San José/Evergreen Federation Of Teachers AFT 6157

Faculty Matters

September 2017

A Look Inside

Fall One

www.fa-aft6157.org

(408) 288-3106fax (408) 295-7482

213 Student CenterSan José City College

Acacia 1-205Evergreen Valley College

San José City College 2100 Moorpark Avenue

San José, CA 95128

CFT Helps End ACCJC’s Reign of Terror By Paul Fong & Barbara Hanfling

PAGE 1-3

Ode to My Commute By Michelle Blair

PAGE 4

The Effects of In-Class Texting on Students’

Academic Performance By Hung Trieu

PAGE 5

Fall 2017 Executive Board and

Membership Meeting Schedule PAGE 5

How to Find Gold for Your ‘Golden Years’ By Jory Segal

PAGE 6-7

New Full-Time Faculty PAGE 7

What Has the Union Done for You Lately?

By Silvia Garcia & Neelam R. Shukla

PAGE 8

Maryam Farshadfar Welcomes New Baby Girl

PAGE 8

CFT Helps End ACCJC’s Reign of Terror

- continued on page 2

By Paul Fong President, AFT 6157 and Barbara Hanfling, Executive Director, AFT 6157

The reign of terror is hopefully over, now that the Accreditation Team (ACCJC) settlement of lawsuit has been reached by the CFT. When one is injured we all are injured. The CFT’s lawsuit addressed broad concerns, seek-ing to end years of punitive, arbitrary, inconsistent and expensive actions by the Commission.

The behavior brought to light by the CFT, led many observers to decry the Commission’s lack of transparency and “culture of fear,” culminating in sharp

criticism by the Chancellor’s office, the Board of Governors, the State Audi-tor, elected leaders in San Francisco, Sacramento and Washington, D.C., and sanctions by the U.S. Department of Education.

Contract Ratified!

SJCC EMS Faculty Scott Miller casts his contract ratification ballot during SJCC’s PD Day on Septem-ber 1st. The new 2016-17 reopener agreement passed with a 99% margin and included a rejection of a two-tiered pay system for credit and non-credit instruction, continuing medical benefits for full-time faculty, a Step 10 addition to the adjunct salary schedule, and a 1.5% salary increase effective July 1, 2016 for both full-time and adjunct faculty. Photo by Raymond Yuen.

Faculty Matters ♦ September 2017

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That is the way the CFT approached the accreditation issues bought up by the ACCJC – an agency that had clearly overstepped the boundary of fairness and utilized intimidation as a tactic to get its way. ACCJC has been going wild in the State of California when it came time to its implementation of accredi-tation of our Community Colleges. Its unfair treatment was being questioned initially by everyone.

The first lawsuit brought against the ACCJC in San Francisco had been won, but that was mostly regarding City Col-lege of San Francisco and a very narrow ruling. There was much more to be done due to the long arms and fear tactics of the ACCJC.

The leadership had changed: Barbara Beno, the dictator over the ACCJC had been forced to retire; much of the Board of the ACCJC had turned over and now was the time to settle this lawsuit and get back to the business of educating our students.

This full court press forced the ACCJC to come to the table to discuss these issues with the CFT. The part of the settlement that affects the San Jose Ev-ergreen Community College District is paragraphs 1 and 2. More of the settle-ment follows.

Agreement Help AFT 6157 in Bar-gaining with SJECCDTHE ACCJC HAS INSTITUTED THE FOLLOWING POLICY changes:

1. ACCJC takes no position nor creates any new policies with the intent of interfering with Califor-nia community colleges collective bargaining agreements. ACCJC does not require or direct California community colleges to adopt specif-

ic terms or conditions through the collective bargaining process with respect to matters within the scope of representation under the Edu-cation Employment Relations Act, Government Code 3543.2, includ-ing wages, hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment, including the grounds for faculty evaluation.

