The LRCFT Part-Time Faculty Almanac

Second Edition
2025
The Los Rios College Federation of Teachers

Introduction and Orientation to the Almanac

Welcome

Welcome to the LRCFT’s Part-Time Faculty Almanac.

This Almanac, produced by the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers, is designed as a guide to help part-time faculty in the Los Rios Community College District. It includes discussion of your contractual rights and contains information that will help you navigate the sometimes bewildering rules and procedures that govern part-time faculty employment in Los Rios.

This is a revised and expanded edition of the Almanac. The first edition, the Part-Timer’s Almanac, was created in 2017 by the newly formed LRCFT Part-Time Faculty Caucus, taking inspiration from the Los Angeles Faculty Guild’s Adjunct Faculty Survival Guide. The original intent of its creators was to update it regularly, but events conspired to prevent that until recently.

The current edition was created by a small group of LRCFT part-time faculty and LRCFT staff. It reflects some of our post-pandemic realities (more online and remote work, for example), along with changes to our contract and salary schedules that have been negotiated and implemented since 2017.

The Almanac will continue to undergo revisions and additions to keep it current and to make it even more user-friendly for part-time faculty at every stage of their academic careers. We’ll be seeking the input and expertise of part-time faculty throughout the District to make this happen!

In the meantime, we hope you find this updated version useful.

The Los Rios College Federation of Teachers (LRCFT) Part-Time Faculty Caucus and Part-Time Faculty Issues Committee

The LRCFT Part-Time Faculty Caucus was created in 2017 by elected part-time faculty union representatives and other part-time faculty union members who wanted to strengthen our collective voice in all aspects of our working lives in Los Rios, including our own local union. It has done this through a variety of activities: conferences, workshops, supportive social gatherings, negotiations, advocacy and member surveying, and the creation of the first edition of the Almanac. The Caucus’s statement of purpose appears at the beginning of the first edition of the Part-Timer’s Almanac. Caucus activities have historically been undertaken with no monetary compensation from LRCFT or any other body and have been open to all interested faculty.

In 2022, the LRCFT created a standing committee dedicated to advocating for part-time faculty: the Part-Time Faculty Issues Committee. This relatively new body includes elected part-time Union representatives and other members from each of the 4 Los Rios colleges and works to strengthen the Union’s commitment to serving part-time faculty interests. Committee membership and participation carries a stipend paid by LRCFT.

Some Notes on Language Used Throughout the Almanac

The following words and phrases appear interchangeably:

Management ● Administration ● LRCCD (Los Rios Community College District) ● The District. These terms all refer to employees of the Los Rios District who are “managers,” those who are not faculty or classified employees. Sometimes the term “Area Dean” – the dean of your academic division or “area” – is used in discussion of processes that specifically involve this administrator or their office.

LRCFT ● Union ● Your union ● Faculty union ● LRCFT representatives ● We. Your faculty union is the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers (LRCFT), American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 2279. The Union consists of elected leaders and all its members. You can find contact information for all elected LRCFT leaders, including those representing faculty at each of the 4 Los Rios colleges, on the LRCFT website.

The contract ● LRCFT-LRCCD contract ● LRCFT contract ● Faculty contract ● Collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This is the set of provisions governing various aspects of faculty working conditions that your faculty Union representatives negotiate with the Los Rios District administration every 3 years. If you work as a faculty member in Los Rios, the LRCFT contract applies to you. Citations of the contract in this Almanac use the word “Article” to refer both to entire articles and to subsections, with identifying alphanumeric detail. Download the current LRCFT Contract.

Faculty ● Faculty member ● Professor ● Instructor. While the majority of Los Rios faculty are paid to teach students enrolled in their classes, there are other types of faculty assignments: Coaches, Coordinators, Counselors, Librarians, and Nurses. When necessary to distinguish between these types of assignments, this Almanac uses the terms “classroom” or “instructional” faculty and “non-classroom” or “non-instructional” faculty.

Part-time faculty ● Part-timers ● Adjunct faculty ● You. This Almanac generally uses the term “part-time faculty” in place of “adjunct,” even though many Los Rios documents, including our faculty contract, use the latter term. Please see “Being a Part-Timer in Los Rios” for more information about the history of these terms. It also sometimes uses direct address (the second person pronouns “you,” “your,” etc.), assuming the reader to be a part-time faculty member in Los Rios.

Being a Part-timer in Los Rios

What is a “part-timer”? What is an “adjunct”? What does it mean to be a part-time/adjunct faculty member in the Los Rios district? There are several ways to answer these questions.

Working with students, being part-time is exactly the same as being full-time. Part-time faculty are educators and professionals, hired for their qualifications and expertise, who are held to the same academic standards as full-time faculty.

However, in terms of employment status, part-time faculty are in a very different position than full-time faculty. As employees in the California Community College system, part-time faculty status is governed by the “67% law,” a section of the California Education Code that limits the part-time faculty workload to no more than 67% of a full-time workload in any single district (see Article 2.4.3 of the LRCFT-LRCCD contract). Furthermore, in accordance with the Education Code, Los Rios defines part-time community college faculty as “temporary employees,” with no absolute contractual guarantee of rehire from semester to semester (Article 4.10.1). Because teaching and other faculty work assignments depend upon multiple factors (adequate enrollment, funding, full-time faculty loads), part-time faculty employment is considered contingent. And this is the case no matter how long a part-time faculty member works in Los Rios, or what level of rehire rights they attain under the faculty contract. (Rehire rights in Los Rios are called “preference,” and are explained later in “Rehire Processes: The Preference System.”)

Another way to think about what it means to be a part-timer is to consider the history of the “adjunct” in higher education. Originally, adjuncts were temporary, part-time instructors who typically had other full-time jobs, usually in the private sector, and were hired for their particular expertise to staff a limited number of classes. As adjuncts, they were paid only for the work necessary to teach those classes (preparation, class time, and grading), and were not expected — nor typically invited — to participate in governance of the college, college service, or even office hours. An adjunct was, as Merriam-Webster defines the term, “supplementary rather than an essential part” of the college.

This basic outline of workload has endured, even as colleges and universities have come to rely more and more on so-called adjuncts as the majority workforce. Since the 1970s, the entire system of higher education nationwide has increasingly relied on part-time and contingent faculty to a degree that has made the term “adjunct” anachronistic. Indeed, part-timers are now the majority of faculty in community colleges nationwide, in California, and in the Los Rios District. This massive shift in faculty employment in the California community college system was recognized as early as 1988, when California Assembly Bill 1725 was signed into law, setting a state goal to eventually have no less than 75% of classes taught by full-timers and no more than 25% by part-timers. To date, no California community college has achieved this goal.

Despite the constraints that part-time faculty work under and the contingencies of employment, it is important to recognize that, as a member of the LRCFT bargaining unit, you do have rights and opportunities, many of which are governed by the LRCFT-LRCCD contract. This Almanac is designed to help you more fully understand key provisions of the contract and District processes that apply specifically to part-timers.

The remainder of the Almanac is divided into 5 sections: The Basics of Part-Time Faculty Employment in Los Rios; Other Important Information about your Rights and Responsibilities; Salary, Benefits, and Retirement; Leaves and Other Important Entitlements; and Your Union: How We Work Together.

The Basics of Part-Time Faculty Employment in Los Rios

Hiring and Orientation: Starting in Your New Position

This section explains what happens when someone first joins the District as a part-time faculty employee. A full description of the “onboarding” process for new part-time faculty can be found on the New Adjunct Employees page of the Los Rios Human Resources website.

Hiring begins with an offer of a position, which usually comes from the relevant Dean. After receiving an offer, new part-time faculty need to complete several tasks in order to begin work, including:

Have fingerprints taken at your campus police office (these cost $32, which will be withheld from your first paycheck). There is an option to have fingerprints taken by an outside agency, but most new faculty use the Los Rios option.
Provide personal information necessary for your employment (name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, etc.).
Provide official, sealed transcripts attesting to your educational qualifications. These must be received by HR within 60 days of your date of hire. These are important both to determine that you meet the minimum qualifications for your position, and to ensure that you are placed in the correct Class on the salary schedules (see the “Salary Schedules: Class and Step” section of this guide for more information).
Meet a tuberculosis clearance requirement. This can be done, free of charge, through campus health centers.
Schedule and attend an orientation with Human Resources. This involves calling an HR specialist to set up a day and time, and then attending a remote (online) meeting, which takes about an hour. At your orientation you will be provided with information about your employment, including:

medical and dental benefits
unemployment insurance
class and step placement on the salary schedules
how salary payments work
the State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS)
your faculty union, the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers. This will include a short presentation by a Union staff member or campus representative.

Many of the processes covered in HR orientation sessions are discussed in this guide, with a particular emphasis on how they work for part-time faculty.

Professional Expectations and Responsibilities

Article 11.2 of the LRCFT contract lays out professional responsibilities and expectations for all Los Rios faculty. You are expected to:

Conduct a classroom environment that is conducive to student learning, growth, and development in which students are free from discrimination, prejudice, and harassment and in which students are free to express relevant ideas and opinions.
Clearly differentiate to students the expression of your personal opinions or convictions from the objective presentation of theory, fact, or ideas
Adhere to District procedures for using approved materials and resources.
Meet obligations for college service, participate in institutional planning processes and accreditation efforts, and submit course and department-related documents, such as, but not limited to, syllabi, student grades, updated rosters, schedules, requisitions, textbook orders.
Use the approved Learning Management System to provide students with your contact information and office hours, and to post the course syllabus. The LMS course shell must be made available to students by the first day of instruction for online courses and by the end of the first week of instruction for on-ground courses. Faculty must also use the LMS gradebook consistent with the grading procedure outlined in the syllabus.

Note: Some of these stated expectations do not apply to non-classroom faculty, and others apply only to part-time faculty who opt in to them through an established program with associated additional compensation (office hours, college service). Still others, including institutional planning processes and accreditation efforts, may present opportunities for part-time faculty participation but are not mandatory and might not be eligible for compensation. See “Paid College Service and Professional Development” in this Almanac for more information about ways you may choose to participate in and be compensated for such additional work.

The contract lays out more detailed responsibilities according to classroom or non-classroom assignments. These are the criteria that your performance review team will use when evaluating you, so you should familiarize yourself with the “professional responsibilities” applicable to you: Classroom Faculty (Article 8.4.1), Counselors (8.4.2), Librarians (8.4.3), Nurses (8.4.4), Coordinators (8.4.5), and Athletic Coaches (8.4.6). Article 8

Office Hours and Office Time

Earlier in this Almanac, we asserted that part-time faculty are “educators and professionals, hired for our qualifications and expertise, who are held to the same academic standards as full-time faculty” (See “Being a Part-Timer in Los Rios” in this Almanac). There is one area of faculty work, however, where this is not quite true: office hours for instructional faculty.

Full-time instructional faculty are required, as part of their employment, to hold one office hour for each 0.2 FTE worth of classes that they teach (FTE, or Full Time Equivalent work, is explained in detail in “Salary Schedule Step Advancement”). For a full-timer teaching a full load, this means 5 hours of office hours per week, with 11 additional hours required each year to take account of the compressed academic calendar used in Los Rios. This requirement recognizes that not all education happens in the classroom and that the opportunity to meet one on one with their professors is an indispensable part of students’ educational experience at community colleges.

Part-time faculty, by contrast, are not required to hold office hours at all. This, of course, defies the basic logic of how colleges are supposed to work and our fundamental understanding of faculty’s role in students’ education. If part-time faculty do not hold office hours, the educational experience of our students suffers. At the same time, the LRCFT is adamant that faculty should not do unpaid work.

Fortunately, the Adjunct Faculty Office Hours Program helps fulfill students’ need for a complete college experience while providing faculty with compensation. The program, which is voluntary for part-time faculty, allows part-timers who teach classes to hold office hours and to be paid at their Class and Step for doing so, although it places limits on the number of office hours that faculty can hold.

Instructional Faculty and Office Hours

For many years, Los Rios offered part-time instructors a maximum of 1 paid office hour per week per semester. Since Fall 2017, part-time classroom faculty have the right to be paid for up to 1 office hour per week per 0.2 FTE you teach, up to a total of 2 office hours per week, each fall and spring semester. You may hold your office hour(s) on campus or online.

If you decide to participate in the Adjunct Faculty Office Hours Program, you have some choice in how many office hours you hold. If you teach between 0.2 FTE and 0.399 FTE, you may choose to hold either 9 or 18 office hours per semester, and if you teach 0.4 FTE or above, you may choose to hold 9, 18, 27, or 36 office hours per semester. Whichever you choose, you will be paid at an hourly rate based on your Class and Step on the B2/B3 salary schedule. For explanation of Class, Step, and salary issues more generally, see the “Salary” section.

