Do Faculty have a Voice in Course Scheduling (topic, day, time, modality)
Jesse W. Raskin (Skyline College)
David Morse
Hi Jesse,
I think you have two different issues here. One is the creation of the course schedule. I think most administrations would argue that who teaches and when is a matter of right of assignment, which does fall under the administration’s purview. In some cases you could argue that the way that courses are being scheduled for a program might impact the overall health of the program, which could therefore be argued as a 10+1 matter. However, I can’t really see an argument that who is teaching the class is a curriculum decision. If the instructor meets minimum qualifications and follows the COR, then, in theory, curriculum is not being impacted.
The modality of the course is a slightly different issue. The faculty should be the ones to decide whether a course can be offered online, as hybrid, etc. However, once offering the course through that modality is officially approved, the decision on who teaches it and how many sections will be offered ultimately goes back to administration.
That said, I would agree that a more balanced decision-making process with significant faculty input makes more sense than just handing the process to the administration. I am not sure you can entirely get to that through the senate’s purview, but some colleges have done so though their faculty union contract. The union can negotiate a role for department chairs or faculty in general in the development of the schedule. I suspect that all administrations are still going to retain the final decision-making power, but many will at least allow for a process that includes he faculty significantly.
Hope this is useful,
David W. Morse, PhD
Professor of English, Long Beach City College
At-Large Representative, FACCC Board of Governors
President, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges 2014-2016
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Wheeler North
Jesse Raskin
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David Morse
Hi Jesse,
On your question one, it is not Ed Code or Title 5. It’s in the Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA), which states the following:
3540.1
(m) “Supervisory employee” means an employee, regardless of job description, having authority in the interest of the employer to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or the responsibility to assign work to and direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively recommend that action, if, in connection with the foregoing functions, the exercise of that authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.
This is the passage that is invoked by administration as management’s right to assign, unless someone's collective bargaining has given that right away.
As to question two, I think the general answer is, unfortunately, yes. The dean does not have to assign a specific faculty member to teach a specific class unless the faculty contract contains some provision that would make him or her do so. For example, the contract might say something about seniority rights for scheduling, or it could guarantee full-time faculty be assigned classes before part-time. But if there is a protection for faculty in this area, it would be in the faculty contract, not in Ed Code or Title 5.
Now, normally I would think dean would not want to do this, but I can see exceptions. For example, I can think of a situation I know of where a tenured faculty member wanted to teach in a special program, and the program director just absolutely did not want her. From my understanding, the director had good reason, based on past experience and the person not having fulfilled obligations well, for objecting to the faculty member. In that case, the dean refused to assign the faculty member to the program. So there may be, in some cases, a justification for the dean to deny a faculty member a specific assignment. But to do so capriciously or based on bias seems very unwise on the dean’s part, as at the lest it is going to create a lot of resentment and potentially some official protests. If the faculty member felt he or she was being treated unfairly or differently from other faculty, that might lead to a grievance, but it would have to go through the union. Some colleges might also have a board policy on anti-discrimination or something like that, in which case the senate might have some voice, but I think it is still mostly a union issue. Again, Ed Code and Title 5 do not give a lot of basis for an argument in this area.
Hope this helps,
David
David W. Morse, PhD
Professor of English, Long Beach City College
At-Large Representative, FACCC Board of Governors
President, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges 2014-2016
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Jesse W. Raskin (Skyline College)
David Morse
Best of luck,
David
David W. Morse, PhD
Professor of English, Long Beach City College
At-Large Representative, FACCC Board of Governors
President, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges 2014-2016
(562) 938-4458
Join FACCC (Faculty Association of California Community Colleges):https://fs18.formsite.com/FACCC/EnrollmentCard/index.html
Thanks for taking me to school. I deeply appreciate the guidance, support and suggestions. Sounds like Senate and the local need to connect on this one and see if we have a shared concern. And perhaps some organizing among faculty too.
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Andrew Park
In the interest of adding to the confusion, last time I researched "right of assignment", I got this page: https://acefhda.org/ace-update-10-21-19-management-right-of-assignment-negotiations-update-officer-elections-staff-development-leave-upcoming-workshops/ (yes, not faculty union, but still the same system).
It referred to Government Code 3543.2
Anyways---I guess the point is, it's an ingrained labor law principle---possibly public employee labor law principle.
Happy to help any time, Jesse. Actually, for the sake of being accurate, I did find a reference in Ed Code yesterday (by accident, as I was looking for something else) that applies to your question. Education Code §70902(b)(4) gives the governing board the right to “Employ and assign all personnel not inconsistent with the minimum standards adopted by the board of governors and establish employment practices, salaries, and benefits for all employees not inconsistent with the laws of this state.” As I mentioned before, when I have asked administrators about this is the past, the reference I got was always to the EERA, but that Ed Code section seems to apply as well. Best of luck, David David W. Morse, PhD Professor of English, Long Beach City College At-Large Representative, FACCC Board of Governors President, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges 2014-2016 (562) 938-4458
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On 4/10/20, 2:16 PM, "cccse...@googlegroups.com on behalf of Jesse W. Raskin (Skyline College)" <cccse...@googlegroups.com on behalf of ras...@smccd.edu> wrote: Thanks for taking me to school. I deeply appreciate the guidance, support and suggestions. Sounds like Senate and the local need to connect on this one and see if we have a shared concern. And perhaps some organizing among faculty too. -- This group has NOT been established or endorsed by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges or its Executive Committee. This discussion group is not moderated, and any opinion expressed is solely that of its author. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CCCSenates" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cccsenates+...@googlegroups.com
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