2. ACCJC has initiated the process for deleting Standard III.A.6, which currently states: The evaluation of faculty, academic administrators, and other personnel directly respon-sible for student learning includes, as a component of that evalua-tion, consideration of how these employees use the results of the assessments of learning outcomes to improve teaching and learning with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2017.

Other important policies agreed to by the ACCJC:• to ensure at least three faculty mem-

bers are assigned to each college evaluation team;

• to establish clear criteria by which the ACCJC may extend for “good cause” the two year period for a college to comply with accredita-tion standards as to which it has been found deficient;

• in determining a college’s financial stability, to apply its indicators consistently from college to college, and refrain from directing colleges what specific steps must be taken to achieve that stability;

• to reaffirm accreditation for seven years with a follow-up report for colleges with minor compliance issues, instead of the recently-ad-opted 18-month period of reaffirma-tion; and

• to strengthen conflict of interest safeguards for commissioners and evaluation team members.

Executive Board Members

President Paul Fong x6018Vice-President Randy Pratt* x6592Fiscal Officer Linda Ferrell x3231

AFT 6157 Representatives EVC Full-time Nasreen Rahim x6246 EVC Full-time Elaine Ortiz-Kristich x6680 EVC Adjunct Andres Quintero x3779

SJCC Full-time Alex Lopez x3124 SJCC Full-time Fabio Gonzalez* x3168 SJCC Adjunct Phil Crawford x3779

At Large Adjunct Jory Segal*# x3779

Ex-Officio Negotiations Team RJ Ruppenthal* x6619 Retiree President Bill Jacobs x3779 ___________ #Grievance Officers *Negotiations Team

Council of Division Representatives

San José City College

Math and Science Jose Cabrera x3983

Humanities and Social Sciences Hung Trieu x3064

Applied Science Jonathan Cronan x3779 Pat Space x3782 Isai Ulate x3836 Business/Service Careers Clem Lundie x3236 Carol Ramirez x3974

Language Arts Marlise Edwards x3038 Rebecca Gamez x3308 Jessica Breheny x3072

Instructional Tech/Learning Resources, Counseling and Athletics/PE Carlton Connor x3847 Tuan Ngo x3651 Bob Wing x3945

Evergreen Valley College

Business, Applied Technology RJ Ruppenthal x6619

Counseling Mirella Burton x6014 Charlie Kahn Lomax x6666

Language Arts Sravani Banerjee x6697 Ken Jardin x6695

Technology/Instructional Services Shelly Blackman x6660 Lorena Mata x6743

Math/Science Teck Ky x6877

Nursing Garry Johnson x6264

Social Science/Humanities/Arts/PE Minerva Duke x6663 Frank Espinoza x6062 Steven Graham x3779 Arturo Villarreal x6245

CFT Helps End ACCJC’s Reign of Terror- continued from page 1

- continued on page 3

Faculty Matters ♦ September 2017

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ACCJC- continued from page 2

The settlement also establishes a dispute resolution procedure that begins outside of court in the event that CFT believes the ACCJC is not living up to its com-mitments.

“This agreement represents a sea change in the ACCJC’s operations in a number of significant ways,” CFT presi-dent Joshua Pechthalt said. “We believe that as a result of this settlement, fair accreditation practices will be the norm going forward.”

You can access the balance of the settlement agreement by visiting the CFT website www.cft.org , Settlement Agreement regarding the City College of San Francisco AFT 2121 et al. Case No. 16-3411 HSG.

As you recall, the ACCJC interfered with our collective bargaining with the forced implementation of SLOs in our collective bargaining agreement. The AFT 6157 held out until the very end and continued to refuse to put SLOs in our contract because we knew it was illegal for the ACCJC to interfere in col-lective bargaining.

Finally after both colleges were placed on probation, the Union agreed to place the minimum ACCJC requirement in the contract by placing SLO assessment in the self-evaluation. We joined the lawsuit because we believed that what the ACCJC had done was far outside its realm of responsibility.

AFT 6157 expects to open up the re-quired self-evaluation of SLO section of our contract and attempt to remove it, as the ACCJC no longer requires it.

