% of the community
colleges in the country reside. Let me
say it this way, 19% of the community
colleges in the country are in the
western region and they received 64%
of the sanctions issued in the entire
country. Something is definitely wrong
in Benoland.
-continued on page 3
San José/Evergreen Community College District
Prez Sez...
Something Is Rotten
In Benoland
By David Yancey
PAGE 1
The Sabbatical Waltz Goes On
By Sterling Warner
PAGE 4
A Sterling Example for Educators
By Renee Nelson and
Paul Humann
PAGE 5
Student Success Conference
By Mayra Contreras
PAGE 6
By Hook or MOOC
By Jimmy Kelly
PAGE 7
AFT Union and Political Action
By Mike Casas
PAGE 8
Spring Four
www.fa-aft6157.org
(408) 288-3106
fax (408) 295-7482
213 Student Center
San José City College
Acacia 1-205
Evergreen Valley College
San José City College
2100 Moorpark Avenue
San José, CA 95128
Faculty Matters
Executive Board Members
President David Yancey x3873
Vice-President Frank Espinoza* x6581
Fiscal Officer Linda Ferrell x3231
*Negotiations Team
EVC Representatives
Full-time Deborah DeLaRosa* x6607
Full-time Nasreen Rahim x 6246
Adjunct Paul Humann x3779
*Negotiations Team
SJCC Representatives
Full-time Jose Cabrera x3983
Full-time Kieron Connolly x3667
Adjunct Jon Cronan x3779
Ex-Officio
Past President Mark Newton x3989
Grievance Debbie De La Rosa x6607
Negotiations Jory Segal x3779
Retiree President Bill Jacobs x3779
Council of Division Representatives
San José City College
Math and Science
Iyun Lazik, x3633
David Ahlberg x3877
Humanities and Social Sciences
Khalid White, x3050
Applied Science
Pat Space, Adjunct x3782
Isai Ulate, x3836
Business/Service Careers
Carol Ramirez, x3974
Language Arts
Ron Levesque, x3870
Rebecca Gamez, x3308
Instructional Tech/Learning Resources
Counseling and Athletics/PE
Bob Wing, x3945
Joseph King, x3115
Elena Dutra, x3943
Tuan Ngo, x3651
Evergreen Valley College
Business, Applied Technology
Counseling
Elaine Ortiz-Kristich, x6680
Mirella Burton, x6014
Language Arts
Phuong Banh, x6672
Sravani Bannerjee, x2029
Ken Jardin, x6695
Technology/Instructional Services
Shelly Blackman, x6660
Math/Science
Teck Ky, x6877
Guillermo Castilla, x3314
Nursing
Elaine Kafle, x6056
Social Science/Humanities/Arts/PE
Arturo Villarreal, x6609
Randy Pratt, x6592
2
♦
May 2013
Celebrating Tenure
By Barbara Hanfling, FA, AFT 6157 Executive Director
On Friday, May 3rd, the FA, AFT 6157
celebrated with its newly tenured faculty members at the San Pedro Square
Bistro & Wine Bar in downtown San
Jose. Every year since 2009, your local
has held a celebration to honor newly
tenured faculty and their guest/family.
AFT 6157 wants to acknowledge the
hard work of these faculty and welcome
them into our full time tenured faculty
ranks. Congratulations Lisa, David,
Cindy, Keenan and Rufus.
Our honored guests:
Lisa Vasquez (SJCC-Reading)
and her parents
David Lomax (SJCCConstruction Technology)
Cindy Bevan (EVCAdministration of Justice)
Keenan Norris (EVC-English).
Missing was Rufus Blair
(SJCC-Sign Language).
Faculty Matters
♦
May 2013
Prez Sez
-continued from page 1
In our district we have felt the wrath
of the commission and accompanying
pressure to comply and not to complain
lest we be hit harder or punished more
from a vindictive commission. The
ACJCC lectures college administrators
and trustees to not speak up or
complain about the process or the
lack of consistency in between the
visiting teams’ recommendations and
the ultimate sanctions issued by the
commission itself. In fact visiting
team members are forced to sign a
confidentiality statement and threatened
if they speak about the problems within
the commission.
Trustees are lectured at their training
with the Community College League
not to talk in public about sanctions-especially not to the media. The ACCJC
operates largely in secret. Importantly,
why can’t the visiting team members
speak about the important work they do
about making our educational teaching
better?
Accreditation Should Mean
Better Education
The biggest reason the accrediting
teams can’t talk about how they are
making our delivery of education
and our classroom instruction
better is because they are not.