To be paid for your office hours, you must submit the Office Hours Interest Form to your Area Dean’s office by the end of the first week of the semester. If your Area Office does not send you this form, you can find it online.

Important note: instructors who teach during summer are not eligible for paid office hours. LRCFT recognizes this as a problem that should be remedied when funds become available.

For more detail about the Adjunct Office Hours Program, see “Office Hours Program.”For the specific contract provisions governing this program, see Article 4.10.11.

Counselors and Office Time

Los Rios counselors are paid for “office time,” which is defined as “counseling services carried out either partially or completely outside direct student contact” (Article 4.8.3.1.8). Part-time counselors who are scheduled to work between 4 and 5 hours in a day will be paid for 30 additional minutes of office time; those who are scheduled for more than 5 hours in a day will have one of those hours committed to office time (4.10.5). Part-time counselors who are scheduled for fewer than 4 hours in a day do not have an office time entitlement as part of that schedule.

There are periods in the counseling schedule each year when student demand for counselors is at its highest. These periods, referred to as “peak time,” are identified by the Counseling Chair and Dean each academic year (4.8.3.1.5). Even during “peak times,” however, office time may not be reduced, so if you are scheduled for 4 hours or more on a peak time day, you still have the right to your office time as described above, and to be paid for it.

Performance Review

Community college faculty in California are required by law to undergo periodic evaluation of their work, often referred to as performance review. According to the California Education Code, part-time faculty must be evaluated during their first year of employment: in practice, this generally means during the first semester and at least once every 3 years after that.

The LRCFT contract governs the performance review processes for all faculty and establishes timelines for those processes; there are many similarities but some differences between full-time and part-time faculty performance review. Article 8 details the performance review process, and unless otherwise noted, all contractual references in this section are to this article.

Performance review is rooted in the contract section “Standards and Criteria for Performance Review” (Article 8.4), which lists “Professional Responsibilities” for each distinct category of faculty: Classroom Faculty, Counselors, Librarians, Nurses, Coordinators, and Athletic Coaches.

The purposes and goals of performance review are the same for all faculty. You should view performance review as an opportunity to be part of a collegial and professional conversation about your work, a formalized process of sharing with colleagues what you do and, ideally, learning with them.

The evaluation process is confidential, and you have the same rights to confidentiality during the performance review that full-time faculty have. Performance review team members should not discuss your review process with others, but you are free to discuss it with anyone you choose.

Your Performance Review Team

The performance review team for part-time faculty consists of at least the Area Dean and one faculty member (Article 8.8.1.1). The faculty member may be a full-timer OR a preferenced part-timer from your discipline or a related discipline. (See “Rehire Processes: The Preference System” in this section of the Almanac for more detail about “preferenced part-time” faculty status.)

Adjunct faculty undergoing performance review are now allowed a peremptory challenge to remove a member of the review team. This challenge may not be used in an adjunct faculty member’s first review cycle. This is a pilot program for the duration of the 2023-26 contract (Article 8.8.1.1).

Review team formation and the performance review process follow timelines that are laid out in a pair of tables in Article 8.8 of the contract.

Procedures A and B

Performance review for part-time faculty follows one of two procedures: Procedure A or Procedure B.

Procedure A, identified as the “more rigorous procedure,” is used for all non-preferenced part-time faculty and at least every other review cycle for preferenced part-time faculty. (Again, see “Rehire Processes: The Preference System” in this section of the Almanac for more detail about “preferenced part-time” faculty status.) Procedure B is used for preferenced part-time faculty only after a “Satisfactory” Procedure A performance review has been documented. The key difference between Procedure A and Procedure B is that the former requires a workstation observation by a colleague, while the latter does not. For the timing of these review procedures, see the chart below.

Timelines

Important deadlines for faculty under review to remember are:

Prior to start of classes	Faculty members under review receives a notification email from their Dean indicating that they will be reviewed in the upcoming semester and whether their review will be Procedure A or Procedure B.
End of 2nd week	Deadline for faculty under review to email their Dean to request on-ground student reviews rather than online student reviews. This applies only to faculty teaching on-ground or hybrid courses.
End of 3rd week	The faculty member of the performance review team is assigned. The faculty member under review is then informed of the identity of the faculty member of the review team.
Three (3) weeks after being informed of the review team	Deadline for the faculty member under review to exercise a peremptory challenge against the faculty member of the review team. Note: Faculty members undergoing their first review may not use a peremptory challenge.
By the 6th week	Faculty under review may voluntarily change a Procedure B review to a Procedure A, if they would like a workstation observation. Pre-Review arrangements, as well as the Self-Study and the Equity Reflection (not applicable for review in the first semester of employment), must be completed by this time.
3rd-15th week	Workstation observation, if applicable, takes place during this period.
6th-15th week	Student reviews of faculty take place. The timing of student reviews differs for in-person classes and online classes. Check the tables in Article 8.8.
Before end of semester	Post-review conference between review team and faculty member under review. This is required under Procedure A and is optional under Procedure B. The faculty member is provided with a completed review form and has an opportunity to append written rebuttals or explanations addressing any issues raised by the review team.
End of semester	The signed review form is presented to the College President and then placed in the faculty member’s personnel file, along with any rebuttals or explanations produced by the faculty member.

The Self-Study (Procedures A and B)

All part-time faculty undergoing performance review after their first year are required to prepare and submit a self-study, a 4-page maximum, typed, single-spaced document that should contain the following headings: “Response to Recommendations of Previous Review,” “Remedy Cycle History,” “Efforts Taken to Stay Current,” “Future Directions,” “Other,” and “Attachments” (Articles 8.8.2.1b and 8.8.2.2.b). Please see Appendix F of the contract for more detail about what belongs in each of these sections.

Equity Reflection (Procedures A and B)

An Equity Reflection, like a self-study, is required for each performance review after the first-year review. This document, which should be prepared using the approved format as described in Appendix F1 of the CBA (8.8.2.1[c] and 8.8.2.2[c]), gives faculty an opportunity to discuss their efforts “to improve student outcomes for historically underrepresented groups and disproportionately impacted populations.” Designed to improve institutional dialogue around issues of diversity and equity, the reflection “must not be used as evidence to support a less than satisfactory rating” in your performance review (8.3.7).

Workstation Observation (Procedure A Only)

For most part-time faculty, a workstation observation is a visit to your workstation from a peer colleague: the faculty member on your review team (or, in the case of librarians and counselors teaching HCD and Library classes, possibly the Area Dean). This may be a full-time faculty member or a preferenced part-time faculty member from your discipline or a related discipline. The Area Dean and ex-officio member of the review team, the Department Chair, have the option of performing further workstation observations (Article 8.8.2.1[d]).

Depending on the length of your class meeting, the visit may be for the entire meeting or just a portion of it. You and your observer should decide on this before the workstation observation to minimize disruption to you and your students.

The results of this observation will be reflected in the narrative portion of the Faculty Performance Review Form and, in conjunction with other sources of information, the ratings on that form.

Student Reviews (Procedures A and B)

Student reviews of faculty are required for all employees undergoing performance review, whether Procedure A or B. The contract identifies student reviews as “primarily a tool for faculty use to facilitate the improvement of instruction or student services” (Article 8.3.6). As such, they may be used as corroborating material in performance review, but they may not be used as the sole source of evidence to support a less than satisfactory performance review rating.

As of Fall 2023, student reviews for classroom faculty are, by default, conducted online. If you are teaching on-ground or in hybrid mode and would prefer to have your student reviews conducted in the physical classroom during a regular class meeting, you must notify your performance review team by the end of the second week of the semester.

Reviews conducted on-ground during a regular class meeting will typically be distributed and collected during your workstation observation. You will be asked to leave the room during this process. Online reviews for 8-week and 16-week classes are, by default, conducted in specific weeks (see the table of timelines above, or in Article 8.8 of the contract). Faculty teaching 16-week classes may request to hold online student reviews anytime from Week 6 through Week 12, but this must be with the mutual agreement of the review team.

Student reviews are shared with you after the completion of the semester of your review; the District may maintain copies for no longer than one (1) semester or until any grievance or disciplinary procedure for which the reviews may be relevant has been concluded (Article 8.3.6).

Please note that any informal student complaints shared with your Area Dean may NOT be used as supporting documents in your formal performance review unless:

they have been shared with you within 2 weeks of their receipt by your Area Dean, and
you have had the opportunity to respond to them. (See “Student Complaints and Grievances” below.)

You can find student review forms under “Faculty Review by Students” on the Performance Reviews page of the District’s website.

Post-Review Conference (Procedure A; Optional for Procedure B)

You and your performance review team meet (typically via video conference) to discuss the faculty performance review form they have completed and to engage in professional, collegial discussion of your work.

Faculty Performance Review Forms (Procedures A and B)

Each category of faculty (classroom and various categories of non-classroom) has a distinct performance review form that reflects the professional standards and criteria for performance review. You can find them under “Faculty” on the Performance Reviews page of the District’s website.

These forms include three possible ratings for each area of performance and for your performance overall: Satisfactory, Needs Improvement, and Unsatisfactory. Your performance review team must indicate in writing the reason(s) for any less than satisfactory ratings and any recommendation for a regular review in less than 3 years (Article 8.8.2.1[f]).

Your team will also indicate, at the bottom of the form, whether they recommend you be “rehired for service as needed” or not rehired, based on their ratings. If they recommend you be rehired, they will also indicate whether they recommend Procedure A or Procedure B for your next review cycle.

Your Area Dean’s office will ask you to read and sign your form before the end of the semester you’re being reviewed. Signing the form does not communicate your agreement with its contents but merely that you have received the form. You have the right to rebut the contents of your review form and to have your rebuttal included with it in your Personnel File (see “Personnel File”). If any part of the performance review process is not followed, you should notify your LRCFT representatives.

Online and Hybrid Courses

The LRCFT is dedicated to making the process of performance review for instructors of online and hybrid classes as similar as possible to the process for instructors of on-ground classes, assuring opportunities for professional and substantive conversation between you and your review team and minimizing the possibility that you feel unduly or covertly surveilled. For faculty being reviewed under Procedure A, workstation observations in online courses will require you to provide “Reviewer” access to your online course for 7 days to members of your performance review team. (See Article 8.9 for more detail.)

Rehire Processes: The Preference System

Because the California Education Code defines part-time faculty in the California community colleges as “temporary” employees, part-time/adjunct faculty are technically “rehired” every semester they work. Part-time faculty earn “rehire rights” over time, part of a system Los Rios calls “preference.”

Part-time faculty rehire rights and the preference system are contingent on available work within the college and program where the faculty member is working. If declining student enrollment, changes in organization, or some other development results in a reduction in the number of classes or the amount of work available in your program, there may not be sufficient work to offer a load to all preferenced part-time faculty. (This is why California community college part-time faculty are eligible for Unemployment Insurance between academic terms; see “Unemployment”.)

When there is work available for part-time faculty, the preference levels discussed below are required to be honored sequentially. The LRCFT contract says that “preference shall be given according to the following order” when allocating work beyond that performed by full-time employees as part of their regular, full-time load. Unless otherwise noted, all contract references in this section are to Article 4.

The Preference System

The Los Rios preference system, or “priority order” for scheduling assignments beyond all full-time faculty assignments of 1.0 FTE (100% employment), consists of three levels (4.10.6). These levels represent the order in which work is offered after all full-time faculty have received their regular full-time assignment. The three levels of preference also contain provisions setting the amount of work (the preferenced load) for which each faculty member has preference.

First Level preference is NOT for part-time faculty; it’s for full-time faculty wanting to work “overload,” which for instructional faculty means teaching classes beyond their 1.0 FTE (100% employment) load. Full-time faculty have preference for 0.4 FTE (40% of a full-time assignment) of overload in their subject area at their college but may not be assigned more than this until Second and Third level preference assignments have been offered.

Second Level preference applies to part-time faculty who have worked 16 out of the previous 20 semesters in a given discipline/subject area at a given college. There are 2 subgroups of Second Level preference, with different preference load allowances for each:

For most faculty at Second Level, preference load is the average FTE of the 2 highest of the previous 3 semesters worked but may not exceed 0.4 (40%). That is, even if the average of the 2 highest of your previous 3 semesters is greater than 0.4, your preference load rights are capped at 0.4.

