‘I’m still not OK.’ Many Fresno-area college educators out of work during pandemic
Due to a decline in enrollment at community colleges nationwide, hundreds of part-time instructors at the State Center Community College District are without a job this semester, according to the State Center Federation of Teachers.
The drop in enrollment is due to the shift to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit community colleges particularly hard.
The State Center teachers union puts the number of adjunct faculty who did not return after teaching in spring 2020 at about 500. Many more had their courses reduced.
Adjuncts are part-time instructors who can only teach two to three courses a semester and are paid hourly. Most are only paid for time spent in the classroom, according to SCFT President Keith Ford, and not for lesson planning, grading time, or office hours. Because they do not work full-time, adjuncts do not receive medical benefits.
SCCCD administration clashes with teachers union over the term ‘layoffs’
Although the union characterized the job losses as layoffs, district spokesperson Lucy Ruiz said they were not considered layoffs by the State Center administration.
“They were not given an assignment this semester, but may have assignments in summer or in fall,” she said.
The union and the administration also disagree on how the number of out-of-work instructors should be counted.
Ruiz estimated the number of adjuncts who did not have classes from fall 2020 to spring 2021 was about 150.
SCFT Executive Director/Organizer Inez Zuniga said the union is counting the number of instructors who did not return from spring 2020 to spring 2021. It is counting instructors assigned to short-term classes that haven’t started yet, because there’s a chance those could be cut if not enough students sign up. She estimates the number without classes is about 500.
“Some of those people might come back to teach short term, but we’re not exactly optimistic, given the enrollment, given that students are struggling in the remote learning environment,” she said.
“We also have instructors who are currently working that have already been scheduled a short-term class, making it less likely that the currently unemployed will move into a short-term class.”
Ruiz said because of union negotiations, the district has to give the most senior adjuncts priority, and the adjuncts with less experience get assigned last.
“Our Deans and (vice presidents) worked tirelessly to give as many adjuncts classes as possible, within the parameters of the negotiated agreement, including adding late start classes or working to give impacted adjuncts classes in summer/fall,” she said.
Regardless of disagreements over terminology, the district and the union agree that fewer students enrolled means fewer classes are needed.
An overall decrease in federal financial aid applications for fall 2021 could signify that high school seniors still may not want to attend college in the fall.
In mid-February last year, just before the pandemic hit, over 191,000 California students had submitted aid applications, a 4% increase from the year before.
As of last month, that number stood at 158,391, down 17%.
Nationwide, first-time student enrollment at community colleges declined 13.1% in fall 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
At State Center Community College District, there were over 40,000 students enrolled in both fall 2019 and spring 2020, according to data released by the district.
In fall 2020, enrollment dropped to 37,314 across the district’s four colleges, and for spring 2021, enrollment is at 34,631.
Ford is calling on full-time members and the public to help adjuncts by contributing to a GoFundMe account, which has already raised over $9,700.
Ford said the money would go to adjuncts who lost their jobs or have had their classes reduced.
One of the people it may benefit is a part-time instructor at Fresno City College, who said she was surprised with the news three weeks before Christmas that she was out of a job.
The instructor asked not to be identified out of concern for possible future employment repercussions.
She said it was a shock to lose her job because teaching is a big part of her identity.
“I know that I’m not fairly compensated for it, but at the same time, I find it rewarding,” she said. “But emotionally, I really wasn’t OK, and there are ways in which I’m still not OK. But I’m doing much better than I was before. I cried for probably a week off and on.”
She said she’s getting by on unemployment benefits for now.
She and several other adjunct faculty who spoke with The Bee said the issue of adjuncts struggling to get by is not new.
“It’s just been exacerbated by the fact that we have a pandemic,” the instructor said, “and we’re shown how disposable we actually are.”
Ford said the district usually loses about 100 to 150 adjuncts from one year to the next, but that’s turnover, and those teachers are replaced.
“But that didn’t happen this year,” he said.
Reedley College lost the most instructors because “enrollment was already a little low,” he said. But any department that employs a lot of adjunct faculty, such as English, lost employees.
It’s not unusual for adjuncts to teach at several different colleges for a living, he said, but what makes this year so uncertain is that the enrollment crisis is system-wide.
“So these adjuncts who have lost their jobs have also lost the opportunity to get a job at COS (College of the Sequoias) or West Hills or Fresno State because enrollment is bad everywhere,” he said.
“In previous years, you might have a situation where you just go to another (college), and things might be a little tight, but not desperate like they are now. So it’s quite a bit more severe this semester. And it may be so again next semester.”
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Read more from The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.
This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 3:10 PM.