None, yes none, of the sanctions
issued against our district or CCSF
or any other college is this region
were about problems with our
teaching or the education being
delivered. Typically the sanctions
are about integrated planning and
budgeting and strategic planning
and of course the ever popular
SLO’s. In multi college districts
like ours the accreditation team
also focuses on deficiencies
in Governing Board relations or
governance issues between the district
office and the campuses—again not
instruction.
Most disturbing is the ACCJC’s
intrusion into the financial management
of the district, often, as in our case,
demanding the district have a higher
fund balance (reserve) than the law
demands. In many districts like CCSF
the commission is attacking the
collective bargaining agreement as too
lucrative for employees (CCSF faculty
have suffered 10% pay cuts imposed by
the district using the ACCJC sanctions
a justification.) When asked anecdotally
to estimate the cost in our district alone
SJECCD fiscal folks claimed that
millions of dollars were spent to meet
ACCJC’s demands.
Pushback is Here
The good news is that there is
beginning to be push back against
these ACJCC attacks and it is being
led by the California Federation of
Teachers (CFT). The CFT has filed a
250 page complaint with the ACCJC
and with the Department of Education
which is in the process of reviewing
the reauthorization of the ACCJC’s
status to operate in this region. The
complaint outlines the many violations
of law governing accrediting agencies,
multiple violations by the ACCJC of
its own policies and procedures as well
as the many conflicts of interest and
very controversial actions taken by this
commission that we feel is wrong.
This work has been in progress for the
last several months and on Tuesday
of last week the complaint was
delivered to the ACCJC. They refused
to time/date stamp the complaint and
threatened to arrest the CFT staff
if they did not leave. So much for
transparency.
A third party complaint has also been
filed by former CFT President
Marty Hittelman and both
documents are on the CFT
webpage and will soon be on AFT
6157’s website as well. http://
cft.org/your-work/communitycollege/news/520-cft-filescomplaint-taking-accreditingagency-to-task.html So take heart.
Even though we are no longer
under the boot of the ACCJC our
brothers and sisters in CCSF and
around the state are and we all
need to stand in solidarity with
them.
More actions are planned and we
will keep you informed.
Art: Courtesy of Joe Sance
3
Faculty Matters
♦
May 2013
The Sabbatical Waltz Goes On
By Sterling Warner, EVC English Faculty, PRC Chair
Get on the academic dance floor as
soon as possible! Sabbatical Leaves
as outlined in Article 14 of our FA
contract remain alive and well in
the San Jose/Evergreen Community
College District. Although our district
Faculty Association, FA, AFT 6157,
continues championing anything to do
with faculty rights, take nothing for
granted.
Purpose - A sabbatical leave enhances
the “instructional integrity” of the
SJECCD by providing an opportunity
for professional Faculty growth and
development “through a variety of
activities and/or experiences which
have significant relevance to the
specific assignment and/or to the
retraining of the faculty member”
(Faculty Association Collective
Bargaining Agreement 14.1.1).
Eligibility - After
every six years—or
more--of consecutive
service to the district,
faculty may apply
for a sabbatical leave
for one semester or
two semesters during
the seventh year. The
nature and depth of
projects, activities,
and course work—
naturally—helps to
define and determine
the necessary duration
of a sabbatical
request.
Process - No substitute exists for
reading Article 14 on Sabbatical
Leaves several times before
proceeding with the sabbatical
process. Feel free to ask former
4
sabbatical recipients for advice.
Then, obtain the official Application
for sabbatical leaves—the form
“developed by the Professional
Recognition Committee and approved
by the FA and the District” (14.4).
Signatures - Prior to submitting a
sabbatical request for consideration
by the Professional Recognition
Committee (PRC), applicants should
share their plan of action with a
peer or someone on the PRC. Next,
applicants present their proposal
to division deans for approval
(signature). Deans may make
suggestions to address concerns—
if any. Applicants may address
these concerns and resubmit for
signatures. “If discrepancies and/or
disagreements are resolved, pertinent
comments shall be removed and shall
not be passed beyond this point”
(14.4.2.2).
Division Deans - pass
on the sabbatical request
that they have signed to
the college president, who
also has an opportunity
to make comments and/
or express concerns that
applicants may address and
then resubmit the entire
proposal. However, don’t
lose sight of important
dates. Remember that
the SJECCD Human
Resources must
receive all completed sabbatical
applications by 5:00 PM on
November 1, 2013.