Faculty who have earned Second Level preference and who have also received a load of 0.595 FTE (59.5%) or greater for 5 of the previous 6 semesters have earned a preference load of 0.6, or 60% per semester. For faculty in this subgroup of Second Level preference, a less-than-satisfactory performance review will result in a reduction of their preferenced load to 0.4.

Third Level preference consists of part-time faculty who have worked 8 out of the previous 12 semesters in a given discipline/subject area at a given college. Preference load at Third Level is the average FTE of the 2 highest of the previous 3 semesters worked but may not exceed 0.4 (40%).

Under the current LRCFT contract, anyone who has not attained one of these 3 levels of preference in a specific academic area at a specific college is considered “non-preferenced” and may not be offered an assignment until all faculty who have earned preference at Second and Third levels in that academic area at that college have been offered an assignment at their preferenced load (assuming available FTE).

Under this system, it takes part-time faculty at least 4 years of service in Los Rios to achieve Third Level preference, and at least 8 years to achieve Second Level preference.

Placement in preference levels and movement from one level of preference to the next happens automatically; you do not need to submit any special request to be placed within the preference system or to advance to the next level. However, it IS your responsibility to submit a Faculty Availability/ Preference Form by the campus-determined deadline (provided by each Area Dean and on each college’s website) for every academic term for which you would like to be offered an assignment. According to the contract, this form is available “in the Area Dean’s office, on the College website, and on the Los Rios Human Resources’ Forms webpage” (4.10.3).

Important note: A part-time faculty member with hiring preference must be considered for an assignment as part of the system laid out here and must be offered work if it is available as part of the preference order. Preference does not, however, guarantee any faculty member a specific class, a specific day or time, or a specific modality (in-person or online). If you have any questions about your assignment, please contact an LRCFT representative.

Preference in Summer

Preference applies in Summer terms for the purpose of assigning work, but work during summer does not count for the purposes of gaining or maintaining preference or for calculating preferenced load. Summer preference is limited to 0.4 FTE (40%), even for faculty who have earned Second Level preference at 0.6 (60%) during the rest of the academic year.

No Offer of Assignment

As noted above, reductions in student enrollment or program changes implemented by the administration can result in insufficient work for all preferenced part-time faculty in a particular academic area at a particular college. In such circumstances, it is possible that preferenced faculty who have received satisfactory performance reviews and who have submitted their Availability/ Preference form on time will not receive an offer of work.

You have a right to be told if you will not be offered an assignment.

If you have submitted an Availability/Preference form on time but will not be offered an assignment, management must inform you of this no later than 30 days before the beginning of the academic term for which you have requested an assignment (4.10.3).

Reduction in Preference and Loss of Preference

Faculty cannot lose their preference status or their preferenced FTE load due to cancellation of part or all of their assignment because of low enrollment (4.10.8.5).

There are a few ways, however, in which part-time faculty who have attained Second or Third level preference may have their preference reduced or may lose it altogether.

Because both Second and Third level preference specify the number of semesters a faculty member must have worked within a specific look-back period (16 out of 20 semesters for Second level preference, and 8 out of 12 semesters for Third level), it is possible to lose one’s rehire rights by not working for more than 4 semesters within that longer time frame. If a part-time faculty member declines an offer or portion of an offer – or if there is no available work to offer that part-time faculty member – this may, in time, affect earned preference status.

For faculty with Second Level preference and a 0.6 preference load, a single less than satisfactory performance review will not remove you from Second Level preference, but it will cause your preference load to be reduced from 0.6 to 0.4 (4.10.6 Second [a] ii).

For all faculty with Second or Third Level preference, 2 consecutive overall less than satisfactory performance reviews (i.e., 2 consecutive performance reviews in which your overall rating was “Unsatisfactory” or “Needs improvement”) allows your college to deny you a load under the order of preference explained above (4.10.8.1). The LRCFT contract does not explicitly state that receiving 2 consecutive less than satisfactory reviews eliminates your preference, but it does allow your preference status to be ignored in assigning work.

Since Fall 2023, if you have Second or Third level preference and are subject to discipline for just cause consistent with Article 27 that results in a written reprimand based on the findings of an investigation substantiating allegations of misconduct, you lose your preference status and are considered new faculty for the purposes of assigning work (4.10.6.1[d]).

The Preference Report

Each semester, Los Rios releases a Preference Report listing all part-time faculty who have earned Second or Third level preference, listed by college and discipline. The most recent report is published on the District website.

This report enables you to check your own preference level and to see the preference level of all other part-time faculty in your department. Please note that the “current” report is always one semester behind.

Important! You are strongly encouraged to keep track of your placement and advancement through the levels of the preference system and to be mindful of your current preference status and the FTE assignment you have earned. If you believe your preference status is not accurately represented in the Report, you should alert your LRCFT representatives. If you believe that your preference rights are not being honored in the assignment offer and scheduling process, you should feel comfortable asking questions of your chair and Area Dean about how your assignments were determined. You should also contact your LRCFT representatives.

Personnel File

Every employee of the Los Rios Community College District has a personnel file, which is kept in the District’s Human Resources office. Your personnel file contains your original hiring documents, as well as documents created in relation to your ongoing employment, including your performance reviews. If you are subject to any disciplinary measures for misconduct during your employment, those will also be documented in your personnel file.

You have the right to view your personnel file — and there is to be only one, maintained by the District Office — with 24 hours’ notice to Human Resources: 916-568-3112; 1919 Spanos Ct., Sacramento, 95825 (Article 12). You also have the following rights:

To review your file with an LRCFT representative present with you
To grant written permission to an LRCFT representative to review your file without you present.
To be notified by the District Human Resources Office in advance and in writing if any materials to be placed in your file are “derogatory” to your “conduct, service, character, or personality.”
To request that such materials not be included in your file if you deem them false. You must direct your request in writing to the Director of Human Resources within 30 days.
To write a response to any such materials, if you deem them false, and have that response included in your file.
To request that any such derogatory material, even if true and substantiated, be sealed after two years, if no similar complaints have arisen in the intervening period.
To receive a copy of your personnel file upon request.

Safety

You have a right to a safe working environment. If you have an emergency or perceive a threat, you should immediately call the Los Rios Police Department (LRPD): 916-558-2221 (x2221 from on-campus phones).

You also may request an escort between locations on campus, including to or from your car or other mode of transportation, if you ever feel unsafe for any reason. Call the LRPD to make such a request.

According to the Jeanne Clery Act, you have the right to information about crime statistics on campus and on public property immediately adjacent to LRCCD facilities. You can find that information, along with daily crime bulletins, under the “Crime and Reporting” tab on the Los Rios Police Department website.

All contract references in this section are taken from Article 21 Work Environment/Safety.

Removal of a Student

If a student’s behavior is disruptive to the learning environment (classroom or immediate instructional environment), you have the right to remove that student for the remainder of the class meeting during which the behavior occurs and the next class meeting (Article 21.2.1; California Education Code 76032). You are required to notify the College President or other appropriate college official within one (1) day of removing the student (21.2.1.1).

If you have reason to request that the student be removed from your classroom or instructional environment for a longer period, the following process should be followed (and if it is not, contact your LRCFT representatives):

After you notify the College President or appropriate college official and before the class meeting when the student is eligible to return, you will be invited to meet with the campus Student Discipline Officer (SDO) at a mutually agreeable time to discuss the student’s behavior and your request (21.2.2.2).
The SDO will inform you of their decision, including “any stated expectations or conditions of student behavior when the student returns to class” (21.2.2.3).
Within one (1) working day of receiving the SDO’s decision, you may submit an appeal in writing to the College President, identifying the “Good Cause” justification for your request that the student be removed from class for a longer period of time ( 21.2.2.4).
The student will not be permitted back to your classroom or instructional environment pending this appeal (21.2.2.5), and the College President’s (or designee’s) decision shall be final (21.2.2.6).

Threat to a Faculty Member

If you ever feel threatened by a student or other person on campus, you should immediately inform your Area Dean and law enforcement about the incident. Management is also expected to inform law enforcement.

You have the right to:

have any student posing a threat removed from your classroom or other instructional area.
be assisted by the District in securing necessary protection, including “police assistance, support for obtaining restraining orders, and providing release time if needed to attend any related legal proceeding” (21.3.4).
not have a threatening student in your classroom or other instructional area if the Los Rios Police Department (LRPD) determines a “direct and serious threat” to you exists, pending the completion of a threat assessment by the LRPD (21.3.4.1).
be notified by the Los Rios Police Department of the results of their threat assessment within 3 instructional days.
appeal the results of the LRPD threat assessment to the District Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration (916-568-3058) (21.3.4.1.2).
be informed of the decision of the Vice Chancellor within 6 instructional days, in the absence of extenuating circumstances (21.3.4.1.3).

You also have the right to be informed by the District if there is reason to believe a “direct and serious threat” exists to you at work (21.3.5).

A note on your labor rights if you are the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking: You have the right to time off to pursue your own and your children’s safety, reasonable accommodation to increase your safety, and freedom from retaliation and discrimination from your employer based on your situation or on your exercise of the previously stated rights. More information is available from the California Labor Commissioner’s Office.

Student Complaints and Grievances

There may come a time, for some faculty, when a student wishes to express concern about some aspect of the faculty member’s treatment of the student. The District has processes for dealing with such student complaints, and faculty have certain rights connected to these processes.

There are two categories of general student “complaints” that may arise outside of the formal performance review process: informal (“Student Complaints”) and formal (“Student Grievances”). These exclude claims of unlawful discrimination or sexual harassment; see below for processes governing those claims.

Any informal student complaints MUST be shared with you within 2 weeks of their receipt by your Area Dean. Complaints such as these may be used as part of your performance review, but only if they have been shared with you and you have been given the opportunity to respond to them (Article 27.3).

Formal student complaints (grievances) – excluding claims of discrimination or sexual harassment – are handled according to processes outlined in Los Rios Board Policy P-2412 and Administrative Regulation R-2412: typically, the campus Student Grievance Officer (SGO) or Human Resources manager will notify the instructor within 7 days when a student files a formal complaint. You should be notified by management that you have the right to LRCFT representation in these matters. Regulation R-2412 contains a detailed explanation of how these student grievances should proceed.

It is important to note that the student grievance process is not a disciplinary matter for faculty. The aim of a student grievance hearing is to determine whether the student’s grievance is valid and what, if any, remedy the student might receive as a result. A finding in favor of the student does not constitute a finding of misconduct on the part of the faculty member and is not included as part of the faculty member’s personnel file.

In cases involving claims of unlawful discrimination or sexual harassment, the District follows policies outlined in District Administrative Regulation R-2423. You have the right during the investigation process to LRCFT representation in all meetings with management and for the LRCFT to receive copies of all documentation related to the claims made against you. For more information, see “Union Representation” below.

Long-Term Temporary (LTT) Assignments

As part-time faculty in Los Rios you might, at some stage, have the opportunity to work full-time for a semester or a year as a Long-Term Temporary (LTT) employee. All part-time or adjunct faculty are “temporary” faculty under California law, but LTT is the Los Rios term for a specific type of temporary faculty, one that works more than 67% (and usually full-time) for a period of a semester or a year.

The contractual definition of Long-Term Temporary faculty can be found in Article 2.4.4, but the underlying authority for the position comes from state law. Under California Education Code §87482, community college districts may hire full-time temporary faculty for a one-semester or one-year period due to “higher enrollment of students” or because “a faculty member has been granted leave…or is experiencing long-term illness.” That is, these full-time temporary positions–which we call LTTs–are designed to address specific faculty shortages; they are not supposed to be used as a standard or ongoing means of faculty employment.

Not only are LTTs supposed to be hired only to fill specific departmental needs, but individuals are limited in how often they can work as an LTT. The same section of the Ed Code says that no person in a single community college district can be employed under this provision “for more than two semesters…within any period of three consecutive academic years.” The only exception to this rule is clinical nursing faculty, who may work as an LTT for four semesters in three academic years.

The number of LTTs in Los Rios can vary from just a few to dozens in a given semester, depending on circumstances, and people who have already been employed in the department as a part-time faculty member are often hired as LTTs. The hiring of LTTs within Los Rios seems to follow no single pathway, no shared process, and no consistent policy. Sometimes, these positions are advertised and filled through a reasonably rigorous interview procedure. Sometimes, part-time faculty are simply asked by their Dean if they would like an LTT assignment for a semester or a year. This is especially the case when there is a last-minute need.

This section does not identify all the contractual provisions and employment conditions that apply to LTTs but does discuss a few important issues related to this type of assignment.