Other important issues:

Compton College reaccreditedMeanwhile, in early June in late break-ing news, that seems to back up the ACCJC’s contention that it has truly turned over a new leaf, Compton Col-lege, which has been disaccredited and in limited operation under the umbrella of El Camino College for more than a decade, has received initial accredita-tion status from the ACCJC at the same meeting reported on above.

The faculty, staff and administration have been working hard for many years to meet the accreditation standards necessary to regain accreditation. As

recently as January, the ACCJC had indicated that reaccrediting the college might take years longer. Rashid Yahye, president of the Compton faculty union, acknowledged CFT support and advo-cacy before the ACCJC over the issue. “We are very pleased with this news. Thanks CFT” he said. (Inside CFT, Fred Glass)

Free college for our students?The San Jose Promise of the first year college free tuition for full-time stu-dents is a reality. There are many prom-ise programs for free college tuition for one or, in the case of San Francisco, two years of free tuition.

There was polling done to show support for this concept that supports free col-lege tuition for our students. We would tax the rich to pay for it. The time is ripe for our continued advocacy of a free college education originally envi-sioned in the Master Plan for Higher Education during 60 years ago.

Welcome back from the summer break.

AFT 6157 17th Annual Picnic Saturday, October 7th, 2017

11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. NEW LOCATION!

Hellyer County Park

Buena Vista Group Picnic Area985 Hellyer Ave, San Jose, CA 95111

Vehicle Entry Fee: $6/car The park is located west of the Hellyer Avenue exit along Highway 101.

Public transit is available to Hellyer County Park.

RSVP by September 29th http://tinyurl.com/aft6157

Questions?

Call 408-288-3779 or E-mail: aft6157@sjeccd.edu

Ple

ase l

eave pets at home

Bou

nce House for the Kids!

AFT 6157 will provide

the entrees.

Please bring a side dish to share!

Faculty Matters ♦ September 2017

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Ode to My Commute By Michelle Blair, SJCC English Faculty

In the 17 years that I was driving to work (the first eight from San Fran-cisco, on lovely 280; the ensuing nine from Alameda, on evil 880), English compatriot Charles Heimler told me often about public transportation from the East Bay to SJCC. (In fact, Charles wrote an article about it in the March newsletter!) Yet whenever I’d glance at the logistics — the timetable, the bike ride, the bringing only what I could car-ry on my bike or back — it just seemed easier to keep doing what I was doing.

Don’t get me wrong — I despised my commute. No matter the direction, time of day, or carpool lane (with French professor and neighbor, Mike Berke), on a typical day, it averaged an hour-and-fifteen grueling, stop-and-start minutes. On a bad day (not infrequent), it might take over two hours to go the 40 miles. Whenever I’d read about how much time commuters waste in their cars, I was demoralized to know I was one of them.

Still, my 2015-16 sabbatical was pretty restorative. Along with writing a book, I didn’t drive much, so the bursitis in both of my hips (spurred by the endless scrunching in my surprisingly uncom-fortable Prius) calmed down. I bought a new car — a Scion XB, should you care — which sits me up higher, my torso and lap at a fine 90-degree-angle. I figured that once the fall semester started I would return to driving with, if not exactly renewed verve, then at least renewed acceptance.

Not so!

By week four, I couldn’t take it any-more. Finally arriving home one late afternoon, after bailing (once again) on going to the gym, I donned my reading glasses, and took a good, long look at the Amtrak schedule. There was a stop

10 minutes from my house, at Oakland Coliseum. The schedule worked. A friend had a foldable bike I could check out, as well as a couple of panniers — low-profile yet somehow spacious bags that hang off your bike’s back rack — and I was good to go!

The first day was … amazing! Sure, I was nervous. I was clumsy when open-ing and closing the bike; the seat kept sliding down as I rode because I hadn’t tightened its post properly; and I got lost en route. But by the third week, I’d bought my friend’s foldable bike, and was train-and-biking every day of the week. That was close to a year ago now. I haven’t driven since.