Review - The PRC reviews all
applications and documentation,
arranges interviews in November,
and offers faculty a chance to present
their sabbatical plans and answer
any questions. Then, depending on
the result of interviews, the PRC
forwards a written recommendation
to the chancellor. Finally, the
chancellor - has an opportunity to
add comments, sign, and forward the
sabbatical request to the SJECCD
Board of Trustees. “Board actions
on sabbatical applications are to be
taken no later than the first meeting in
February” (14.5).
Expectations and Responsibilities Faculty must complete interim reports
to the PRC explaining the progress
of their sabbatical request. Also,
upon completion of a sabbatical,
the recipient must make “an oral
presentation to faculty, students,
and/or the community regarding
the completed report is required in
order to communicate to the college
community the concomitant benefits
of the leave” (14.7.1.2). By the end of
the first semester after returning from
a sabbatical, faculty members “shall
be required to submit a written report
to the President (or designee) and to
the PRC” (14.7.1.3). The Evergreen
Valley and San Jose City College
libraries house copies of previous
sabbatical reports—check them out.
Service Obligation - Pursuant to
Article 14, any faculty member
granted a Sabbatical Leave “shall
contract to serve the District for two
(2) years” (14.6)—which is all the
more reason to seek a sabbatical now!
Move forward with that sabbatical
project or learning activity that
you’ve put off until another day for
too long. A Sabbatical Leave not only
addresses a faculty member’s own
interests, but also benefits his or her
students. Carpe diem!
Faculty Matters
♦
May 2013
A Sterling Example for Educators
By Renee Nelson-EVC English Adjunct and Paul Humann FA, AFT 6157 EVC Adjunct Rep
“I don’t write to get awards, but it’s
nice to get acknowledged for what I
do.”
-Sterling Warner
A legacy at EVC, Sterling Warner
(full time Faculty since 1990), started
as a part-time instructor in the spring
of 1981. From Gavilan to Foothill/
DeAnza, San Jose State, and West
Valley Mission, Sterling Warner
has shared his passion for teaching
throughout the Bay Area. He has
dedicated his time at EVC to not just
teaching, but also creating resources for
writers, students and faculty. Curator
of the Authors’ Series, the English
Major’s Language Learner’s Club, and
the Author’s Guild, he is also the editor
of Leaf by Leaf, the EVC Literary
magazine on campus.
Always dedicated to new, innovative
teaching practices, he is on the
committee at the Young Rhetorician’s
Conference and the Regional Director
of the English Council of California
Two-Year Colleges (ECCTYC). All
of these activities seem to reflect
Sterling’s core value of professional
development, which he encourages
all instructors to engage in. “Go to
conferences,” Sterling remarked during
an interview, “develop new ways to
help students, write (every instructor
should write);” in other words: get to
know yourself and your pedagogy.
Winning Highest Honors and Awards
Sterling Warner’s dedication as both
a teacher and a writer has not gone
unnoticed. He recently won the
Hayward Award, which “honors
outstanding community college faculty
who have a track record of excellence
Sterling Warner, EVC English Faculty
both in teaching and in professional
activities and have demonstrated
commitment to their students,
profession, and college.” But it is not
the prestige of this award that Sterling
is most pleased with, but rather the
process by which he won it. The award
is bestowed blindly. The selection
committee does not know the names
of the nominated; the award is won
solely on professional merit. This fact,
Sterling notes, gives him a truer sense
of accomplishment because the focus is
on his work, not him.
But that’s not the only award Sterling
won this year. He also received the Jim
Herndon Award at this year’s annual
California Federation of Teachers
convention for his poem, “AFT 2012:
General Session II Version 4,” which
was inspired by the opening ceremony
at last year’s convention. This award
is given for “an outstanding creative
effort that conveys the importance of
unionism in the field of education and
represents the ‘Spirit of the Union.’”
Although it’s an annual award, the
judges don’t always bestow this honor;
in fact it has not been awarded to
anyone in the past two years. Evoking
the grandiose style of the ceremony,
Warner’s imagery is almost satirical
in the beginning of the piece, yet, by
the end, the poem somberly captures
the true spirit of collectivism amongst
the union members at the convention.
Sterling, in both his creative and
professional work, has shown that
political activism is important for all
educators, and that participating in the
process by going to conferences and
conventions is an important aspect of
professional development for educators.
Just from watching him half walk /
half march from the Writing Center
to class, it’s clear that Sterling Warner
exudes the energy of a motivator. He’s
published four books of poetry, won
numerous awards, and sat on more
committees than this article has scope
to mention. And this work was done
not for the sake of recognition, but
for professional development, and to
provide better opportunities for his
students and colleagues.
