Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/229155
Advocacy "Rehire rights, access to health care, not enough information on the Affordable Care Act, paid office hours, access to offices, equal pay for equal work and general inclusion" are issues facing adjunct faculty, says Denise Johnson. "For some, it's a breakthrough to be invited to a department meeting." Adjunct faculty call for equity Discussion, rallies, workshops highlight Campus Equity Week BY DINA MARTIN A S K D E N I S E J O H N S O N about the issues facing adjunct faculty and she could draw you a picture. In fact, that's what she did for the Community College Association (CCA) when she designed a variety of materials for faculty to use in observing Campus Equity Week (CEW) in late October. An artist, graphic designer, art history instructor and adjunct representative in the Chaffey College Faculty Association, Johnson has been an activist for part-time faculty since attending a conference of the New Faculty Majority three years ago. "Rehire rights, access to health care, not enough information on the Affordable Care Act, paid office hours, access to offices, equal pay for equal work, and general 32 Educator 12 Dec 2013 v2.0 int.indd 32 inclusion," she says, ticking off the list. "For some, it's a breakthrough to be invited to a department meeting." Johnson attended that first conference to join the effort to unite full- and part-time faculty over a shared interest in quality education and equity. Since then, she has become increasingly involved in committees on campus, in her union, and now in CCA's Part-time Issues Committee. At their meeting in September, members contributed creative input to a coherent plan for CCA chapters' CEW activities, dividing up the work of designing their "tool kit" for all campuses. As part of that committee, Johnson designed posters, certificates, mugs and buttons to call attention to equity issues, while others took on the DE C E M B E R 2013 | JANUARY 2014 work of research and making sample items so that CCA chapters could order what they needed. The committee members also staffed a table at CCA's fall conference, where they handed out materials and the electronic tool kit to representatives from 23 chapters. This year, community college adjuncts were joined by their California Faculty Association (CFA) colleagues in the CSU system and NEA members across the country in raising awareness of the nation's increasingly stratified higher education system. The issue has never been more pressing. With adjunct faculty now constituting the "New Faculty Majority," or about twothirds of faculty nationwide, the annual PHOTO BY SCOTT BUSCHMAN 12/14/13 3:33 PM