Policy Initiative Update

The Policy Initiative Steering Team has been working to combine and refine the recommendations of the four task forces under its purview. Specifically, the task forces are working toward a new, more equitable model for calculating faculty load that will be in the best interests of faculty and student success and classroom usage optimization across the District.

Under the present model, there are numerous structural inequities. Among other things: lab instruction is discounted compared to lecture instruction, but only in full-time faculty regular load; faculty are paid extra for additional students in online sections but not in face-to-face classroom sections; and coordination compensation is both inconsistent and inequitable between colleges and even between divisions at the same college.

Per revised Board Policy, lecture and lab will be made equal starting in Fall 2020. While there are numerous details yet to be determined, the new faculty load calculation model will be based on Adjusted Contact Hours (ACH). Most simply, ACH is equal to the number of contact hours for a course as determined by the ACGM or WECM. Under an ACH system, a faculty member’s load is met at 240 ACH each semester or 480 ACH for the academic year. 240 ACH is equivalent to 15 contact hours per week times the 16 weeks in a normal semester. Every additional contact hour above 240 ACH each semester will be paid at the extra service rate.

In addition, faculty will now be compensated for students enrolled above the pedagogically-determined maximum class size in all sections taught, both face-to-face and online. The compensation will be determined by a formula that converts each additional student to an ACH value pertaining to a particular course/discipline/program. Coordination responsibilities, as either “reassigned time” or extra service, will be also compensated based on ACH. The commonly understood present extra service maximum of 14.7 hours will be converted into 235.2 ACH.

Guidelines to define and implement of all of these changes will be developed once conceptual approval is granted by the chancellor. A simple Excel-based calculator will be developed and made available for all faculty, deans, and load management specialists to precisely calculate faculty load and extra service compensation based on the unique combination of sections taught, students enrolled in those sections, and reassigned time/administrative/coordination responsibilities.

The faculty members on PIT, and DCCFA leadership, are working hard to ensure that the move to the new ACH-based model for faculty load calculation will be a net benefit to the greatest possible number of faculty. If you have questions or concerns, please contact your campus Faculty Association President, or one of the faculty members who serve on the PIT steering team: Becky Heiskell (MVC), Matt Henry (RLC), Matt Hinckley (EFC), and Angela Nino (RLC).