Conditions of LTT Employment and Remuneration

While working as an LTT, you are full-time faculty, and for the duration of your LTT assignment, you have many of the contractual rights and responsibilities that apply to a new, full-time, tenure-track employee. You have all the duties of a full-time faculty member, including a full complement of office hours (for instructional faculty), and the same college service obligations. You are required to undergo performance review during your LTT assignment, following the same procedures that apply to tenure-track faculty under Article 8.6 of the contract, regardless of the timing of your most recent review and any upcoming reviews of your work as a part-time faculty member.

You are also paid like a full-time employee. As an LTT, you will be placed on Salary Schedule A, not Schedule B. Schedule A is the schedule for full-time faculty and presents compensation in the form of an annual salary rather than an hourly rate like part-time faculty pay. The salary includes remuneration for all the duties of full-time faculty work in Los Rios, including office hours (for instructional/classroom faculty) and college service (for all faculty).

Note that there are actually two separate A schedules. Full-time instructional faculty and librarians work a 164-day schedule (or 82 days per semester) and are paid on Salary Schedule A-164. Full-time counselors, coordinators and college nurses, on the other hand, work a 174-day schedule (87 per semester), and are paid on Salary Schedule A-174.

Because Class placement on the salary schedules is based on educational attainment and applies to both full-time and part-time faculty, your Class placement will be the same as for your part-time assignment. Your Step placement on the salary schedules, however, might be different. As detailed in the Salary Schedules: Class and Step section of this Almanac, new part-time faculty always start at Step 1 when first hired by the District, no matter how much prior occupational experience they might have. By contrast, full-time faculty (including LTTs) can count prior occupational experience, including their prior work as adjunct faculty, towards initial Step placement, up to Step 8 on the salary schedule.

This difference in Step placement means that some part-time faculty who accept an LTT assignment will be placed at a higher Step, but others might be at a lower Step. For example, if you have worked in the District for a long time and are at Step 11 on salary Schedule B as a part-timer, you can still be placed no higher than Step 8 on Schedule A when you are first hired as an LTT. If you are quite new to Los Rios, however, but also have significant prior occupational experience from outside the District, you may only be at Step 1 or 2 as adjunct faculty, but might be placed as high as Step 8 in an LTT assignment. Your salary placement might be a consideration in your decision about whether to accept an LTT assignment. If you have questions, please talk to an LRCFT representative.

Returning to Your Part-Time Faculty Position

Because LTT assignments are for one semester or one year, with statutory limits on how often a person can work as an LTT, most part-timers return to their previous adjunct faculty position at the end of their LTT assignments. It is important to note that accepting an LTT position does not, in most circumstances, compromise a part-time faculty member’s preference status in Los Rios.

In The Preference System, we explain that preference in Los Rios has two components: preference level and preference load. The level is based on the number of prior semesters worked in Los Rios, and the load is based on the amount of work performed in the most recent 3 semesters of employment.

Under Article 4.10.6.5 of the contract, work as an LTT counts toward achieving or maintaining your preference level. That is, a semester that you work as an LTT counts toward attaining and maintaining Third or Second level preference. This means that if you are at Third level preference or are non-preferenced, you continue to advance towards higher preference while working as an LTT; if you are already at Second level preference (the highest level available to part-time faculty), your preference level is maintained.

Your work performed as an LTT is not, however, counted in calculating your preference load (Article 4.10.6.5.1). Rather, the semester or semesters of an LTT assignment are ignored in the calculation of preference load. The load is, instead, calculated based on the faculty member’s “most recent and relevant semesters of adjunct load.” Thus, working as an LTT has neither a positive nor a negative effect on your preference load.

Important note: An LTT assignment only counts toward preference level “at the college and in the discipline where the service was rendered.” This means, for example, that if you typically teach Sociology at Sacramento City College and have preference at SCC but accept an LTT position in sociology at American River College, the LTT would not count toward your SCC preference. At SCC, it would be as if you took a semester off. This may or may not have any meaningful effect on your preference status, given the criteria for attaining and maintaining Third Level (8 out of the previous 12 semesters) and Second Level (16 out of the previous 20 semesters) preference at a particular college in a particular discipline.

With the caveat noted above, you can generally decide whether or not to accept an LTT position without worrying that your decision might compromise your part-time position in Los Rios. As always, we encourage you to contact an LRCFT representative if you have questions or concerns.

Other Important Information About Your Rights and Responsibilities

Academic Freedom

According to the LRCFT contract, both the LRCFT and the Los Rios administration recognize academic freedom as “essential” (Article 17 https://www.lrcft.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Article-17-Academic-Freedom.pdf). The contract recognizes academic freedom as including both “professional protections” and “professional autonomy.”

Protections

Professional protections allow you to undertake your academic work, including your studies and investigations as well as your interpretations and discussions, without “censorship, restraint, or dismissal.” That is, you have the freedom to pursue your academic discipline and to convey facts and ideas related to your subject matter as you see fit. Instructional faculty are required to follow the “assigned curriculum and outline”—sometimes known as the Course Outline of Record (COR)—for the classes they are teaching, but the course outline is a broad set of parameters that leaves significant space for faculty choices regarding the syllabus, course topics, course materials, assignments, content, and teaching methodology.

Professional protections also include a prohibition on “extraneous considerations … being used in evaluations of professional performance.” This means that, when your work is being evaluated, as happens at least once every 3 years for part-time faculty (see “Performance Review”), the evaluation must address your actual performance and may not consider factors such as “ethnicity, race, religion, political beliefs or affiliations, sexual orientation, immigrant status (except as required by law), or disability.”

Autonomy

Professional autonomy is closely connected with the protections described above. The contract specifies that you, as a faculty member, have the “principal right and responsibility to determine” the methods of instruction, the planning and presentation of course materials, and the fair and equitable methods of assessment, as long as you do so “in accordance with the approved curriculum and course outline and the educational mission of the District in accordance with state laws and regulations.”

A Note on Non-Instructional Faculty

Counselors, coordinators, coaches, librarians, and nurses are faculty and are protected by the academic freedom provisions of the faculty contract. While the language of Article 17 seems to be geared primarily towards instructional faculty, and the focus on curriculum, course outlines, course materials, instruction, and assessment implies a classroom setting, it is LRCFT’s firm position that all faculty enjoy the same professional protections and autonomy in carrying out their professional duties. We hope, in the next round of contract negotiations, to add some language that more explicitly recognizes the academic freedom of non-instructional faculty.

Department Meetings

All academic departments throughout Los Rios are expected to hold regular department meetings, but the frequency of such meetings, as well as whether part-time faculty are invited and encouraged to attend them, varies throughout the district.

As a part-time faculty member, you are not required to attend department meetings.

However, since attending department meetings allows you to be more informed about departmental processes, decisions, and ongoing discussions, as well as to contribute to them, attendance may be beneficial if your schedule permits it. The 2023-2026 contract also contains provisions that enable part-time faculty to receive compensation for certain types of college service and professional development, and attendance at department meetings qualifies for payment (Article 2.3.2). See the section of this Almanac titled “Paid College Service and Professional Development” for more details.

If you are a part-time faculty member with rehire rights, known as “preference” in the contract, you also have an opportunity, alongside your full-time colleagues, to complete the Department Chair Feedback Form each Spring semester. This allows you to offer input to your department chair and gives you a stronger voice in how your department is run. (See Article 2.2.4.4)

Freedom from Discrimination

The contract’s language on freedom from discrimination reads in full:

The Board and the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers agree not to discriminate against any faculty member on the basis of ethnic group identification, race, color, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or childbirth-related condition, sexual orientation, sexual identity, religion or religious creed, age (over 40), national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, political affiliation or belief, military and veteran status, or marital status. The LRCFT commends the Board’s commitment to equal opportunity and diversity (Article 18 ).

If you feel you have been discriminated against on any of the bases listed above, contact your LRCFT campus representatives as soon as possible.

Intellectual Property Rights

Under Title 17 of the US Code, which is the provision of federal law that governs copyright issues, employees who create original works in the course of their employment generally do not retain copyright in those works. The LRCFT contract, however, specifies that you own materials you develop to do your job as a faculty member in Los Rios unless:

the District has provided “substantial support” for the creation of those materials (Article 28.4.2a), defined as “financial support over and above the cost of the faculty member’s normal compensation, office space, office computer, local telephone use, minimal office supplies and copy services” (Article 28.2c.), or
the material has been “formally reviewed by the District and becomes part of its curriculum, policies, or administrative or promotional literature” (Article 28.4.2b).

The most common form of substantial support is extra pay or reassigned time. That is, if you are asked to prepare a written document or other work covered by copyright law, and if you are provided additional compensation specifically for producing that work, then the copyright for that work will generally remain with the District.

See Article 28 Intellectual Property, as well as sections of Article 26 Educational Technology, for more detail.

Campus Mailbox

You should be assigned a physical mailbox at each work location. Your mailbox is likely to be either in a faculty/staff common room that is open most of the day, or in a locked room for which you will receive a key or other means of access.

If you are working on campus, you should check your mailbox regularly. Also, don’t be surprised if you’re asked to remove its contents at the end of each semester or summer term, as mailboxes are often rearranged between academic terms as staff assignments change.

Computer Access and Printing Small Jobs

You may want to find out where campus computers are available for your use. How many, and how heavily they are used, varies considerably between campuses and divisions. If you print small jobs using communal printers, be mindful of local expectations regarding paper tray refill and communicating with Area Offices when printer toner and other supplies run low.

Additionally, many campus classrooms have computers. Be sure to log out after you’ve finished using them.

Disability Services and Programs for Students (DSPS)

Many students use Disability Services and Programs for Students and have accommodations to support them in their classes. Students who use DSPS will give their professors a form at the beginning of the semester specifying the accommodations DSPS has determined they have a right to under federal law. It’s your responsibility to provide these accommodations, as well as to avoid divulging students’ disability status to any students other than those who volunteer to be their notetakers, if applicable.

Some students will have accommodations for testing. You should find out where the DSPS office and testing centers are and what the procedures are for getting any exams to and from the testing rooms (for example, you deliver it in person, through campus mail, or through email; students transport it themselves). Typically, if such students choose to take exams at the DSPS center, you will fill out a form with exam details (first and last day to take it; how long students have to complete it in class; whether notes, calculators, scratch paper, etc. are allowed).

Duplication and Printing of Materials

If you need paper materials to do your job, including but not limited to duplicated or printed materials to give students, you can usually order an unlimited number of copies through duplicating services so long as you are using basic options (black and white printing on standard 8.5” x 11” white paper). This is the preferred way to generate paper materials, but you will need to check exact procedures, including how much advance time is necessary, for your main campus or off-campus center.

Often, the centers do not have their own duplicating services and thus require more time to receive the requested materials from the main campus. You can usually choose if you want your order to be delivered to your campus mailbox or if you would prefer to pick it up yourself. The latter can save some time in a pinch.

If you do not have enough prep time to order through duplicating services or only need a few copies, you may have printers and/or copiers available for small jobs in your office space or Area Office. Usually, you will have a designated number of copies available each semester, based on the number and size of the class(es) you are teaching. In some locations, a code will be assigned to you that allows you to access these resources and that keeps track of your usage. Many divisions will encourage you to use the campus duplicating department whenever possible because it saves money.

Email and Single Sign-On

To access your Los Rios email account and other essential tools, you’ll need to know your employee ID and your password. Every Los Rios college’s website, along with the District’s site, contains an “Employee Login” tool that gives you access to all the major tools and applications you may need to do your job.

Make sure you know how to access your email both on and off campus. (One way is to type “ex.losrios.edu” into the address bar of an internet browser, which will bring up the Outlook application on any computer.) You will need your employee ID number, preceded by a “W,” and your password to access email as well as any other electronic campus resources, such as library databases, class rosters and curriculum resources, payroll, and other employee self-services. The system will periodically require you to change your password.

Grades and Rosters

If you are a classroom instructor, you are responsible for accessing your class roster(s) electronically through the Los Rios Intranet and maintaining them in accordance with any policies on your syllabus related to dropping students for non-attendance. While you are not required to take attendance, you will be asked when you submit final course grades to provide information about the last documented date of attendance in class for any students receiving a failing grade.

The colleges post each semester’s deadline for submission of final course grades; be sure to do your very best to get final grades submitted on time, as not doing so can negatively affect students and also reflect poorly on you, possibly resulting in discipline.