So, the next time you see Sterling on
campus, don’t just wave casually, or
walk by half-heartedly acknowledging
his presence. Ask the man what he
thinks; where you can volunteer
your efforts for students; or what
opportunities for development you
can engage in; or maybe something
personal like how to balance creative
pursuits and work. Congratulate him,
as you would any other co-worker, but
that’s not the point. Work with him, and
see for yourself.
5
Faculty Matters
♦
May 2013
Student Success Conference
A Student Perspective
By Mayra Contreras, Student, Evergreen Valley College
On Saturday, April 13, 2013, I was
invited by my Sociology Professor,
Dr. Frank Espinoza, to attend the 2nd
Annual “Student Success Beyond the
Classroom” conference, sponsored
by the San Jose/Evergreen Faculty
Association, AFT-Local 6157. To be
quite honest, I really did not know what
to expect, other than it would probably
be related to topics addressed in my
Sociology class.
Upon our arrival I was surprised at the
formality of the event. Students were
greeted by a Professor who registered
each student for the conference. As
we entered we were presented with an
American Federation of Teachers bag
that was filled with school supplies.
From the very beginning, I knew this
would be an interesting experience.
To kick off the morning Dr. Espinoza
provided approximately 60 students
in attendance with an overview of
what the conference would address.
I was very excited about the agenda
which would cover: Labor History
and Activism in the United States,
Comprehensive Immigration Reform,
and the controversy with for-profit
Higher Educational Institutions.
The first speaker, Professor James
Kelly, woke us all up with a song titled
“On the Chain”. What caught my
attention about Professor Kelly was his
energy and passion for labor history.
Most young college students have little
knowledge on the history of labor in
the United States. It seems as though
this information has been strategically
withheld from our history books and
lessons. In my Sociology class the
topic of power has been addressed.
6
the process very well, my husband
and I plan to attend the “citizenship
day” event at San Jose City College in
order to get help with his citizenship
application.
Mayra Contreras, Student EVC
Could it be that those who are in power
have consciously chosen to omit this
information as a way to maintain their
power?
The second speaker was Jasmine
Segura from Services, Immigrant
Rights, and Education Network
(SIREN). Ms. Segura presented
on immigration reform which was
extremely informative. Her presentation
really hit home for me. My family has
been dealing with immigration officials
in an effort to help a family member
legalize their residency status in the
U.S. It has been five years since the
beginning of the process and there is
still no end in sight.
Millions of people in the U.S. are in
limbo with their efforts to legalize
their immigration status. As soon as
I got home I told my husband about
the citizenship process and important
upcoming events to assist with the
application. Because we don’t know
The last topic addressed at the
conference was titled “For Profit
Higher Education: What You Need
to Know Before Signing On the
Dotted Line”. Dr. Frank Espinoza
presented information differentiating
between Private Non- Profit Higher
Education Institutions versus ForProfit Higher Education. To be
honest, the majority of us students did
not have a clue about the difference
between these institutions. Dr. Espinoza
shared a video on this topic titled
“College, Inc.” This documentary was
very informative. I am so glad that Dr.
Espinoza showed this because we are
the types of students that “For Profit
Higher Education” is targeting.
Perhaps one of us could end up as
one of those students who does not
finish a degree yet would still have a
huge debt. I plan to let other people
know what is actually going on and
what they should know about these
schools. Personally, I almost attended
a “for profit” school prior to starting
at Evergreen Valley College. I signed
up to receive information from both
Everest and Heald Colleges, both “For
Profit” institutions. Once they received
my contact information, these schools
wouldn’t stop calling me. They would
literally call me all day, every single
day. In fact, I had to change my phone
number because of their borderline
harassment. I am so glad I chose not to
attend their schools and signed up to be
a student at Evergreen Valley College
instead.
Faculty Matters
♦
May 2013
Student Success Conference
-continued from page 6
All of the information shared at the “Student Success Beyond the
Classroom” conference was extremely informative and beneficial.
While I was not sure what to expect at this Saturday event, I am very
glad that I made the time to attend. I want to thank the AFT Local
6157 Faculty Union for the opportunity to attend this conference and
for investing in your students.
While it was difficult going on a Saturday, it was well worth it. If I
receive an invitation to attend next year’s “Student Success Beyond
the Classroom” conference, you can count on me to attend.
Jimmy Kelly, FA, AFT 6157 Political Coordinator
By HOOK or MOOC
By Jimmy Kelly, FA AFT 6157 Political Coordinator
The California Federal of Teachers’
convention in Sacramento convened
with an action to safeguard community
college jobs immediately from the start.
