In Washington State, the bill presented as part of the AFT’s FACE campaign took a giant step forward this week when the House version of the bill moved from the Higher Ed Committee to the House Ways and Means. This is the first time we have been able to get FACE beyond its “Committee of Origin,” and it’s a significant step forward in codifying some of the basic guiding principles behind FACE. At the same time, a companion bill has been heard in the Senate’s Committee on Higher Education and Work Force Development.

Because of the current economic crisis, AFT Washington presented the FACE campaign as a “bill about principles.” Last year, we had been successful in getting enough funding to convert 20 part-time positions into full-time, tenure-track positions, but we had not been able to get the bills outlining our goals through the legislative process, so that was our main objective this year from the very beginning.

AFT Seattle members (left to right) Dave Conners, Brian Holt, and Carol Hamilton testify before the Washington Senate Education Committee. Photo by Richard Burton

I didn’t magically become a different person when I started teaching as a full-time, tenure-track instructor, nor did I automatically become a better teacher. However, my life did change dramatically, and I have more resources available to me. That does make a huge difference in what I can accomplish, both personally and professionally, and the change does almost feel magical.

When I was a part-timer, I was always invited to attend division meetings and participate in training sessions, but I was seldom able to. For one thing, I usually had to rush to another campus. Even when the colleges offered stipends to attend the meetings, the stipends weren’t enough to compete with what I could earn teaching a class somewhere else.

It’s been awhile since my last post, not because I’ve lost interest in FACE, but because I’ve been a lot busier since I’ve become a full-time, tenure-track instructor.

I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, I’ve been teaching as a part-timer for seventeen years, and I’ve been president of our local (which includes both full-time and part-time faculty) for almost five years. I’m familiar with the issues both full- and part-time faculty face – at least in our little corner of Washington State – and I thought I was prepared to make the transition.

Being a part-timer describes conditions of employment: It's not a statement of identity. I am, first and foremost, a teacher. When I was going to school to prepare for my career, my goal was to teach in a community college. The fact that, in order to do so and survive, I had to accept multiple part-time assignments should not have affected my understanding of who I was and what I wanted to accomplish.

Unfortunately, it did. I'm still discovering how big of an impact this has had on my self-image, but as I prepare for my first year of teaching as a full-time, tenure-track instructor, I'm already stunned by the change. Soon after I accepted the offer, one of my critics wrote, "This position could have gone to a part-timer instead," and I began to realize that there would be a change in the way others viewed me. I'm just beginning to understand how big of an impact that will have on how I view myself.

Okay, so we have posted a couple times already on our own Phil Jack's move into a tenure-track position, but just one more time. You should check out Phil's piece over at Inside Higher Ed today.  I imagine now that he is writing for the "trade press" that we will have to plead with him to post here at FACE Talk!

Last Thursday, I accepted a full-time, tenure track position at Green River Community College. Since then, I have been struggling to find a way to express the things I'm feeling right now.

It's been twenty years since I landed my first job as a "part-time" English instructor, so this is a huge personal milestone for me. It's tempting to say that I have finally accomplished my goal, but that sounds too much like I've reached the end of my journey. My journey hasn't ended; I've simply merged onto another highway.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Margaret West's being told she would no longer be offered classes at the college where she has taught for twenty-one years. I should also mention that another adjunct faculty member, Brent Todd, was given the same message from the same dean at the same school and there is some indication that there might be others. Several people have responded to the post, both here and on other web sites, so I thought I'd give an update and respond to a couple of the responses. As you will see a good deal has happened since I last wrote about this.

If you recall, FACE Talk contributor and part-time faculty activist Phil Jack worked and reported on AFT Washington's efforts to promote FACE in the Evergreen State. If you also recall, Phil reported that while they did not achieve their ultimate goal this legislative session, they did get a small amount of money for converting part-time positions into full-time positions (which some suggested could only hurt part-time faculty).

Well, here is some news. Phil, who has been a part-time faculty member at Green River Community College for quite a few years, had applied for a full-time position in the English department. He was one of two finalists, but in the end did not get the job. Lo and behold, along comes one of the new positions funded by those conversion funds and Green River decides to use it in the English department. Guess who just got a tenure-track position?

So rarely do we see the concrete results of efforts like the work that Phil has put into the FACE campaign, but no one deserves it more. Congrats to Phil.

Margaret West has been teaching as a part-timer for Edmonds Community College twenty-one years. For several years, she has been offered annual "Assurance of Employment Contracts." Her students enjoy her classes, and her colleagues like working with her.

She has been active in her local, serving on its Executive Council for almost eleven years as the Vice President of the Committee On Political Education (COPE) and the Vice President for Communications. Margaret has also served on (or led) the faculty team during six contract negotiations.

On the state level, Margaret has served on the AFT Washington Contingent Workers Committee and on AFT Washington’s Executive Board. She has testified in Olympia on behalf of her colleagues, and has proven herself to be passionate about education.

A good friend of mine and I often talk about a project we would like to do. We've seen several studies conducted that talk about the abuses part-timers suffer, but we haven't seen any that investigate the consequences of choosing to be a part-time instructor.

Our theory, which is based entirely on anecdotal evidence and personal experience, is that part-time faculty suffer from a higher rate of stress-related conditions. For example, many part-timers I know who have been teaching for more than five years have gone through a divorce at some point in their careers. Several suffer from depression; others deal with health issues like ulcers and heart disease. I can’t help but wonder how many, if any, attempt and/or commit suicide.