GUEST OPINION
Erika Endrijonas (Photos – pasadena.edu)
Less than an hour after the Academic Senate of Pasadena City College voted to approve the Resolution of a Vote of No Confidence, which had been presented in multiple meetings over the course of 6 weeks, Superintendent-President Erika Endrijonas had already issued a 151-word email to the entire…school? Only the faculty? We couldn’t see the addressees. It wasn’t clear.
By Z. Bernardo
The addressees were not clear, but the message of the Resolution of No Confidence vote was crystal clear, I hope, to everyone who read that email from Endrijonas.
Dr. Endrijonas “disagree[s] with” the decision by Pasadena City College’s Faculty. Well, obviously. When I read that I felt both disappointment and a complete lack of surprise.
But that very thing, a public acknowledgement of failure, is what our top leadership never wanted to happen. Superintendent-President Endrijonas never wanted to have to take responsibility for these failures of policy, and never wanted anyone to voice an opinion or express a concern. By disregarding the concerns of Faculty, staff, and students, a Title 5-mandated part of the process of shared school governance, Endrijonas self-caused a world of trouble.
A leader cannot ignore the voices of those that leader purports to represent and lead. The administration cannot continue to function in its own echo chamber. Superintendent-President Endrijonas has ignored the demos, the people, to her own detriment.
What needs to happen now?
The Board of Trustees must take the Resolution of a Vote of No Confidence into consideration, and the results of the upcoming Faculty-body vote, in deciding whether this administration has the capacity to learn from its serious and ongoing mistakes. Students also should make their concerns about the policies and practices under Endrijonas known, as well as our Classified colleagues. Hopefully we will hear from both of these bodies soon.
Let us be clear that although Adjunct Faculty have the least at PCC — the least power, the least security, and the least pay, while numbering 2/3 of the entire Faculty (as in the rest of the California community colleges), it was Adjuncts working tirelessly with the support of the full-time Faculty, who organized to get this resolution written and passed.
Everyone worked so hard to give voice to the otherwise voiceless. We are grateful for every Faculty member’s participation in the polls and honesty in telling their stories. We are especially grateful to those Faculty who stated, in no uncertain terms, their deeply-felt fear of retaliation for speaking out; they did so anyway in the hope that somehow they would be heard.
By refusing to hear the concerns of the Faculty, or negotiate in good faith with the Faculty union, Superintendent-President Endrijonas decided that our lives, and the lives of our families, were not worth the effort of consideration. We hope the leadership of Pasadena City College now has heard this message from the Faculty quite clearly. If not…I would be happy to explain what remains unclear to these finely educated people occupying the administration at PCC.
Z. Bernardo, M.D. is Adjunct Faculty in the department of Kinesiology, Health, and Athletics at Pasadena City College, Adjunct Senator Representative of PCC’s Academic Senate, Co-Chair of the Adjunct Faculty Issues Committee at PCC, and President of PACTE, a local branch of CTA.
I worked as an adjunct prof at PCC for over 24 yrs. What I want to know is..why is it that the adjuncts who have little to no job security the ones bringing this forward?
Oh wait ! It’s PCC…where adjuncts are largely invisible/disposable. For everyone out there reading this…yes PCC has a faculty union, THEY are the ones who should be stepping up..THEY are the ones who should not be making deals with the admin…to send folks back to campus before it is safe.
We know the majority of faculty who had to return…were the adjuncts—who outnumber FT about 2:1. They are the lowest paid faculty, with no health benefits and far behind on parity pay. Who is doing the negotiating for this faculty union? Not the adjuncts !
Adjuncts are not represented on the union leadership board (except 1 very inexperienced dude–who I am sure is told to keep his mouth shut). Further, the union works actively to keep adjuncts out of the union by controlling the elections and imposing restrictions on new voters, a tactic considered to be repressive (think Georgia).
Full-time faculty at PCC control the faculty union and thus control the hiring and firing at PCC. The last president of the union is a Dean, a manager. At PCC, usually 2 or 3 union leaders are in the top 10 highest paid employees. They earn upwards of $250K—that includes about $100K in overtime and benefits.
Adjuncts are restricted as to how much they can work, at all CCC’s to 67% of a FT load—we are not permitted to work more and our pay is about 30% lower than FT faculty— that is when you compare the exact same duties, hardly equal pay for equal work ! Adjuncts have no health benefits and are not given a seat at the table in negotiations.
Good job Dr. Z !
https://edsource.org/2022/part-time-professors-deserve-the-opportunity-for-full-time-work/665115