If the commute was soul-sapping be-fore, it is now soul-enhancing. Though no shorter, and perhaps longer, than the heinous drive (one could never know with the drive!), it is time — and life — gained. Twice daily on my bike, I am steeped in the world, among people, colors and surprises. Then, on the train, there’s so much to do — or not do! Like doze; write an essay (as I am now!); chat with some familiar faces; or just stare out the window.

Did you know that in the middle of Fremont, in a hidden pocket between pale-green sloping hills, is a tiny Wild West-looking town called Niles Can-yon, which housed the one-time Essan-ay Film Studio where Charlie Chaplin filmed The Tramp? Or that in the marshes surrounding the eastern ramp of the Dumbarton Bridge sink the surre-al, dilapidated, graffitied wooden hous-es of a ghost town called Drawbridge, built in the 1870s by the narrow-gauge South Pacific Coast Railroad, and aban-doned in 1979?

There was a special moment last fall, a few months into my new routine. Around 9:30 a.m., I was sitting in the train’s last car on the ground level, as usual. Always, at some point, the sun would come through the left window and beam into my eyes and onto my computer, at which point I’d close the curtain. On this day, however, the sun slanted onto me through the right window. No one else was around, and, even if they were, I doubt they’d have made anything of it. But to me, it meant something: the light had shifted, the season was changing. It had been a long time since I’d noticed.

Michelle Blair poses with her foldable bike. Remnants of one of the structures in Drawbridge.

Faculty Matters ♦ September 2017

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Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?

I am.

By Hung Trieu, AFT 6157 Council of Division Reps, SJCC Economics Faculty

Many students think they can text and listen to the lecture at the same. How-ever, texting in class significantly de-creases students’ ability to stay focused and is one of the factors that explains why students perform poorly in class, according to a research by the National Communication Association in 2012. Researchers Wei and Wang in 2010 found that students who text a lot in non-educational settings also bring this habit into classrooms.

Not only does texting increase dis-tractibility it also takes students longer to recall the class information and to complete their homework assignments. The Southwestern Psychological Asso-ciation (SWPA) explains that students lose at least 27% of information being given during lecture when multitasking, especially when they are texting in class

Relatedly, some students prefer using laptop to take notes; however, many of them use it mainly to do homework for other courses and/or engaging in social interaction such as Facebooking or other web surfing activity. Researchers Junco and colleague also find that the negative effect of texting during lecture strongly reflects on students being less productive and produces low quality work. Generally, students who frequent-ly text in class often have lower GPA compared to those who don’t.

In fact, based on my 20 years of teach-ing experience, I agree that these research findings are still relevant today. Although the majority of my students pay attention well and participate very enthusiastically during my lectures, there are some exceptions; some stu-dents seem to be distracted with their

The Effects of In-Class Texting on Students’ Academic PerformanceDistrict should enforce policies to eliminate in-class texting

texting activity and do not know what’s going on in class. They come to class without a clear understanding of why paying full attention is important and crucial to their academic performance and success in college.

During my lectures, I often ask students questions to make sure they understand the class material; sadly, the students who text frequently seem to be com-pletely lost and cannot recall what I was talking about. These students are the individuals who feel anxious the most during exams because they worry that they might not do well. The result is obvious; their test scores show again and again that they don’t!

I think a positive learning environment is a place where the instructors do their best, and the students also do their best. It is understandable that different students have different learning styles. Some like to take notes on paper while others prefer doing it on computer. Some actively participate in class while others are quieter. However, it would

be great if both instructors and students are on the same page in terms of staying focused on the lecture at hand to reach a common learning outcome in which the lecture is explained well, and the students understand it fully.

Therefore, I think our District should enforce some policies to eliminate students’ texting in class in order to increase their learning productivity. I also believe that nothing great can be achieved when it is taken lightly.