Keys

Depending on where you work, you may receive access — physical keys, fobs, or electronic access using your ID card — to campus buildings, portables, classrooms, media closets or cabinets within the classroom, lab prep rooms, supply/duplicating rooms, mailrooms, and/or shared office space. In some cases, you will not have a key but will need to ask campus police or your Area Office to open the door for you. If possible, check to make sure that your keys work as soon as you receive them and before you need to use them. You will pick up your keys from different places depending on the campus or center. If your key stops working or you accidentally lock it inside the room, you can usually get help from campus police.

Putting Materials on Reserve for Students

If you want students in classes you teach to have access to physical materials owned by you or a campus library, you can request that the campus library or learning resource center place such materials (textbooks, readings, DVDs, etc.) on reserve for students. This may take weeks to process, so try to submit your materials early. You can usually choose how long a student can have the materials and whether the materials can leave the library or learning resource center. You can also request materials from anywhere in the Los Rios library system to be transported to the reserve area at any Los Rios campus location. You will be notified by email when they have arrived so that you can pick them up.

Office Hours and Office Space

You are not required to hold office hours, but if you choose to and expect to be paid for them, you must complete and submit the Interest Form for Adjunct Office Hours Program to your Area Dean(s) at every campus you teach at by the end of the first week of the fall and spring semester. (See “Office Hours Program” for more detail.) Office space available for your use, including for office hours and confidential conversations with students, varies considerably throughout Los Rios. If you are discussing a sensitive matter, including grades, you may wish to ask the student for permission to talk while other colleagues are present. You may also request a private space in which to meet with students. Some campus locations require reservation of shared office space. Check with your Area Dean(s) for more information about space available to you.

Parking Permits

All faculty wishing to park on Los Rios campuses may request parking permits for their vehicles, which must be properly displayed on the vehicle(s). Typically, you will visit the campus’s Los Rios Police Department and fill out a form, indicating your car’s color, year, make, model, and license plate number, to receive a parking permit. Some off-campus centers will also distribute them. Your permit is valid for a 2-year period and is only good for the specific vehicle it was issued for. Note that your permit is valid for parking in “Staff” spaces at any Los Rios facility, including the District Office.

Student Conduct

You should document any student behavior that represents failure to adhere to your syllabi’s stated expectations for student behavior and/or the college’s codes of conduct for students. It’s also in your interest to notify your Area Dean via email in case you need their support to resolve any student behavior issues. Doing so helps management see the seriousness with which you take your responsibilities and your rights and provides valuable information, including context, on individual students’ problematic behavior. If students complain to your Area Dean, you’re in a stronger position if you’ve given the Dean some “heads up” in cases where students have violated course policies or college expectations for student behavior. The more documentation you have of any issues you experience in your work as a part-time faculty member, the better!

You may also want to take some time to learn about campus processes for handling cheating, plagiarism, and other violations of college codes of conduct for students. Many see reporting serious violations to appropriate authorities as helping all involved: you, the instructor experiencing the problem(s); the struggling students, who may get the support or intervention they need to help them change their behavior; and other staff who may also work with those students. However, it is ultimately your decision whether to engage in such acts of reporting.

Additionally, each Los Rios college has some form of student support referral system, if you think that a student could benefit from such a referral. This may be a positive alternative to invoking the college’s disciplinary structures if you see patterns of behavior that suggest a student is struggling emotionally and psychologically.

Salary, Benefits, and Retirement

Salary

Salary Schedules – Class and Step

Remuneration for all Los Rios faculty is outlined in a series of salary schedules, which are grids of salary levels. Each grid is composed of two categories, Class and Step, and each faculty member is, at any given time, at a particular Class and Step on the schedules. Higher Classes and higher Steps mean higher levels of compensation. Faculty salary schedules can be found on the Los Rios Human Resources website. Contract references in this section are taken from Section 2 of the faculty contract.

Class on the salary schedules is determined by an employee’s level of post-secondary education. There are 5 Class levels (I through V), and faculty with an Associate’s degree or a Bachelor’s degree are placed at Class I, while faculty with a Doctoral-level degree (PhD, JD, etc.) are placed at Class V. The intermediate Classes are for those with Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees and different levels of additional coursework.

Initial Class placement on the salary schedules works the same for both full-time and part-time faculty. When new faculty are hired, they are “placed in the appropriate salary class based on education” (Article 2.8.2). Class placement requires the submission of formal academic transcripts directly from the employee’s educational institution to Los Rios Human Resources.

Step on the salary schedules is determined by an employee’s work experience. There are 25 steps (1 through 25), and Los Rios faculty advance one step for each year of full-time equivalent work in the District.

Initial Step placement, unlike Class placement, works differently for full-time and part-time faculty. New full-timers can count certain types of prior work experience toward their initial step placement and, based on evidence of that experience, can be placed as high as Step 8 when they are employed by Los Rios as a full-time faculty member (2.6.2).

By contrast, all new adjunct faculty begin at Step 1 on the salary schedules, regardless of how much experience they might have working in their field in other college districts or in related areas of employment (2.7.1). The LRCFT recognizes not only that this system is unjust, but that it reduces the ability of Los Rios to hire new part-time faculty who have desirable employment experience in teaching or in industries and occupations directly relevant to their faculty work. The Union has attempted to address this issue in past contract negotiations, and the LRCFT Salary Committee will likely consider it before the next round of contract bargaining.

If you have any questions about your initial salary placement, you should speak to the Human Resources department and consult one of your LRCFT representatives.

Information about adjusting your Class placement after initial employment, and about work experience-related Step advancement on the salary schedules, is provided later in this section.

Hourly Rates

While all faculty are paid on salary schedules based on Class and Step, there are separate salary schedules for full-time and part-time faculty. Full-time faculty working their regular full-time assignment are paid on Salary Schedule A, and all remuneration on Schedule A is expressed as an annual salary. By contrast, part-time employees are paid on Salary Schedule B, with remuneration on an hourly basis.

The Schedule B document linked above contains two different tables: the B-1 table and the B-2/B-3 table. Hourly rates for classroom faculty teaching lecture and lab classes can be found on Schedule B-1, and hourly rates for counselors, coordinators, nurses and librarians can be found on Schedule B-2/B-3. There are separate salary schedules for instructional and non-instructional faculty because the two groups are paid slightly differently.

The hourly rate for part-time faculty is calculated as a prorated percentage of the salary of a full-time faculty member at the same Class and Step. The percentages work a little differently for classroom and non-classroom faculty:

For counselors, coordinators, college nurses, and librarians, the prorated percentage is 100%. In other words, a part-timer in those categories is paid the same for an hour’s work as a full-timer (at the same Class and Step) when the yearly full-time salary is converted to an hourly rate. For example, a full-time counselor at Class III, Step 2 on the salary schedule receives an annual salary (for 2024-25) of $71,621. A full-time counselor works a 174-day schedule at 7.5 hours per day. If we divide $71,621 by 174 and then by 7.5, we get a rate of $54.88 per hour, which is the Class III, Step 2 hourly rate for adjunct counselors on Schedule B2/B3 (2024-25).
The calculations work differently for instructional faculty. A part-time classroom instructor is paid at an hourly rate based on that portion of a full-timer’s workload dedicated specifically to classroom teaching, which is calculated at a pro-rated 75%. That is, classroom instructors are paid per lecture or lab hour, at an hourly rate that includes pay for class preparation, class time, and grading, but that excludes the mandatory office hours and college service obligations of full-time faculty (the other 25% of their salary). In other words, all of the work that you need to do in order to teach your class (prep, class time, grading, communicating with students) is paid for in your hourly rate. It is up to your professional discretion to determine how much time to spend on out-of-class preparation and grading. You should not expect to be paid additionally or separately for the out-of-class work you do in relation to your teaching assignments.

Lecture and laboratory (lab) teaching are paid at different rates in Los Rios. There are two different categories of lab teaching. One, listed in Schedule B-1 as Lab (Sci), is paid at 80% of the lecture rate, while the other, listed just as Lab, is paid at 75% of the lecture rate.

Important note! The Los Rios salary schedules are designed around the concept of pro rata pay, or “equal pay for equal work.” However, it is worth repeating that part-time classroom faculty are paid only for work necessary for classroom instruction (see above). Part-time classroom faculty can be compensated for holding office hours, but that is voluntary work that is paid separately from their regular instructional pay. (See “Office Hours Program” in this Almanac for more detail.) Any other work part-time faculty do for Los Rios is considered an “ancillary activity,” for which they may be compensated separately. (See “Paid College Service and Professional Development” in this Almanac.)

Payment for Hours Worked

Because part-time faculty are paid by the hour and not by the course or credit, payment is calculated based on the specific number of reported hours that you work, which can vary depending on the course schedule and other circumstances.

For instructional faculty, the number of hours in the classroom does not always correlate exactly with the number of catalog hours listed for the course. Courses can be scheduled at levels that are slightly below or slightly above the listed catalog hours. Some courses are scheduled at rates almost 10% above listed catalog hours, while other courses are scheduled at up to about 11% below catalog hours. This means that a course listed at 54 catalog hours for the semester could actually be scheduled to meet as few as 49 hours or as many as 60. Faculty are paid for the number of hours that they are meeting with students in the classroom or online during synchronous online classes, not the number of hours listed in the catalog.

Because part-time faculty are only paid for the hours in the classroom, this also means that they are not paid for holidays. For example, if you have a class that meets on Mondays and Wednesdays in the Fall, you will not be paid for the Monday of the Labor Day holiday, because your class will not meet on that day. Similarly, if you have a Tuesday/Thursday class, the Thanksgiving holiday will reduce your hours of paid work for the semester.

Please note: The hourly payment system described above applies to on-ground classes and to synchronous online classes taught by part-time faculty, all of which have specific meeting times. Asynchronous online classes and hybrid classes with scheduled on-ground meetings and an unscheduled online component are paid based on listed catalog hours (e.g., 54 hours per 3-unit lecture class).

The LRCFT believes that paying part-time faculty based on their course load (i.e., per course) rather than on an hourly basis would be preferable. Not only would this regularize part-time income and make it more predictable, but it would recognize the professional nature of part-time faculty work. It would also probably simplify payroll procedures for our classified colleagues in the Human Resources and Payroll departments. LRCFT has attempted to negotiate such a change – as well as a shift in the payment schedule so that part-time faculty are paid on the 1st of each month in paychecks of equal amounts throughout each academic term – but the District has not yet agreed to our proposals. LRCFT will continue to work on this issue.

Salary Schedule Class Adjustment

Adjustments to your Class placement can be made upon completion of additional upper division/graduate units and/or advanced degrees from accredited institutions (Article 2.8). In order to receive adjustments in your Class placement, you must submit evidence to Human Resources of the credits you’ve earned by August 15 for changes to take effect for that academic/fiscal year. This evidence must be issued by the accredited institution(s) and sent directly to Los Rios by the institution(s), and official transcripts and advanced degrees must be on file with Los Rios within 60 days of adjustment.

Salary Schedule Step Advancement

Step advancement on the salary schedules is both more common and routine but also more complicated than Class adjustment.

Part-time faculty receive Step advancement on the salary schedule for every year of full-time equivalent work you complete. Full-time equivalent work, often abbreviated as FTE, can be a somewhat confusing measure of work, so it’s explained more fully below.

As the name suggests, FTE is a measure of how much work a faculty member has performed as a proportion of a full-time appointment. A full-time faculty member who performs only their regular full-time work is said to have an assignment of 1.0 FTE. A faculty member teaching one-half of a full-time assignment is at 0.5 FTE. So far, this seems very straightforward.

The difficulty comes when we talk about work on a yearly basis and work on a semester basis. Because FTE is a proportional measure (i.e., the proportion of a full-time assignment), it can mean different things when used for different periods of time. For example, a full-time faculty member who teaches during the Fall semester has a full-time load for that semester, or 1.0 semester FTE. But if they do not teach at all during the Spring semester (a 0.0 semester FTE), then their total annual FTE for the whole year is 0.5 FTE. Similarly, a faculty member who teaches full-time in both Fall and Spring has a 1.0 semester FTE for each semester and also has a 1.0 annual FTE for the year. Your annual FTE is not the sum of your two semester FTEs; it is the average of your two semester FTEs.

Put simply:

1.0 semester FTE + 1.0 semester FTE = 1.0 annual FTE.

and

1.0 semester FTE + 1.0 semester FTE = 2.0 semester FTE.

In order to advance one step on the B schedule, part-time faculty must perform one year of full-time equivalent work, which is equal to 2.0 semester FTE or 1.0 annual FTE.

