6.6.1                Purpose:  The purpose of this provision is to grant, on an annual basis, some degree of employment stability for eligible part-time faculty members within the limitations imposed by the District’s needs to create course schedules that match current student demand and provide appropriate assignments for full-time faculty members.

6.6.2                Eligibility:  After five consecutive semesters of employment with the District, with an assignment of at least 5 LHE per week within a discipline for each of the five consecutive semesters, a part-time faculty member shall be designated as “Associate Faculty” provided that the part-time faculty member has not received less than a satisfactory evaluation during the qualifying five semesters. No more than 60% of the part-time faculty in a discipline within a department shall have Associate Faculty status. (For the purposes of this provision, discipline shall be defined as listed in the Board of Governors Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges.) In the event that the number of part-time faculty who qualify for associate faculty status within a discipline exceeds 60%, the Vice President of Academic Affairs or Student Affairs, a Faculty Association representative, and the department chair/leader will meet and confer to determine the associate faculty list for that discipline.

The Vice President, Academic Affairs, at his/her sole discretion, may waive the 5-LHE-per-week requirement and/or the 60% limit. The District shall notify the part-time faculty member when he/she achieves Associate Faculty status (Appendix L-3).  Notification of achievement or renewal of Associate Faculty Status shall occur by March 31 of each year.

6.6.3                Associate Faculty List:   Once a part-time faculty member is designated as Associate Faculty, he/she shall be placed on the Associate Faculty list in an order to be determined by the date of first assignment in the department, provided that the part-time faculty member has not had a break in service. If there has been a break, the placement on the Associate Faculty list shall be determined by the faculty member’s first semester of employment as a part-time faculty member in that discipline following the most recent break.  For the purposes of this article, a break in service shall be defined as not having completed or not having been offered an assignment for two or more Fall/Spring cycles.  If a tie exists, total teaching/non-teaching hours in the discipline shall be used to break the tie. The Associate Faculty list shall be updated for each department by the Academic Affairs office by March 20 of each year. The updated list will be transmitted to the Faculty Association office and to each department.

6.6.4                Reemployment Right:  Upon notification of achievement or renewal of Associate Faculty status, a part-time faculty member shall be re-employed for the following Fall and Spring Semesters, with the total number of assigned teaching or non-teaching hours for the two consecutive semesters no less than the total number of assigned teaching or non-teaching hours in the fourth and fifth qualifying semesters (“Base Assignment”) as long as the need for the assignments for which the associate faculty member is qualified continues as determined within the sole discretion of the department chair and the Vice President of Academic Affairs or Student Affairs. For the purpose of this article only, “qualified” means (1) possessing the appropriate minimum qualifications to render service in the assignment, and (2) having adequate preparation for the specific course or assignment through appropriate education or successful recent experience. The department chair shall be the judge of whether or not a part-time faculty member has adequate preparation for the specific course or assignment, but, in making the judgment, the department chair shall apply assignment standards that are substantially the same as those used in assigning full-time faculty within the department.

6.6.5                As long as they are qualified for the available assignments, part-time faculty with associate faculty status shall be offered an assignment before any part-time faculty member without associate faculty status is offered an assignment. If, during any particular semester, there are more part-time faculty with associate faculty status in a discipline than there are available assignments in that discipline, the seniority of part-time faculty shall be considered among the criteria used in offering assignments to associate faculty.

6.6.6                Associate faculty shall have the right to an assignment which displaces another part-time faculty member who is not an associate faculty member under the following conditions:

(a)        The associate faculty member was assigned a class that was canceled due to lack of enrollment or is withdrawn because it is needed to fill the load of a full-time faculty member.

(b)        There was no alternative assignment available for that associate faculty member through creation of a new class or by the trading of assignment with another faculty member.

A reasonable effort will be made by the Department Chair to offer a replacement course, for which the associate faculty member is qualified, that falls in the time frame documented on the faculty member’s assignment preference form.

6.6.7                Associate Faculty status renewal:  On or before March 31 of each year, an associate faculty member shall be notified in writing whether his/her status is to be renewed or not to be renewed for the following Fall and Spring semesters. If there is no assignment available for which the associate faculty member is qualified, the Associate Faculty status will not be renewed. In such cases, the affected faculty member’s name shall be placed on an “inactive” list for consideration of Associate Faculty status renewal in the next cycle.  If Associate Faculty status is not renewed in the next cycle, Associate Faculty status shall be terminated in accordance with 6.6.8 below.

Associate Faculty status may be renewed at an assignment level less than the “Base Assignment” if the available number of assigned teaching or non-teaching hours for which the associate faculty member is qualified is less than his/her “Base Assignment.” “Base Assignment” shall be adjusted if it stays at the new level for four consecutive semesters. Nothing in this section prevents an associate faculty member from receiving an assignment greater than the “Base Assignment.”

6.6.8                Associate Faculty status termination:  An associate faculty member shall retain his/her associate faculty status unless, notwithstanding notification per 6.6.2 or 6.6.7, it is terminated pursuant to the following conditions:

(a)        The associate faculty member receives an evaluation that is less than satisfactory.
(b)        The associate faculty member fails to perform the normal and reasonable duties of his/her assignment or is otherwise guilty of misconduct as defined by Education Code 87732.
(c)        The associate faculty member declines all of his/her assignment in the discipline.
(d)        Associate Faculty status has not been renewed for two Fall/Spring cycles.
                  Before termination of Associate Faculty status, the associate faculty member shall be given written notice of the reason for such termination.

6.6.9                Notwithstanding 6.6.5, Associate Faculty status shall not be terminated under the following circumstances:

(a)        An assignment is canceled for any reason other than misconduct or an evaluation that is less than satisfactory.
(b)        Verified illness or other extenuating personal circumstances which the part-time faculty member and the appropriate dean mutually agree make acceptance of assignment(s) impossible.
(c)        The part-time faculty member turns down an assignment that is offered to replace another assignment that was canceled.
(d)        The part-time faculty member requests not to receive an assignment in the department provided that the request is in writing and is received by the department chair at least 60 calendar days before the beginning of the semester. If a part-time faculty member makes only one request of this kind in any five-year period, it shall be honored. A request not to receive an assignment for two consecutive semesters shall be counted as a single request.
(e)        The part-time faculty member is a recipient of an “hourly task assignment.”