Same philosophy is applied to students’ academic performance; when students are truly responsible for their educa-tion and become more aware of their self-behavior by realizing that texting is something they can do outside of class time, not only will they do well in class-es and achieve good grades, our school will also obtain higher rate of successful students. It is a worthy goal to strive for – the pursuit of excellence!

Executive Board and Other Important Meetings Fall 2016

Date Time Campus Location

Fri Sept 15th 9:30a-12:30p SJCC SC 104

Fri Sept 29th 9:30a-12:30p EVC Appi Mishra - LC

Fri Oct 20th 9:30a-12:30p SJCC SC 104

Fri Nov 3rd 9:30a-12:30p EVC Appi Mishra - LC

Council of Div Reps 1:00p-3:00p EVC Appi Mishra - LC

Fri Nov 17th 9:30a-12:30p SJCC SC 104

Friday Dec 8th 9:30a-12:30p EVC Appi Mishra - LC

Fall Adjunct Meetings - TBD

Faculty Matters ♦ September 2017

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How to Find Gold for Your ‘Golden Years’By Jory Segal, AFT 6157 Grievance Officer, Adjunct Rep at Large, EVC Adjunct PE Faculty

Thinking about retirement is not always a priority for new faculty members. We were all excited to start a new position, and there are so many things to process that retirement issues usually move to the bottom of the list.

Putting off learning about how to best position yourself for retirement is not a good idea. Understanding your options and making informed decisions for your future, may help you to become financially secure in retirement. This overview is just an introduction to your options for retirement as a faculty mem-ber at SJECC.

Types of Workplace Retirement Plans:1. Defined Benefit2. Defined Contribution3. Cash Balance4. Employee only Contribution Plan

(403B or 457)

Most retirement plans, (except ROTH IRA’s), are “tax deferred.” Contribu-tions to the plans are NOT taxed. With-drawals are taxed. Early withdrawals may incur a tax penalty.

DEFINED BENEFIT plans are more traditional pensions. SJECCD uses a de-fined benefit plan available for full-time faculty and adjunct faculty who opt for that plan.

There is a “vesting requirement” that is usually five years of full-time equivalent employment. The benefit, (pension), is defined by a formula that is usually based on years of service, retirement age and the final or highest yearly salary.

Benefit = years of full-time equiva-lent service X retirement age factor X the average of the three highest yearly earnings (if you have worked 30 years

or more full-time, it is the highest one year).

If you are an adjunct faculty and teach a 50% load for two years you would have one year of full-time equivalent service.

The benefit is usually paid monthly, and it is guaranteed for life and may include COLA (cost of living adjustments). Dis-ability insurance and death benefits (to a designated survivor) are options usually included in most plans. The minimum retirement age is 55.

If you are already in CalPERS, it proba-bly makes sense to stay in CalPERS and not change to CalSTRS. The minimum retirement age for CalPERS is 50 and the benefit is based on the highest 12 consecutive months. (CALPERS does not offer a Golden Handshake.)

Unused sick leave can increase the years of full-time service credit for STRS and PERS. The number of un-used sick leave days would be divided by the FTE days by the last employer and that number determines how much unused sick leave the district reports to CalSTRS.

Sick leave can be transferred from a previous employer to your new employ-er, as long as the request is received within three years of leaving the previ-ous district.

Other Types of Plans:

• DEFINED BENEFIT SUPPLE-MENT Program from CalSTRS is used if you work more than 1.0 (a full year of service credit) in any year. Any additional earnings have 8% contribution by the employer and 8% by the employee that goes into a special account. The account earns guaranteed compounded interest and can be paid as a lump-sum or annuitized upon retirement.

• DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS are in many ways similar

to a 401K. In education they are a 403B or 457. Immediate vesting occurs. The employer and em-ployees contributions are defined. Employers are not required to contribute and contributions are tax deferred. The Retirement Benefit is the account balance at retirement. (The benefit includes contributions and hopefully some earnings, note: losses are possible). Some plans may offer an option to annuitize the funds upon retirement. They are not pensions, they are uninsured private savings accounts.