It is important for part-time faculty to understand this concept, because when you are offered an assignment and when your workload for each semester is recorded for the purposes of salary Step advancement, the numbers used are semester FTE, not annual or yearly FTE.

When you receive a Tentative Class Schedule for a given semester, it will list the FTE you are being offered. This number is a semester FTE number. If you receive an offer of 0.4 FTE in Fall and then 0.6 FTE in Spring, your total is 0.5 annual FTE or 1.0 semester FTE. This would take you half-way towards a step advancement, so two full years with this schedule would result in advancement to the next step on the salary schedule.

Note that the terms “semester FTE” and “annual FTE” are definitions we have used here to explain the concept of FTE. You will probably never see these terms on any District paperwork. The failure to differentiate between semester FTE and annual FTE is one of the reasons that faculty can easily be confused by the concept.

Important additional notes

Classroom Faculty: While payment for part-time assignments is based on actual hours worked (rather than listed FTE), Step advancement on the salary schedule is based on the FTE listed on the TCS for your assignment.

Non-Classroom Faculty: Your FTE for Step advancement is calculated based on payroll hours and is logged and updated in your record when the hours are confirmed. FTE is calculated based on 1,305 hours for those on Schedule B-2 and 1,230 hours for those on B-3.

Currently, there is no simple procedure by which a faculty member can check on their Step placement or how much more FTE is required for them to advance to the next Step. LRCFT has requested that this information be provided in the online faculty employee portal. The District is considering this request and is looking into the logistics of making it work. In the meantime, it is highly recommended that you keep track of your progress in completed semester FTE to be sure that you advance as you should. Even if the information is added to the employee portal, it will still be a good idea to keep your own record of your work history and double-check it against the information provided by the District.

Your Paycheck

Faculty can elect to receive a physical paycheck each month or have their pay deposited directly into their financial institution. Physical paychecks for part-time faculty are available for pickup at the Business Services Office on your campus(es) on the 10th of each month. Faculty who elect direct deposit should receive their pay on or before the 10th of the month. (If the 10th falls on a weekend or holiday, you will be paid on the last working day prior to the 10th.) The payroll schedule for each fiscal year can be found on this Los Rios District webpage. The part-time faculty payroll schedule appears under the heading “Variable Payroll.”

If you would like your paychecks mailed to you, you will need to provide self-addressed stamped envelopes to the Business Services Office. You receive 5 paychecks each semester, so you’ll need 5 envelopes. For the fall term, paychecks are issued from September through January, and for the spring term, paychecks are issued from February through June. In general, your paycheck reflects hours worked in the previous month, which means that paychecks can vary considerably from month to month, something to consider when budgeting your expenses.

If you participate in the Adjunct Office Hours Program, your office hour payments are not included in your monthly checks but are instead included as one lump sum in your last paycheck for the semester. Work completed under the Adjunct Faculty College Service and Professional Development Program is also paid after the end of the semester.

There are two District offices responsible for your payment: Human Resources and Payroll. Human Resources records your hours, so it is essential that they have the correct information about the number of hours you work. They also determine your pay rate (which Class and Step you are in on the Salary Schedule), and “release” your assignment every academic term you work in the form of a TCS (Tentative Class Schedule). If they do not release your assignment, you do not get paid. The Payroll office processes your paycheck and tracks your sick leave hours.

Important! We strongly encourage you to review your TCS documents and your paychecks for accuracy. You should be emailed your TCS, along with any revised TCSs as appropriate. Your detailed pay records are available to you online through Employee Self-Services. You should report any mistakes in your TCS to your area dean and campus instructional office; report any mistakes in your paychecks to the Payroll Department and your LRCFT representatives immediately. If the District discovers that they overpaid you, you will be responsible for returning overpayments. NOTE: There is a 4-year time limit on correcting payroll mistakes, including both overpayments and underpayments. (Article 2.11).

Your Benefits – Medical and Dental

Unlike many California community college district employers, Los Rios has for more than 20 years offered most part-time faculty the opportunity to enroll in the same employer-provided group healthcare plans – medical and dental – that are available to full-time faculty. If your Los Rios assignment is .4 FTE (40%) or higher, you pay the same premiums, if any, for plans you select as full-time faculty enrolled in those plans. This is due to tireless work by LRCFT part-time faculty advocates, who have not only helped improve our contract in this area but have also worked at the state level to secure increased funding for districts that offer their part-time faculty employees the same healthcare plan options they offer their full-time faculty.

As a part-time faculty member, you become eligible to enroll in medical and dental benefits through Los Rios if you have an assigned load of at least 30% of full-time (0.3 FTE), and if you have completed 2 of the last 5 semesters (not including summer session) with an assignment of at least 0.3 FTE in each of those semesters. This means that the earliest that new adjunct faculty can qualify for health benefits is in their third semester at Los Rios. To be eligible in any given semester, you must have an approved Tentative Class Schedule (TCS) with an assignment load of at least 30% of full-time (0.3 FTE) in place by the enrollment deadline each semester, and you may not have any other group medical or dental coverage. Note that if your assignment is below .4 FTE, your medical and dental plan options will be more expensive than if your assignment is .4 or higher.

NOTE: If you qualify for medical benefits through Los Rios and have an assignment whose FTE is below .4 AND you have an assignment as a part-time faculty member at Sierra College, you can apply your assigned load at Sierra to your Los Rios load. If you reach .4 FTE through that combined load, you will pay no more for the medical plan you choose than other part-time faculty with a Los Rios assignment of .4 or higher (which is the same as what Los Rios full-time faculty pay). This Joint District program only applies to medical plans; dental is not included.

Part-time faculty who do not meet the requirements for Los Rios benefits described above but who work as faculty in another community college district in addition to Los Rios may qualify for the Multi-District Part-Time Faculty Healthcare Reimbursement program (Article 3.3.7). To be eligible for this program, you must have a combined teaching assignment of 40% of a full-time load (0.4 FTE) or above in 2 or more California community college districts, including Los Rios, but less than 0.4 at any single district that offers benefits to part-time faculty.

IMPORTANT DATES: Los Rios part-time faculty have 2 opportunities per year to enroll in or make changes to medical and/or dental plans offered through the District. These are called “open enrollment” periods, and they end on January 29 for spring semester benefits and August 23 for fall benefits. Benefit periods are 6 months.

For detailed information about eligibility, medical and dental plan details, mid-year changes, and other benefits such as the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), consult the current Adjunct Faculty Employee Benefits Guide. You are also welcome to consult your LRCFT representatives, who periodically offer workshops on medical and dental plan options.

Retirement Options

As a part-time faculty member in the Los Rios District, you must participate in one of two available retirement systems: Social Security or the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). If you are already enrolled in or have in the past contributed to the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS), you may also be eligible to enroll in that system. Because individual situations vary dramatically, to determine which option is best for you, contact the Los Rios Benefits Office at (916) 568-3070.

Leaves and Other Important Entitlements

Paid Leaves

Under certain circumstances, faculty have the right to be absent from work, to be paid while absent, and to then return to their position without loss of status or preference. These situations are covered in the LRCFT contract under the heading of “Leaves With Pay.” Some of these paid leaves are available to part-time faculty, while others are not. The different types of paid leaves available to faculty are laid out in the contract, and all contract references in this section are to Article 9.

The table below provides a quick guide to paid leaves. Further explanation of some of these leaves can be found after the table.

Contract Article	Type of Paid Leave	Available to PT Faculty	Conditions for PT Faculty
9.3	Sick Leave	YES	Sick leave is earned in proportion to full-time employment. Part-time faculty cannot be advanced sick leave like full-time faculty can.
9.4.1	Personal Necessity Leave	YES	Requires the use of accumulated sick leave. Faculty with no sick leave cannot take Personal Necessity Leave.
9.4.2	Parental Leave	YES	You must have an assignment during the semester in which parental leave is taken.
9.4.3	Bereavement Leave	YES
9.4.4	Critical Illness Leave	YES
9.4.5	Paid Employee and Immediate Family Catastrophic Leave	NO
9.5	Industrial Accident and Illness Leave	YES
9.6	Quarantine Leave	YES
9.7	Jury Duty Leave	YES
9.8	Judicial Appearance Leave	YES
9.9	Personal Business Leave	NO
9.10	Short-Term Military Leave	YES	For preferenced part-timers, a request for assignment must have been submitted prior to the military order. Non-preferenced part-timers must have received an assignment.
9.11	Professional Development Leaves	NO

Whenever circumstances require you to take one of these leaves, be sure to notify your Area Dean of the reason for the leave and the amount of time involved. If the absence cannot be anticipated in advance, notify the appropriate administrative officer as soon as possible.

Some leave provisions allow faculty to be absent for circumstances affecting members of their immediate family. The definition of “immediate family” is provided in the contract (Article 9.1.4), and you should consult this definition when considering leave options. Note that under California law (Gov. Code 12945.2) and Article 9.1.4.1, you are permitted to designate one person per year as a member of your immediate family for leave purposes, even if that person is not included in the contractual definition. You must identify the designated person when you request the leave.

Sick Leave

Sick leave, discussed in Article 9.3 of the contract, is leave available for absences related to the mental health, mental illness, physical illness or physical injury of the employee. Sick leave may not be taken for the purpose of caring for an ill or injured family member. There are other leaves that allow employees to take time off for family members facing health problems. See Personal Necessity Leave (9.4.1) and Critical Illness Leave (9.4.4).

You begin earning sick leave on the day your employment begins, and it accrues each semester based on your FTE. That is, you earn paid sick leave in proportion to the full-time equivalent work you perform. Los Rios multiplies your assigned FTE percentage by 15 each semester to arrive at the number of sick leave hours you accrue for that semester. For example, a .4 FTE assignment (40% of a full-time load) will accrue 6 hours of sick leave for that semester, while a .6 FTE assignment will accrue 9 hours for the semester. Unused sick leave accrues indefinitely, and the accrual and total earned, in hours, appears on your monthly pay stub.

Important note: If, prior to joining Los Rios as an employee, you completed at least 1 year of service in another California public school district, you are entitled by state law (Education Code §87782) to transfer accumulated sick leave from that prior position to Los Rios (9.3.7).

When you use your sick leave, you will be charged based on the actual number of hours that you are absent from your assigned duties. If you are out sick on a day when you are scheduled for 4 hours of work, this will consume more of your sick leave than if you are absent on a day when you are only scheduled to work 2 hours.

If your absence exceeds 10 days, you will be required to provide documentation in the form of a note from your physician. Please note, however, that the contract also allows the administration, at its discretion, to require documentation for absences of 10 days or less.

Upon retirement, unused sick leave may be added to your STRS benefit (9.3). NOTE: If you are not enrolled in STRS but rather in Social Security, you will lose that accrued sick leave upon retirement.

If a faculty member is absent due to illness or injury, and they run out of sick leave, they may still be eligible to receive compensation for up to five (5) months after the original absence. This benefit, which is based on Section 87780 of the California Education Code and is detailed in Article 9.3.5.2 of the contract, is sometimes referred to as the “5-month law.” If you expect to be absent for a period of time that exceeds the amount of sick leave that you have available, contact the Los Rios Benefits department for information about the 5-month law.

Parental Leave

Beginning in Fall 2023, all faculty, including part-time faculty, are granted 8 weeks of paid parental leave for the birth of a child of the employee, or the placement of a child with an employee in connection with the adoption or foster care of the child. See Article 9.4.2 for complete information about how to use this type of leave. There is also a guide to parental leave on the LRCFT website.

Parental leave is a standalone leave and is not deducted from any other type of leave. All faculty are immediately eligible for this leave upon employment with Los Rios, subject to a few conditions:

The leave must be taken within 1 year of the birth or placement of the child, and this means that the leave must be completed within 1 year, not merely commenced within one year.
The 8 weeks of leave must be taken consecutively and may not be split into smaller chunks.
The birth or the placement of the child must have occurred after the faculty member’s initial employment with the District. That is, a brand new faculty member whose child arrived before the faculty member joined Los Rios as an employee may not use this parental leave even if they begin working for the District within 1 year of the child’s arrival.

The LRCFT recognizes that part-time faculty members have limited security of employment and might not receive an assignment every semester. The Union has reached an agreement with the District whereby adjunct faculty members who are ongoing employees of Los Rios but whose child arrives during a semester in which they do not receive work may use parental leave as long as they were employed by the District prior to the child’s arrival, and provided they receive an assignment during the 1-year window of eligibility after the child’s arrival.

