By Becky Curtis, Co-Chair Part-time Committee

 

    Greetings adjuncts! Many of you remember Andrew Walzer, who has become something of a legend among part-timers at SMC, but with so many new adjuncts added to the faculty rosters this year, we thought it would benefit all part-timers to acknowledge and honor his work in this, the first of a continuing series of PT Profiles.

    Andrew was Co-Chair of the Hourly Committee for the SMC Faculty Association,  Executive Board Member of the SMCFA PAC (Political Action Committee), and was also Los Angeles Regional Representative of CPFA (California Part-Time Faculty Association). Andrew, like so many adjuncts, accomplished all this while teaching 6-7 classes at three different colleges — a freeway flyer indeed!

    Andrew received his B.A. in political science from UC Santa Cruz, and his Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota. After six years as an adjunct, Andrew  has just become a full-time member of the Humanities Department at LACC, and has now set his sights on becoming a Santa Monica College trustee, with the support and encouragement of faculty members at SMC.

    On the board of CPFA, Andrew helped lead the fight against the Governor’s attempts to cut funding for health care, office hours, and equity pay for part-timers.  He helped to organize a conference at Pasadena City College where sixty part-time representatives met with legislators Jack Scott (head of the Higher Education Committee for the state senate), Carol Lui,( head of the Education for the state assembly), and Judy Chu.  As a result, part-timers  were successful in convincing legislators to protect part-time office hours, health care, and equity funds.

    Andrew also became an organizer for the SMCFA PAC.  He helped to raise significant amounts of money for the campaign to elect pro-faculty trustees. The first fund-raiser was held at Nina Theiss’ house; she was chair of the English 

 

 

department for almost thirty years and continues to teach here at SMC. There was food, music, and speeches -- Andrew likes to be remembered as someone who knows how to throw a party.

    Mona Field, trustee of LACCD, and now a member of the Board of Governors for FACCC, was there to urge faculty to endorse their own candidates for the Board of Trustees. It kicked off a series of successful fund-raisers for the PAC, and was, all in all, quite a memorable day.

    Last summer, Andrew and FA Officers Lantz Simpson and Ken Mason worked tirelessly to find endorsements in the community for Board of Trustee Candidates Susan Aminoff, Rob Radar, and Doug Willis. Andrew explained that they “built a lot of support for our candidates around town. We walked  precincts weekly which was a major boost to the candidates.” Our FA team worked with other leaders in the community, and were not only successful at getting our candidates many endorsements, but Susan Aminoff and Rob Radar were elected to the Board of Trustees. Of course, after that Andrew threw another party -- the Christmas party was a great success, well attended, and a time for all faculty  to celebrate the successes of the year and look to the challenges of the future.

    Andrew moved on to LACC this year, but SMC remains an important part of his life, and he is excited about adopting a new leadership role: “I formed a strong emotional connection to Santa Monica College when I was here, and I still care deeply about this institution, and the people who are part of it. My heart is here. I have a strong working relationship with faculty and the classified staff, and I feel that I can represent them well on the Board of Trustees.” 

    Apparently Andrew Walzer took Mona Field’s advice to heart. Now we all have an opportunity to take control of our future. Let us help elect one of our own adjuncts to the Board of Trustees. Email Andrew at: Walzer@inetworld.net if you want to know more.

 

 

Part-time Profile:

Andrew Walzer, From PT to Trustee?