• CASH BALANCE PLANS “hybrid plans” including the “APPLE PLAN” used for retirees hired back to teach in SJECCD. Immediate vesting occurs. The em-ployer and employee contributions are defined. They are usually 3.75 to 4% each for a total of 7.5 to 8%, depending upon the plan. Guar-anteed annual minimum interest (employee cannot lose money). The Retirement Benefit is the account balance at retirement. The plan’s funds are invested by paid professionals. There may be an op-tional annuity option based on age and the account balance. (CalSTRS cash balance plan.) The minimum retirement age is 55. Contributions are tax deferred. Not portable to outside California.

Faculty Matters ♦ September 2017

7

• IRA’s Roth or traditional contribu-tion plans. No employer contribu-tions.

• ANNUITIES Lifetime income based on age and the amount of contribution. Usually offered by life insurance companies that seek to make a profit. Sometimes of-fered as a benefit option in defined contribution and cash balance plans, CalSTRS offers a defined benefit plan that is mandatory for full-time faculty in California. It is optional for part-time faculty. Its cash balance plan is not available for full-time faculty, and part-time faculty will be enrolled in it unless their district offers Social Security or the APPLE Plan.

• SOCIAL SECURITY Similar to a defined benefit plan, needs 40 credits (months) to vest. Minimum retirement age is 62. Retirement benefit defined by a formula based on average annual earnings over of more than 35 years. Both employee and employer have 6.2% contri-bution. Contributions are not tax deferred, and the benefits are some-times taxable. They are portable to most other states and jobs.

• WEP AND GPO (SOCIAL SECURITY PENSION REDUC-TIONS)-These are just brief summaries. Please contact Social Security for more information. The WEP and GPO may apply if you concurrently receive retirement benefits from Social Security and also from CalSTRS defined benefit or cash balance plans. WEP is the windfall elimination provision that MAY reduce your Social Security benefit by up to approximately $443 monthly in 2017. The reduction cannot be more than 50% of your benefit from non-covered employment. See: SSA Publication No. 05-10045. Faculty are subject to this provision, if you

have less than 30 years of “sub-stantial earnings” in employment covered by Social Security. GPO is the Government Pension Offset. It may reduce or wipe out your Social Security spousal, wid-ow or widower benefits. See: SSA publication No. 05-10007. If you have Social Security, we suggest you contact them to ensure you understand your benefits.

• WORKING AFTER RETIRE-MENT: Your retirement benefit is reduced dollar for dollar by any compensation earned from CalSTRS-covered employment during the first 180 calendar days

following your most recent retire-ment effective date. Post retirement earnings limit is $41,732.

Please know that this is just a summary and it is always important for you to check with you financial planner, STRS and your employer before you retire to make sure that their reporting to CalSTRS is correct. • Social Security: www.ssa.gov

800-772-1213• CalSTRS: www.calstrs.com

800-228-5453• Apple: www.midamerica.biz

800-634-1178• CalPERS: www.calpers.ca.gov

888-225-7377

New Full Time Faculty

• Lucas Cantin, Chemistry, SJCC

• Charles Chau, Chemistry, EVC

• Sophia de la Fuente, Case Manager, SJCC

• Edna Dolatre, Dental Assisting, SJCC

• Shanna Erickson, Mathematics, EVC

• Zerrin Erkal, ESL, SJCC

• Julio Flores, EOPS Counselor, SJCC

• Valentin Garcia, Counseling, SJCC

• Dedrick Griffin, English, SJCC

• Cindy Huynh, Ethnic Studies, EVC

• Tina Iniguez, Counseling, EVC

• Poonam Khare, Nursing, EVC

• Christopher Lancaster, Communications Studies, SJCC

• Flora Payne, CalWORKS Counselor, EVC

• Rosa Pereida, Counseling, EVC

• Andres Rodriguez, Ethnic Studies, SJCC

• Janice Sapigao, English, SJCC

Please join us in welcoming these seventeen new full time faculty members to the AFT 6157 union family:

Faculty MattersProduction Team

Editor/Lead Writer: Barbara HanflingAssistant Editor: Farideh DadaCopy Edit/Layout: Susan Yuen

Content Contributions and Guidance from the San José/Evergreen Federation of Teachers AFT 6157 Executive Board and Faculty Members8

Faculty Matters ♦ September 2017

1. Appropriate Salary Placement … FinallyBy Silvia Garcia, SJCC Adjunct Spanish Faculty

I started working as an adjunct faculty, Spanish instructor, at San Jose City College the fall of 2013. I personally gave all my hiring papers to the HR

person in charge at administrative ser-vices at SJCC. Even though this person had a lot of experience working as HR, she wrongly placed me in Class II, in-stead of Class V — a difference of quite a bit of salary.

My educational background consisted of two master’s degrees: one from my native country, and one from the U.S. I left the meeting, thinking every-thing was fine, and since that was my first class ever taught at a community college, I was not familiar with “cat-egories,” and really never thought I had to look up for myself to make sure everything was correct. Even though I had confirmed I did everything a new faculty member needed to do. Needless to say, my trust for in the office was 100 percent at that time.

In case you wonder, my paycheck for one class “Elementary Spanish,” five credit hours per week (plus office hours) was about $1,286 monthly in Class II (now it is more than $1,500 monthly in Class V).

About a year ago, the lab hours were taken away from the Language Depart-ment, and my adjunct paycheck shrank. Because of this reason, I contacted the new HR person at the college, and we went over my hiring papers again, and that was when I realized I had been wrongly placed in a lower class. I im-mediately contacted Barbara Hanfling from the Union, and the same day she put me in contact with Jory Segal, the AFT 6157 Grievance officer.

What Has the Union Done for You Lately?Beginning of January this year, Jory contacted the college HR and after about two months of phone calls and back and forth emails, HR decided that they were ready to negotiate and pay the difference retroactively for placing me on Class II from fall 2013 to fall 2016, and change my class to Class V begin-ning fall 2017.

The reality is that I did not think they would pay retroactively, but I insisted and the Union insisted and we didn’t want to give up. Jory invested a lot of her time negotiating on my behalf, and at the end I benefited from her hard work and energy.

I am very thankful for all her efforts and the representation of the Union. I encourage you to contact Jory and the Union, if you, as an adjunct or as a full-time faculty member, are in need of advice about your rights.

2. Another Win on Salary PlacementBy Neelam R. Shukla, SJCC Adjunct Faculty

A big thank you to AFT 6157 for your support. Because of the union, my voice was heard. I was hired at San Jose City College in Oct

2014 as a substitute. I turned in all the requested documents during the hiring process. I subsequently leaned that if I had 2 master’s degrees, I should have been placed in a higher column, and my salary should have been higher. I sent email to the individual in charge of placing adjunct faculty at SJCC, but never received an answer. Then I visited in person and I was told that faculty who have two masters degrees from other countries, should be on column 2. Because I did not know the rules, I accepted the answer.

After being hired at De Anza College I was placed in column 5. I was also hired at Gavilan College, and they placed me on a higher column. Af-

ter that I thought I should try again at SJCC, I was sure something might be incorrect. I called our Executive Direc-tor, Barbara Hanfling and explained the situation and forwarded her the emails. Barbara said,” If you are right you will get what you deserve and your retro as well.” I was never asked to turn in a sealed copy of the evaluation of my in-ternational transcripts when I was hired. Luckily everything has been resolved.

Grievance office Jory thanks for your support as well, I received all my retro in pay advice of 9th June. I heard before from colleagues that our union is one of the best unions and helpful “It is true! I experienced it myself.”

Congratulations to Maryam, our full time music teacher at EVC, who deliv-ered her baby girl on August 4th, 2017. Baby Johanna weighed 7 pounds 3.2kg and was 20.5 inches long. Mother Maryam and Father Hamid Asgarian are both enjoying their time with new baby.

Maryam Farshadfar Welcomes New Baby