Faculty may use accrued sick leave for absences necessitated by pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth and recovery therefrom. Separate from the 8-week parental leave described above, employees can also use up to 12 weeks of accrued sick leave for parental leave to bond with their child and, if all sick leave is exhausted, may continue to be absent and receive no less than 50% of their salary for the remaining portion of the 12 weeks.

The new parental leave is a pilot program and will be evaluated annually over the 3-year period of the current contract (2023-26).

Personal Necessity Leave

Faculty may use up to 6 days of accrued sick leave during any year in cases of personal necessity, which is defined as “circumstances that are serious in nature that the employee cannot reasonably be expected to disregard, that necessitate immediate attention, and that cannot be taken care of after work hours or on weekends” (Article 9.4).

This leave effectively allows faculty to use some of their sick leave to care for ill or injured family members. It may also be used to supplement Bereavement Leave, Critical Illness Leave, or Judicial Appearance Leave.

Note that the requirement to use accrued sick leave for personal necessity leave means that faculty who do not have any sick leave banked are also unable to take personal necessity leave.

Other Leaves

Industrial Accident and Illness

Otherwise known as “Worker’s Compensation,” this leave is granted to any faculty who sustain a personal injury in the performance of the job assigned by the District (Article 9.5). NOTE: You do not have State Disability Income protection for accidents that occur away from work.

Bereavement Leave

Faculty are entitled to 3 working days of leave in the event of the death of any member of their immediate family. If travel beyond a 300-mile radius from the District Office is required, you are entitled to 5 days leave (Article 9.4.3). Bereavement leave may also be supplemented by up to 6 days of Personal Necessity leave (9.4.1.5.3).

Jury Duty Leave

You will receive paid leave for the length of jury duty. However, you must sign over all compensation received for such jury duty to the District, excluding mileage, meals, and lodging (Article 9.9).

Judicial Appearance Leave

You are entitled to 1 day of leave to make a mandatory court appearance as a litigant or as a witness (Article 9.10).

Unpaid Leaves

Article 10 of the LRCFT Contract, which discusses Leaves Without Pay, begins by making such leaves applicable to “regular” (i.e., full-time) faculty. It also, however, makes 2 unpaid leaves available to part-time faculty.

Part-timers may take long-term unpaid military leave (10.13), which can extend the paid short-term military leave available under 9.10.

Unpaid leave is also available for certain immigration-related issues. Adjunct faculty who are unable to work because their stay in the United States is impacted by immigration actions will remain in the hiring pool at their college and will retain their preference level, their Class and Step placement, and their years of service (10.15).

Unemployment

As a part-time community college faculty member, you are eligible to file for unemployment benefits at the conclusion of every semester you work even if you have an assignment for the following semester, a principle upheld as law by the California Court of Appeals in Cervisi v Unemployment Ins. Appeals Bd (1989).

This is because part-timers are, under the California Education Code and the California Unemployment Insurance Code, “temporary employees” who have no “reasonable assurance” of re-employment the following academic term. Your assignments are contingent on adequate enrollment, funding, program needs, not being “bumped” by a full-time instructor to maintain their 1.0 FTE, and District prerogatives. It is important to realize that, because of the contingent quality of this part-time employment status, you are never on a “semester break” or “recess.” Technically, you are “laid off/out of work” at the end of each academic term, no matter what level of hiring preference you have achieved. This specific language is very important to know, as you’ll use it if you file for unemployment benefits. Furthermore, even if you are employed between academic terms or your assigned load is significantly reduced, you may still qualify for reduced unemployment benefits.

You can apply for unemployment as soon as you become unemployed (or underemployed), but not before then. In practical terms, you become unemployed after giving your last final exam for the semester or performing other service for which you are paid. However, the District reports the last official day of each academic term as your last day of employment. At that point, you can file an application for benefits online. Your claim starts at the beginning of the week you apply and will only go back to the first day of application, so it is best to apply as soon as you are unemployed. Your claim will be good for 12 months, unless extended, and there is a one-week waiting period (no benefits) for each 12-month period. (This waiting period was discontinued during much of the COVID-19 pandemic but has since been reinstated.)

The application form for unemployment benefits changes periodically. You should become familiar with the questions you will be asked, many of which will require you to use the language provided above (e.g., “temporary employee,” “no reasonable assurance of future work”). Near the end of each semester, LRCFT representatives offer workshops and other resources to help active LRCFT members prepare not only to file an application for unemployment benefits but also to answer questions in a phone interview, should the EDD schedule one for you before benefits will be dispensed.

If you are denied unemployment benefits for any reason, always contact a Union representative immediately to appeal. LRCFT represents part-time faculty in unemployment appeal hearings. For this and any other questions about unemployment issues, talk to any Union representative, or call the LRCFT Union Office at 916-448-2452.

Office Hours Program

Part-time faculty who teach a load of at least 0.2 FTE are eligible for paid office hours through the Adjunct Faculty Office Hours Program (Article 4.10.11).

Faculty whose load is between 0.2 and 0.399 may elect to hold either 9 or 18 office hours per semester. Faculty whose load is 0.4 or above may choose to hold 9, 18, 27, or 36 office hours per semester.

Office hours are paid at your Class and Step on the B-2/B-3 schedule, a new and improved rate of pay that began in Fall 2023. Office hours are not paid monthly throughout the semester but rather as a single payment after the semester, typically on the 10th of the month following the end of the semester.

Participation in and payment for office hours is not automatic; this is a voluntary/opt-in program. If you are going to hold office hours and wish to be paid (and you should!), you must apply to the program by the end of the first week of scheduled classes (or, if you’re only teaching other-term classes, including second 8-week, by the end of the first week of that term). Do this by filling out the “Interest Form for Adjunct Faculty Office Hours Program” and submitting it to your Area Dean. The form can also be found under “LRCFT Forms from Appendix C” at the Los Rios Human Resources Forms page.

If you do not submit the form by the deadline, you may not be paid for your office hours.

You may choose to hold your office hours on campus or online. If you hold on-ground office hours, make sure that those office hours are scheduled at the site where your class is being held, and include the time and place of your office hours in your course syllabus.

The LRCFT contract requires that online office hours be included in your course syllabus and that they be time and day specific. If you elect to hold online office hours, make sure that your syllabus clearly indicates days and times. You are also required to give students the opportunity to use a video conferencing system such as Zoom for online office hours, and your syllabus should include links or access codes where applicable so that it is clear to students how to connect with you during your office hours.

If you have classes at multiple colleges in the district, be sure to submit a form to your Dean(s) at each of those colleges and include information about your anticipated FTE load at each college.

Paid College Service and Professional Development

Always remember that as a part-timer, you are compensated in your regular hourly pay only for the work you do that is necessary for classroom instruction or other direct work with students, such as counseling or librarian work. This is your assignment, which cannot, by California law, exceed 67% of a full-time faculty member’s regular duties. However, there are several opportunities for part-time faculty to be compensated for work that is not part of their assignment. For example, pay for holding office hours is not included in your regular hourly rate, but part-time faculty with teaching assignments can be paid for office hours by enrolling in the Adjunct Office Hours Program.

In addition, state law allows part-time faculty to be compensated for certain “ancillary activities” that do not apply toward the “67% rule.” The Education Code defines those activities as “including, but not necessarily limited to, governance, staff development, grant writing, and advising student organizations” (Ed Code §87482.5[c][1]). In other words, you are eligible to be compensated for certain types of “college service” – Los Rios’s name for the 5 hours per week average that full-time faculty are obligated to complete, defined in 4.1.3 of the contract – and professional development work. The opportunities for such work are presented in the remainder of this section.

Adjunct Faculty College Service and Professional Development Program

Article 2.3 of the LRCFT contract, “Special Project Payment,” discusses compensation for work outside of part-time faculty’s regular load. The 2023-2026 contract contains a new section titled “Adjunct Faculty College Service and Professional Development” (2.3.2), which significantly expands opportunities for part-time faculty to be compensated for service and professional development work.

The Adjunct Faculty College Service and Professional Development Program (AFCSPD Program) is a pilot that allows part-time faculty in Los Rios to be paid for a wide range of activities that fall outside of the basic parameters of their employment. The limit on participation in this program for the 2024-2025 academic year is 27 hours per academic year per part-time faculty member, which can be split in any proportion across the Fall and Spring semesters. Compensation is not currently available under this program for activities that occur during the Summer term.

The AFCSPD Program is an unfinished project. While it significantly expands the opportunities for part-timers to receive compensation, it does not allow for the full range of activities that the Union was hoping to include, and it also requires more administrative oversight than we would have liked. We are in ongoing discussions with the District about these issues, and we hope to increase the number of eligible activities and reduce the bureaucratic hurdles to participation. We also hope, over time, to expand the number of hours per year for which faculty can be compensated under the program.

Because of these ongoing efforts to improve the program, we do not describe its workings in detail in the Almanac. Rather, we direct you to the Adjunct Faculty College Service and Professional Development Program application form itself. The form can also be found under “Employment Forms” at the Los Rios Human Resources Forms page.

This form contains a detailed set of instructions and a table listing the activities that are eligible for compensation under the AFCSPD Program. As we reach agreement with the District on changes to the program, we will work with them to update the form and the instructions to reflect those changes. It is also LRCFT’s intention to hold voluntary workshops each semester where we will explain the workings of the program.

Academic Senate and Participatory Governance

According to the contract, you are entitled to be paid for work done in selected areas of College and Participatory Governance. Specifically, under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the District and the LRCFT in Fall 2024, part-time faculty are compensated for serving on the Academic Senate and/or the college’s Curriculum Committee. Adjunct Faculty Representative in the Academic Senate – in other words, part-time faculty senator – is an elected position, and the number of such positions varies across the 4 Los Rios colleges. Service on the Curriculum Committee is generally by appointment, although how this works might be different at each college.

Beginning Fall 2024, part-time faculty serving in these roles are paid at their current Step and Class on Salary Schedule B-2. This mirrors the contractually negotiated agreements for payment in both the Adjunct Faculty Office Hours Program and the Adjunct Faculty College Service and Professional Development Program. Part-time faculty senators are paid for the actual number of hours that they attend Senate meetings at their respective colleges, up to a maximum of 18 hours per semester. Service on the Curriculum Committee is also paid based on hours of service, up to 18 hours per semester.

Important Note: The 18-hour maximum is for service on the Academic Senate, or service on the Curriculum Committee, or service on both combined. But if your total service on the Senate and/or the Curriculum Committee exceeds 18 hours in a given semester, any additional hours will be eligible for compensation under the Adjunct Faculty College Service and Professional Development Program (up to the program’s limit of 27 hours per academic year).

The current process for payment includes a form for Senate/Curriculum Committee service, which you will complete at the end of the semester, along with a timesheet reflecting the hours completed. Payment is made in one stipend at the end of the semester, usually on the tenth of the month following the end of classes.

Payment for College Service and Professional Development

As noted in the previous sections, these college service and professional development activities are paid at the individual faculty member’s Class and Step on the B-2 salary schedules. This represents a significant improvement for part-time faculty in Los Rios.

Previously, this type of work was paid at a low fixed rate, or at a Class and Step on the salary schedules that was substantially lower than the official Class and Step placement used for the faculty member’s teaching or other faculty work. During the 2023 contract negotiations, however, LRCFT secured agreement that faculty would be paid at their Class and Step on the B-2 Schedule for office hours, for Senate and Curriculum Committee work, and for the work completed under the new Adjunct Faculty College Service and Professional Development Program.

Not only does this mean higher pay for most part-time faculty, but your pay rate for all of this work will now increase whenever you make an adjustment to your Class or achieve Step advancement for your work in Los Rios. (See the section ”Salary Schedules – Class and Step” for an explanation of the salary schedules.)

Note that, because college service and professional development work is not classroom teaching, the payment rate does not need to take into account out-of-class preparation time, grading, etc. For this reason, payment under this program, for all adjunct faculty, is based on faculty Class and Step on Salary Schedule B-2/B-3, not on Salary Schedule B-1.

Faculty are paid for college service and professional development work through an Employment Service Agreement (ESA) or a Professional Expert Agreement (PEX). Whether you are paid on an ESA or a PEX depends on exactly what type of work you are performing, and some faculty who participate in different types of college service and professional development may receive both forms, with some work being paid on an ESA and other work on a PEX.

To find out more about ESAs and PEXs, consult the Los Rios Human Resources website.