When you hear “reform education”
be wary. Senate Bill 520 was proposal
in March to mandate the acceptance
of massive open online courses
(MOOCs) and bypass required reviews
by local faculty and staff. Our local
discussed the concerns. It was national
news and a major PR plug for the
Senator Dennis Steinberg.
Apparently this proposal got lots of
fanfare and buzz and certainly had
your union concerned statewide. Since
faculty are the experts in the classroom
why were we and our representatives
not consulted and involved in the bill?
The intent was to eliminate a so called
“bottleneck” where students are unable
to enroll in high demand classes could
find an alternative online class - a real
coup for these private online classes
and to the detriment local community
college instruction. Despite the fanfare
and hyperbole in the media, teachers
and our union responded immediately.
A fox snuck into the henhouse and the
union acted.
We know years of budget cuts, course
cancellations, unfilled counseling
positions, summer school eliminations
have contributed to the inability of
students to get certain classes. The
career delays to students who are
unable to finish their plan of study
is a consequence. The union finds it
unacceptable. Further investigation
found that the legislation was crafted
by Sebastian Thrun, the founder of
Udacity (shall we say audacity?) a
private education corporation that
offers dozen of online classes and the
possible quid pro quo smelled odorous
to me.
Convention delegates were welcomed
to go en masse on their working lunch
break to deliver the message directly
to state law makers’ offices. Hundreds
of Californian Federation of Teachers
united and went into the state capital
with letters from constituents that
stated in no uncertain terms our firm
opposition. Now we-- the people who
teach-- can submit our expertise to
the legislature and hopefully address
the real problems of budget cuts. We
can and will find common ground to
address the real concerns of students
and faculty.
This month your local union is
initiating meetings with Assembly
members Nora Campos, faculty
colleague Paul Fong, and State Senator
Jim Beall. Your voluntary donations to
COPE our Committee on Political
Education provides access to policy
makers like legislators and supports
members of the Board of Trustees
COPE helped us pass Prop 30 for
funding our schools. Our combined
contributions can effectively ensure the
interests of students and faculty will be
heard. Thanks to you we are working.
7
Faculty Matters
♦
May 2013
AFT Union and Political Action
By Michael Casas, SJCC Associated Student President
Attending the 71st Annual
California Federation
of Teachers (CFT),
AFL-CIO convention
was very rewarding and
invigorating for all that
attended. The convention’s
theme was “Building
Education that Works.”
Much of the discussion
truly lived up to its
outcome. There was much
discussion regarding the
successful passage of
Proposition 30 and the
defeat of Proposition 32.
Leaders from the Union
praised Prop 30, which
has become the state’s first primary
resource in building a movement
capable of changing the state’s
priorities. This will fund education,
health and human services throughout
the state.
The floor debate was interesting with
many discussions and resolutions
being proposed with one particular
resolution being Education Finance.
This resolution stated “Demand
transparency and accountability in
the UC budget process” I found this
of particular interest because many
students graduate from California
Community Colleges transfer to the
four year Universities. This resolution
was submitted by the University
Council-AFT.
As a student who is majoring in
Political Science I was very interested
in reading that there is no transparency
in spending for the UC Regents. It also
states that the California Constitution
limits the ability of the California
8
amount of frivolous
spending that goes on
within the UC regents
they would demand
change.
Mike Casas, SJCC AS President and Jim MahlerCFT Community College Council President
Legislature or Governor to control
the UC’s budget or to direct the UC
Regents on how they should spend their
money. As a citizen of California this
really concerns me and I am sure that
if the general public knew the exact
The Union is seeking to
resolve that the CFT and
its affiliate University
Council–“AFT” call on
the State Legislature
and Governor to pass
necessary budget control
language holding the
UC Regents accountable
for the public funds
that they receive from
tax-paying citizens in
California. This action may call for a
constitutional amendment.
Another workshop that I had interest
in was the PAC (Political Action
Committee) hearing how unions
can make contributions to support
candidates in their districts. These
workshops were all very informative
for a student like me majoring in
Politics. I appreciated the opportunity
to attend this Convention and learn
more about the Union that represents
our faculty and the passion they have
for education and students.
Faculty Matters
Production Team
Editor/Lead Writer: Barbara Hanfling
Assistant Editor: Sterling Warner
Copy Edit/Layout: Patti Berg
Photos: Barbara Hanfling
Frank Espinoza
Content Contributions and Guidance
from the FA, AFT 6157 Executive Board
and Faculty Members