Curley Wikkeling-Miller teaches cosmetology at both the Peralta District in Oakland and the Solano District in Fairfield.
Enrollment drops are costing jobs at California’s community colleges, where part-time adjunct professors are the backbone of the system, which serves about 1.5 million students. Many work semester by semester, sometimes with few or no benefits. EdSource takes a deeper look at this gig economy in education.
February 10, 2022
Numbering nearly 37,000, the part-time academics commonly referred to as adjuncts face a worsening situation.
Adjuncts work semester-by-semester, with few or no health benefits. In this video, they speak about the challenges they face.Watch Now
February 14, 2022
California and its community college system have a nagging issue that many say must be addressed: There is little funding to cover health benefits for adjunct professors, who make up two-thirds of the academic workforce. Benefits can vary greatly among its 72 college districts.
February 17, 2022
Taking a part-time job is often a steppingstone to a permanent position. Not at California’s community colleges, where adjuncts lament that they don’t get fair consideration for tenured positions.
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April 6, 2022
Two bills designed to improve the working conditions of part-time community college professors were easily approved by the state Assembly Higher Education Committee on Tuesday, but questions remain as to whether they will become law.Read More
April 4, 2022
Lawsuit could impact part-time faculty across California, backbone of huge system. Filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the suit claims the district violated California’s minimum wage laws and demands back pay for lost wages and pay for the work going forward. If a judge allows the suit to proceed as a class action, more than 600 part-time instructors in the district could be involved.Read More
February 14, 2022
During a meeting of Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance on February 14, Assemblymember Jose Medina, D-Riverside, discussed EdSource’s investigation into the working conditions of adjunct faculty members at California’s community colleges.Watch Video
EdSource in the News
Southern California Public Radio (KPCC.org)
California legislators yesterday advanced a pair of bills that would address pay equity and workload concerns of part-time faculty at California’s community colleges. EdSource reporter Thomas Peele reports one of the bills, from Riverside Democrat Jose Medina, who is a former adjunct, would allow adjuncts to handle up to 85 percent of a full-time teaching workload in one district.Listen Here
The Mercury News
It’s time to stop treating adjunct professors, critical for educating our next generation of workers, like cheap laborRead More
