Two years ago, the Faculty Association raised issues regarding SMC's compliance with the 50% law during negotiations. One of the largest single dollar items we brought into question was the District's practice-a change from prior years-of double-counting the faculty time in the classroom when a faculty member was reassigned as an administrator. The District was reporting to the state that the reassigned class was being "taught" by both the reassigned faculty member and the replacement faculty member.

These "double-counted" dollars should have been spent on adding more sections to reduce class size, or improving load factors for overworked faculty, or paying part time faculty for office hours (as well as adding full time faculty or improving salaries). The District "needed" to double count these dollars because spending on administration, consultants, business meals and other non-instructional expenses were so high that more dollars need to be spent-or reported as being spent—on "instruction" to balance it out. Administrators failed to inform faculty requesting reassigned time (including Faculty Association time) that they would be unwitting pawns in this practice.

The District fought our position on this and several other items, but the Chancellor's office agreed with the Faculty Association that the District was misreporting administrative assignments (as defined by the law) as instructional. They issued an opinion paper on this subject in June.

One reaction the District could have taken at this point would have been to fulfill, in principle, the stand they had taken publicly-that they would do whatever the Chancellor's office recommended.

A totally "good faith" response would have in-cluded a willingness to remedy the underspending in the past and a renewed commitment to working with faculty, acknowledging and acting to resolve the issue. Instead, we have heard directly from administrators that there would be "no more reassigned time because of the Faculty Association's position on reassigned time."The Faculty Association does not think of Reassigned time as a problem, but for administrators who do think of it as a problem, there is a solution…and canceling reassigned time is not it.

Canceling faculty reassigned time and hiring an administrator to do the work does NOT help the 50% law calculation. The only way the District would gain from canceling reassigned time is if they found someone to do administrative work for free. Moreover, there is a way that actually is a "win-win" solution for individual faculty members and for a District trying to meet the 50% law: Change the LOAD factor.

A faculty member teaching at less than load factor 1.0 might have to teach 17.5 hours per week, versus 15 hours. In English classes, faculty with larger class size can teach 12 hours per week rather than 15. Faculty members teaching 12 hours or 15 or 17.5 are all counted , 100% legitimately and unarguably, as "full time instructors" for the 50% law. If, instead of getting "reassigned time" for developing a distance ed class, or helping in a student success project, the instructor was granted a 2.0 or 1.75 load factor for the relevant class that the curriculum development or extra help would be granted, then both sides would get what they want.

Changing the LOAD FACTOR is the clear, easy solution to 50% law includability and faculty release for curriculum and classroom related time.

The Faculty Association is not interested in fighting, but wants to help the District find ways to meet the 50% law. I am currently working on a 50% law task force and trying to get consensus on having reassigned time for Academic Senate work count as instructional, because of its requirement for shared governance.

This has become a statewide issue because the District was unwilling to discuss it locally two years ago. Again we are offering solutions to end the retaliatory response to the Chancellor's office ruling and create an environment where working together gets the best result for both sides. We hope that individual faculty members realize that there are solutions to this problem that can help both sides.