Reimbursement

There are some potential costs related to your work as a part-time faculty member for which you may be reimbursed. Here are two items that you should look into:

Mileage (Article 11.5): If you are required to travel between your “regular place of work” and another location in the district on the same day as part of your regular workload, you can be reimbursed for the mileage traveled between those two locations. In other words, you can be reimbursed for travel between multiple district locations if you teach or otherwise work at them on the same day. You will need to submit a Travel Reimbursement form to your Area Dean at the beginning of the semester for which you are seeking reimbursement. Payment for reimbursement will be made at the end of the semester
Conference/Travel Funds (11.4): Funds are available at each college and in each department for conference and travel related to certain professional development activities. Part-time faculty are eligible for such funds, but they are administered differently at each college and within each department. To find out about funded opportunities for conferences and other professional development activities, talk to your Area Dean and/or your college’s Professional Development committee.

Your Union: How We Work Together

Union Representation

The Los Rios College Federation of Teachers (LRCFT) is the exclusive representative of all faculty who work for the Los Rios Community College District. This means that the Union is responsible for negotiating the collective bargaining agreement that defines the scope and the conditions of faculty work and for representing all faculty in matters related to the contract, to District policies and practices, and to matters of employee discipline. In addition to these fundamental responsibilities, the Union provides advice and assistance for faculty in a wide variety of situations and works to exert moral and political influence to shape the culture of Los Rios to the benefit of all Los Rios employees and students and our broader communities.

General Assistance

The first and perhaps most important point to note about the Union is that it is there to help you, the faculty. The Union acts as a resource for faculty who would like to better understand the conditions of their employment, and your Union dues pay for staff and representatives. If you are concerned, unsure, or confused about any aspect of your employment with Los Rios, it is always a good idea to contact one of your campus representatives or the LRCFT office to ask for help. If we can’t answer your question or address your concern immediately, we will seek guidance that will allow us to advise you.

Rights Under the Contract

The collective bargaining agreement, or contract, is negotiated between the LRCCD and the LRCFT every three years. It is a 250-page document that establishes the basic conditions under which Los Rios faculty work, and enumerates the rights and responsibilities related to faculty employment. We strongly encourage all faculty to look at the contract, but we understand that not everyone has the time or the inclination to read and remember all of its provisions. Union reps and staff help through one-on-one conversations with faculty, regular contract education workshops and trainings, and Union publications like this Almanac.

In addition to the contract, faculty in Los Rios are subject to numerous District policies and regulations. The Union plays an important role in ensuring that the administration properly follows its own policies and regulations and that faculty are not subject to unfair or arbitrary treatment in the course of their employment.

If you believe that some part of the contract or District policy or regulation is not being properly followed, we urge you to contact an LRCFT campus president or representative as soon as possible. More generally, if some aspect of your working conditions seems unreasonable or contrary to your expectations, contact the Union, even if it doesn’t clearly violate the contract or District policies and regulations. LRCFT reps and staff have considerable experience with these issues and can provide you with advice, including an analysis of whether a contractual violation has occurred, and assistance in determining next steps to address the issue.

It is important to note that the Union treats all faculty inquiries in the strictest confidence. While your Union representative might need to consult with other Union reps and staff, we will never share information that will identify you to anyone else, including your faculty colleagues and Los Rios administrators, without your explicit permission.

There are some problems that are not amenable to a clear contractual remedy. Despite the protections for faculty employees provided by our contract and by the law, the administration retains significant rights to organize and manage the workplace. Some workplace conditions or management decisions that might seem unreasonable, unfair, or illogical may also be within management’s discretion and beyond the authority of the Union to alter through contract negotiations. Your union representatives will do our best to help you in all situations, but we will also be honest with you about your circumstances and about the limits of the Union’s ability to help.

Even in cases where there has not been a violation, the LRCFT will document your concerns, which might provide the Union with opportunities to strengthen the contract during future negotiations.

Addressing Violations of the Contract and District Policies and Regulations

In cases where there has been a violation of the faculty contract or of District policies and regulations, the Union will provide you with some options for how to proceed. Sometimes, we can help faculty address these violations through informal consultation with the administration. In cases where such informal solutions don’t work, however, the primary method of addressing contractual or policy violations is through the grievance process, which is outlined in Article 13 of the contract.

If you believe that there has been a violation of the contract or of District policies and regulations, it is important that you contact the Union immediately. The contract imposes timelines for the filing of grievances, and once you discover a potential violation, there is a limit to how much time you have to pursue your remedies through the grievance process. A grievance against the District for failure to follow the contract or its own policies must be initiated within 30 instructional days (i.e., excluding weekends and holidays) after you “knew, or by reasonable diligence could have known, of the condition upon which the grievance is based” (Article 13.4). If you miss the deadline for filing, you might lose your opportunity to correct a violation, even if you would otherwise have prevailed.

If you think there might be a problem, don’t wait! Contact an LRCFT representative as soon as possible.

Grievances

If you believe that your rights have been violated, you can request that the Union file a grievance on your behalf with the administration. In such cases, your request will be taken up by the LRCFT’s Dispute Resolution Team, which assesses the evidence and determines whether to file the grievance on behalf of the faculty member.

A grievance involves a multi-stage process, which is described in detail in Article 13.4 of the contract. In cases where the Union agrees to pursue the grievance, you will be guided and assisted at all stages of the process by one or more members of the LRCFT team. If the Union declines to file a grievance, you have a right to file a grievance on your own behalf.

Representation in Misconduct Investigations and Disciplinary Proceedings

A tremendously important function of any labor union is representing employees in workplace misconduct investigations and disciplinary proceedings, and LRCFT is no different. If you receive a notice that you are subject to an investigation, or if you think you are going to be subject to discipline for any reason, your first step should be to contact a Union representative.

The District may choose to initiate an investigation when it receives credible information that an employee has committed misconduct. Additionally, the District is legally obligated to investigate certain allegations related to unlawful discrimination and sexual harassment. When the District initiates an investigation into a faculty member, it has certain obligations under the contract and under its own policies to provide the faculty member with notice of the investigation and the alleged misconduct. If you receive a notice of investigation, get in touch with a Union representative immediately.

Misconduct investigations are defined, and the procedures for these investigations are detailed, in Article 27.2 of the contract. Discrimination and harassment investigation procedures are explained in District Regulation R-2423, and the District guidelines for handling Title IX sexual harassment complaints can be found in Regulation R-2423.5. Investigations are often carried out by outside investigation firms or law firms rather than by District personnel. If you want us there, your Union representative will be with you throughout an investigation, including in your investigatory interviews. Where necessary, the LRCFT will consult with an attorney.

Not all concerns about potential misconduct begin with an official notification or investigation. Sometimes, the first indication of a problem is a faculty member receiving a request to meet with their dean or other supervisor. While it is not uncommon for deans to speak with faculty about a variety of work-related issues, faculty called to a meeting with their dean or another manager should always be prepared for the possibility that they will be questioned about their workplace conduct.

According to a 1975 US Supreme Court ruling, NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc., you have the right to union representation in any meeting with management a) that you believe could lead to the imposition of any form of discipline, and/or b) at which you believe an administrator may question you about your conduct. These meetings are typically referred to as “investigatory interviews,” and your rights to union representation at them are often called your “Weingarten rights.”

If you’re asked to meet with a manager and you have been informed, or you reasonably believe, that one or both of these conditions may be true, you should request that a union representative accompany you to the meeting(s) to be sure that your rights are being upheld. Note that you may need to assert your Weingarten rights yourself; under the law, the employer is required to respect your right to representation but is not required to inform you about it. Contact any of your campus LRCFT representatives as soon as possible so that you and your union representative can be fully informed and prepared for such a meeting.

In Los Rios, the possibility of discipline is often signaled by management in advance of the meeting by telling the employee that they may want to meet with a union representative beforehand and arrange to have their rep attend the meeting. This does not always happen, however; in some cases a meeting may begin with no hint that discipline might be on the table, and the subject is then brought up during the conversation. If you are meeting with management and it becomes clear that you are being questioned about your conduct or that discipline is a possibility, you have the right to stop the meeting until you can arrange for an LRCFT representative to be present with you. Tell the manager, “It seems like this is an investigatory interview, and that this meeting could possibly lead to discipline. I am willing to discuss this with you and answer your questions, but I would prefer to do so with my union representative present. I would like to stop the meeting now and resume at a time when my union rep is available.”

Disciplinary proceedings should adhere to the contractual provisions in Article 27, “Just Cause and Formal Complaints.” Proper procedures should be followed, the nature of any discipline should be reasonably related to the seriousness of the offense, and except in extreme cases, progressive discipline should be followed, giving the employee an opportunity to correct the improper behavior. Your Union representative will help you navigate the disciplinary process, ensure that your contractual rights are protected, and, if necessary, consult the Union’s attorney for advice and assistance.

State and Federal Laws

The Union’s prime responsibilities lie in representing faculty on issues related to the contract, to District policies and regulations, and to misconduct and potential discipline. There are other areas, however, where the LRCFT can provide assistance. Faculty are, in the course of their employment, covered by state laws like the California Education Code, the Educational Employment Rights Act (EERA), and the California Unemployment Insurance Code. They are also subject to federal laws and regulations like the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Title IX. If you have questions about any of these, you can ask a Union representative.

Your LRCFT rep might not always have an immediate answer about these issues, but they will be able to find information or point you in the right direction.

Your Union Beyond Contract Negotiation and Faculty Representation

In addition to contract negotiation and direct representation of faculty in contractual and disciplinary matters, your LRCFT elected representatives, staff, and activist colleagues work year-round supporting faculty and the students and communities they serve in other extremely important but often less visible ways.

Holding regular contract education workshops and other professional development opportunities open to all faculty.
Hosting social and community-building events for faculty at the College and District level, both on and off campuses .
Promoting academic freedom and students’ full access to a quality education free from intimidation and undue interference in faculty decision-making by outside forces.
Building awareness within and beyond Los Rios of our members’ skill, professionalism, and dedication to the arts of teaching and providing students with high quality support services.
Holding regular, scheduled meetings with College and District administration to track and address both structural and individual issues affecting faculty.

Each Los Rios campus has an elected team of 5 faculty who work with unit members one-on-one and in educational workshops, social-professional gatherings, and other venues on and off campus: a president, a vice president, and 3 campus representatives, including a part-time faculty representative elected only by part-time faculty Union members at that college. All elected positions throughout the Union are open to all LRCFT members in good standing: full-time and part-time faculty (with the one exception of the designated part-time faculty rep, restricted only to part-time faculty).

Becoming an Active Member of LRCFT

As a faculty member in Los Rios, you are automatically a member of the LRCFT bargaining unit, meaning that your working conditions, compensation, and other aspects of your employment are governed and supported by the LRCFT-LRCCD contract.

But to be an active member of the Union, you need to opt in – and you should. Why?

The Union is a democratic organization, and the more part-time faculty join the LRCFT and participate in its activities, the stronger the part-time faculty voice will be.

More generally, high rates of union membership provide the Union with the collective strength to assert the faculty voice in District affairs and matters related to faculty employment. The Union is stronger at the bargaining table when the administration sees that those negotiating the contract have overwhelming support of the people they represent. The dues contributed by members allow the LRCFT to provide representation, advice, training, and a range of other services that protect faculty rights, help improve faculty working conditions, and assist faculty in the course of their employment, including tools like this Almanac.

A union is weak – financially and politically – without high membership numbers. A weak union results in a weak contract, with fewer faculty rights and protections.

LRCFT Executive Board

The day-to-day business of the LRCFT is conducted by an Executive Board, aided by 2 full-time LRCFT staff.

The Executive Board is made up of the following voting members: LRCFT President, immediate LRCFT Past President, LRCFT Secretary-Treasurer, the College President and Vice President from each of the 4 Los Rios colleges, and 3 additional campus representatives from each campus (at least one of whom is a part-time faculty member at that college). Non-voting members include the LRCFT Chief Negotiator, PAFC (Political Action Funds Committee) chair, and president of the LRCFT Retiree Chapter (when active).

The LRCFT Executive Board meets every first and third Wednesday of the month during the regular academic year from 3 to 5pm. All bargaining unit members are welcome to attend meetings. Meeting agendas and minutes can be found on the LRCFT website. Those wishing to attend Executive Board meetings may do so in person at the LRCFT office or may attend remotely by video. A video link is provided in the meeting agenda.

The LRCFT office is located at 2126 K St. in midtown Sacramento (95816) and can be reached by phone at (916) 448-2452.

Governing Documents and Membership Form

The work of the LRCFT is governed not only by the LRCFT-LRCCD contract but by the following documents, available on the LRCFT website:

Constitution
Official By-Laws
Executive Board Policies

Remember: A union is nothing without YOU! LRCFT needs YOU to be an active, involved member.

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