Bread & Roses

I taught U. S. history (mainly) at the Collegium Excellens for 32 years. For most of that time (except the last three years), I taught an overload. This meant that I taught six (6) courses each fall and spring term. If I did not actually teach six (6) classes, I worked the equivalent of six (6) classes. The standard load during my tenure at the Collegium Excellens was five (5) courses each term. In the argot of the workplace, each course carried 3 hours or units of college credit and so a teacher at Collegium Excellens typically had a 15-hour load (5 courses x 3 hours or units). An overload was an 18-hour load (6 courses). To the non-academic, a 15- or an 18-hour workweek sounds decadent. However, the rule of thumb for students was 3 hours of preparation outside of class for each hour in class. So, that meant a 9-hour week for students. Teachers should work as hard as their students. Thus the 3 hours of preparation for each hour in class meant 9 hours per course x 6 courses and the result was a very respectable (to a blue-collar worker) 54-hour workweek. A standard load of 5 courses meant a 45-hour workweek. Most blue-collar workers would expect overtime pay. Instead, at the Collegium Excellens, the prevailing attitude of the administration (especially the academic dean) was that it didn't matter how many classes a teacher met, it was all the same course. Similarly, this same administrative nincompoop believed that class size was irrelevant. Today, the teachers in the Chicago City Colleges want—in addition to a 12-hour load—the class-size ceiling lowered from 35 to 30. At the Collegium Excellens, the class-size ceiling was 45 (except Freshman Composition in the English Department: 25 students per class) and the academic dean would have never limited the size of the class. As I look back, I had no business with an 18-hour load. I had no business dealing with 50+ students in each class. The academic dean, who spent a brief time in the classroom in the mid-1960s, had no idea what amounted to a conscionable workload for his faculty. He should have faced—in my time—what his peers at the City Colleges of Chicago are facing today. ¡Huelga! If this is (fair & balanced) trade unionism, so be it.

[x The Chronicle of Higher Education]
Professors Walk Off Their Jobs in Workload Dispute at City Colleges of Chicago
By SCOTT SMALLWOOD

Full-time professors went on strike on Tuesday at the City Colleges of Chicago, prompting the cancellation of many classes at the seven-college system.

Administrators said that the colleges remained open and that 70 percent of the classes are taught by part-time instructors who are not on strike. But Perry J. Buckley, president of the striking union, scoffed at that number, saying that college officials must have counted every possible class -- "adult ed, yoga, candle making, GED, and ESL."

As he spoke from his cellphone while walking a picket line, Mr. Buckley said he had just met with a student who was told that six of his seven classes would not be held. "Then he went to the one, and no one was there," said Mr. Buckley, an English professor.

The City Colleges and the Cook County College Teachers Union Local 1600, which represents about 500 professors, have been negotiating for 16 months, including 5 months with the help of a federal mediator. The professors' previous contract expired in July.

While the sides have disagreed on several issues, the main sticking point is workload. Administrators want the professors to teach 15 hours per semester, or five courses, as community-college professors around the state do. At the City Colleges, about half of the full-timers teach 12 hours per semester, or four courses.

"This is a fairness issue," James C. Tyree, chairman of the colleges' Board of Trustees said in a written statement. "They should teach the same schedule as everyone else in our system and in the rest of Illinois. It's hard for us to make the case for greater funding from the state when half of our professors teach less than everyone else."

Newly hired professors already teach 15 hours a semester, Mr. Buckley said. "What they're saying is that they want everyone to be overworked," he said.

While some professors at the City Colleges of Chicago do teach fewer classes, they supervise more students than do other community-college instructors because of the large class sizes, Mr. Buckley said. The union is pushing to lower the class-size limits, from 35 to 30.

In the colleges' statement, Wayne Watson, the chancellor, said the institution has been "very flexible on salary and health care, and we've offered to compromise on workload."

Mr. Buckley suggested that the union, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, was digging in for a long strike. "We'll stay out a month if we have to," he said. But he also said that city officials, concerned about the disruption to polling places, would probably pressure the colleges to settle the contract before the November 2 election.

Mr. Buckley acknowledged that it was the union that had walked away from the bargaining table after the two sides had seemed very close to a deal over the weekend. He said he had given the chancellor his home and cellphone numbers.

"I have nothing to say to the man," Mr. Buckley said. "Whenever he's ready to talk, he can call."

Scott Smallwood is a senior reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Copyright © 2004 by The Chronicle of Higher Education