SOCCCD_FA – SOCCCDFA

Upcoming Workshops:

How to Apply for a Full-Time Faculty Position – Friday, December 1st, 1pm-2:30pm

Zoom and RSVP links will be posted soon!

Part-Time Faculty Quick Reference Information

Health Insurance

Eligible part-time faculty who purchase insurance through Covered California can apply for the Health Insurance Allowance Program. Once approved, part-time faculty will receive a monthly stipend to help cover the cost of health insurance.
How it works
- Each semester, eligible part-time faculty will receive an email from HR letting you know that you can apply for the allowance. All paperwork must be submitted by the deadline–no exceptions. Faculty interested in receiving the allowance must submit the affidavit and proof of insurance every semester. The allowance does not cover part-time faculty during the summer.
Due dates
- Fall semester: September 10th by 5pm
- Spring Semester: February 10th by 5pm
Who to contact
- FA: Part-Time Chair and/or FA President, Melanie Haeri (socccdfa@socccd.edu or mhaeri@ivc.edu)
- HR: Kristy Coulston at kcoulston@socccd.edu

Who qualifies:

Any part-time faculty member who has:

been assigned a cumulative total of at least 12 LHE (i.e., twelve units of assignment) over the previous 12 months, including summer (e.g., 6 in the fall and 6 in the spring, or 6 in the fall, 3 in summer, and 3 in the spring, or any other combination of assignments that adds up to 12 total LHE over the previous 12 months)
has completed 6 semesters of employment in the District
has held an assignment during 5 of the previous 6 semesters, not including summer
has an assignment equivalent to at least 3 LHE in the semester for which the benefit is requested
is purchasing health coverage through a voluntary Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum medical plan through Covered California under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or an equivalent qualified voluntary comprehensive medical or health insurance program
submits all of the required documentation showing the monthly premium cost of the coverage for the faculty member, and a complete and signed application/affidavit, before the published deadlines each semester to the District Business Office. All forms are due no later than 5 pm on September 10th for the fall semester and February 10th for the spring semester.

For more information, attend our How to Apply for the Part-Time Health Insurance Program workshop that takes place at the beginning of each semester.

Link to eligibility document coming soon

Unemployment

Did you know that part-time faculty can file for unemployment when you are between semesters or don’t receive an assignment?
Unemployment benefits are available to part-time faculty when there is a gap in employment. This includes:

Between the fall and spring semesters
Over the summer
If you don’t receive an assignment during a regular semester

Attend our How to Apply for Unemployment workshop for more information about how to ensure you complete your paperwork correctly and in a timely manner. These workshops are held near the end of each semester.
If you have any questions, email our Part-Time Chair and/or FA President, Melanie Haeri (socccdfa@socccd.edu or mhaeri@ivc.edu)

Workshops for Part-Time Faculty

Each semester, the Faculty Association hosts workshops for part-time faculty. Below is a list of the workshops we regularly hold as well as when they take place.

How to Apply for the PTF Health Insurance program–Fall and Spring semesters
Unemployment–Fall and Spring semesters
How to Apply for a Full-time Position–Fall semester
How to Interview for a Full-Time Position–Spring semester

Other workshops offered through CCA and FACCC are also available. Be on the lookout for emails from the FA about additional workshops. You can also visit the CCA and FACCC websites for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find Frequently asked Questions and Answers (Q&A) pertaining to particular topics asked by our Part-Time Faculty Members.

Who are the individuals representing part-time faculty in the SOCCCDFA ?

At the end of Spring 2020, part-time faculty elected our Part-Time Faculty Chair, who is a member of our Executive Committee: Karyn Bower. In addition, there are four elected part-time representatives to the Representative Council: Nancy Allah, Susan Bliss, Noushin Seddighzadeh, and Deborah Solon.

What has the SOCCCDFA accomplished for part time faculty?

The Faculty Association has placed a high emphasis on part-time faculty salaries and benefits in contract negotiations. Unfortunately, because many part-time faculty members, especially those who are teaching on several campuses, have little contact with the day-to-day operations of the colleges and of the Association, they are unaware of the salary and benefit improvements they receive as a result of the Association’s efforts. Also, many part-time faculty have had shorter tenures on the campuses, and have no standard of comparison to see how things have improved.

Admittedly, the employment situation that part-time faculty face statewide is deplorable, especially with the catastrophic state of the education budget, but our Association places high emphasis on the wages and benefits of part-time faculty.

Further, some part- and full-time faculty members are under the impression that the Faculty Association simply demands a salary schedule from the District, and gets it. This, however, is simply not the case. We have to bargain wages and benefits, and the budget situation over the last several years has severely limited what we can gain from negotiations.

Nevertheless, in the previously completed contract, the Faculty Association gained a higher salary increase for part-time faculty than for full-time faculty, and refused to settle for less, even though it ended up delaying negotiations. We worked very hard at and away from the negotiations table to gain this extra salary increase. Indeed, had we been willing to settle for less money for part-time faculty, we might have gained a little more for full-time faculty. In the latest contract established in 2015-18, parity pay was established as being only for part time faculty and not for full time faculty working overload hours.

When the District’s insurance carrier dropped coverage for part-time faculty, the Faculty Association negotiated from the District an alternative plan, by which the District would give qualified faculty members the amount of money it would have spent on the discontinued coverage to pay for insurance from another source. This new insurance benefit was more successful than the previous one, with a significant increase in the number of faculty members participating in the new benefit. The Faculty Association negotiated an increase in the benefit, and made it easier to qualify for the benefit, and to maintain qualification even with breaks in service.

We have part-time representatives on the Faculty Association Representative Council, and on the negotiating team, who are charged with carrying part-time concerns forward, and representing the interests of part-time faculty. Part-time faculty members who have concerns should make sure that their representatives are aware of and can represent their concerns.

What are the dues for part time faculty for 2023-2024?

$275.60 per academic year or $27.56 per month. Please see the Membership section of the SOCCCDFA website for more details.

I am already a member of CCA/CTA/NEA at another educational institution. Do I also need to pay dues in the SOCCCDFA?

You should pay CCA, CTA & NEA dues at only one educational institution, your “primary” place of employment. Each educational institution has its own unique local union. You will need to pay separate local dues for each district where you work.

If CTA dues are being withheld from my paychecks at more than one district, what can I do to stop that from happening, and how can I get a refund?

Complete the Membership Enrollment Form for all CTA affiliated districts where you work, following the instructions below:

a. Choose one of the districts to be your “primary” place of employment. If you are employed full time at one institution, and part time in the others, the place where you work full time is your primary place of employment. If all of your CTA affiliated employment is part time, select the institution where you have the most frequent and steady work to be classified as your primary place of employment.

b. Where the form asks “Is this your primary place of employment?” mark “Yes” on the form for your primary place of employment. For the forms for the other districts, mark “No” and then write in the name of your primary place of employment on the blank provided for this purpose.

c. Do not fill in due amounts on the forms.

d. Submit the completed forms via any of the three methods listed on this website. CTA will use the forms to verify your member status and to communicate with the appropriate local associations to adjust payroll deductions.

Your primary place of employment will then become the only district deducting CCA/CTA/NEA dues. Only local dues will be deducted from your non-primary places of employment. If you are entitled to a refund from CCA &/or CTA/NEA, CTA will issue you a refund.

How do I prevent CCA/CTA/NEA dues from being deducted from my paycheck at multiple places of employment?

Contact Jenny Langrell, Membership Chair, to obtain “Representation/Agency Fee” forms—one for each CTA affiliated institution. (When sending your email to Jenny, please include SOCCCDFA in the subject line. Send to: jlangrell@saddleback.edu)

ONLY include institutions for which you have verified the local union that represents your particular bargaining unit is affiliated with CTA. You can verify this with the institution’s local union or payroll office.

Choose one of the CTA affiliated institutions to be your “primary” place of employment. If you are employed full time at one institution, and part time in the others, the place where you work full time is your primary place of employment. If all of your CTA affiliated employment is part time, select the institution where you have the most frequent and steady work to be classified as your primary place of employment.

Write “Primary Place of Employment” on the form for you primary place of employment. On the other form(s) add a note that identifies the name of your primary place of employment. For example, if you work mostly at the SOCCCD and more limited hours at MtSAC, you would fill out the form for MtSAC and add the note: “Primary place of employment is SOCCCD.” You would also fill out a form for SOCCCD and write on it “Primary place of employment.”

Do not fill in due amounts on the forms.

Submit the completed forms via any of the three methods listed on this website. CTA will use the forms to communicate with the appropriate local associations to adjust payroll deductions.

Your primary place of employment will then become the only district deducting CCA/CTA/NEA fees. Only local dues (and possibly CCA fees if your primary place of employment is not a community college) will be deducted from your non-primary places of employment. If you are entitled to a refund from CCA &/or CTA/NEA, CTA will issue you a refund.

I already provided information that I work at another district, but payroll still deducted more than $6 in dues from my paycheck.

There are three possible reasons for this:

a. If $27.56 was deducted, most likely CTA was not able to verify that you have a membership in CCA/CTA/NEA through employment at another educational institution. Please contact the local union that represents your bargaining unit at that other educational institution and verify with them that you are already an active member of CTA. It is possible they are affiliated with a different statewide or national union or they are an independent union.

b. If $4.95 was deducted from your paycheck, CTA verified your membership in CTA/NEA, but not CCA (Community College Association). If you believe you have membership in CCA independent of the South Orange County Community College District, please contact the union that represents your bargaining unit at the other community college where you are employed. Perhaps they are not affiliated with CCA.

c. You did not submit this information early enough for CTA and our District Payroll Department to verify your status prior to the deadline to submit payroll data to the Orange County Department of Education for this pay period. If your member status is verified by CTA, the adjustments will be made for the next pay period and CTA will send you a refund for any excess dues you paid.

I work less than 3 LHE. Why do I have to pay the same dues as part time faculty who work much more than I do?

There is no sliding scale for dues, just one rate for part-time faculty. However, if you teach less than 3 LHE in Fall or Spring, you are eligible for dues reimbursement for that semester. Please see the Dues Reimbursement Request Form under “Documents and Links” in the menu bar to the left, which outlines the requirements to receive reimbursement. You must complete the Dues Reimbursement Request Form after your last paycheck for each semester AND you must have submitted a Membership Enrollment Form, which can also be found under “Documents and Links.”

I understand I can apply for unemployment benefits between terms. How does that work?

Please refer to this link to the unemployment information posted on the CCA website: http://www.cca4me.org/#Part_Time_Faculty_Issues

The right to receive unemployment benefits was secured by the Cervisi decision. Here is a link to the text:

https://www.santarosa.edu/afa/Forms/cervisi.pdf

How do I qualify for the Part-Time Faculty Health Insurance stipend?

Article XXVII (Benefits) provides details pertaining to Part-Time Health Insurance stipend. Please refer to page 89 of the Academic Employee Master Agreement 2018-2021