Teachers Union Leader Allegedly Stalls Police Investigation of Union Rep Stealing Funds From Union, and then Exiting the State of Washington with the Cash. September 18, 2012

"FIOA Police Reports Show Washington Union Leader Impeded Police Investigation of Theft of Union Funds." September 18, 2012.
http://www.adjunctnation.com/2012/09/18/foiaed-police-reports-show-washington-union-leader-impeded-police-investigation-of-theft-of-union-funds/

AFT Washington and Green River Community College Attempt Cover Up of Union President's Theft, but Take Steps to Retaliate Against Innocent Faculty

American Federation of Teachers, Washington Affiliate Tries to Block Release of Public Documents Relating to Union Leader's Embezzlement of Funds. By P. D. Lesko. Adjunct Nation. Wednesday, September 05, 2012

http://www.adjunctnation.com/?p=4539

In this stunning job of investigative reporting, P. D. Lesko presents the facts of theft, cover-up, and retaliation at Green River Community College in particular, and in the AFT Washington in general. Similar to the cronyism and crimes that led to the downfall of Penn State, community colleges such as Green River administration and union officals appear to have colluded in an attempt to cover up the theft of almost $10,000 by a union official, let the thief go, not report the crime, and instead attack faculty (mis) classified as "part-time."

Dr. Keith Hoeller and other concerned faculty, many of them struggling under the weak contracts negotiated by the union, are instead the target of select union officials and college administrators. Meanwhile, Phil Jack,  former union president at GRCC, was paid about $25,000 by the AFT Washington from 2007 to 2009 , and associated with AFT Washington officer Sandra Schroeder, who listed Phil Jack as her VP of Legal Affairs.

According to the article:
"Hoeller, among others, wonders why details of the theft were kept from the membership, why the union refuses to provide financial information from the years during which Phil Jack led the organization, and why union leaders refused to cooperate with police in investigating and prosecuting the theft."

Untimely Death of ESL Instructor Dave Watson

Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012
From: Dr. Keith Hoeller
Subject: Untimely Death of ESL Instructor Dave Watson

Folks:
I just learned of the accidental death of Dave Watson, who taught ESL at Green River for many years. He died in a freak accident on Mount Rainier. You can read the story here:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/obituaries/2018624388_watsonobit07m.html

I am writing to our adjunct group because Dave was instrumental in helping us to reach out to the ESL instructors. He gave me constant advice, and he helped advertise our group. He organized a meeting I held with several IESL professors.

His death is a great loss to Green River. He cared deeply about social justice.

Cordially, Keith

Professor Keith Hoeller, of the Washington Part Time Faculty Association, Receives Distinguished Faculty Award at Green River Community College

Professor Keith Hoeller, of the Washington Part Time Faculty Association, Receives Distinguished Faculty Award at Green River Community College. Jack Longmate notes the historical importance of this award for Keith and all the faculty whom the colleges classify as "adjunct."

Here's Jack's letter:

"I've just learned that Keith Hoeller has been recognized for the Distinguished
Faculty Awards at Green River Community College in Auburn, WA. This is the
first time in 27 years that a Green River adjunct has been so recognized.

On this list, we know Keith Hoeller as a dedicated activist and gifted
writer, who publishes often, not just in the higher ed literature, but to
the layman and the legislator as editorials in daily newspapers.

But this award recognizes his teaching too. Keith's students have nominated
him for this award on four occasions. Some of the comments in his
nomination packet are from students and some from fellow faculty. It is
gratifying to read how Keith's teaching has changed people's lives. One
student writes, "Keith is dedicated to his students and has a brilliant
mind. He is engaging when he speaks and he is able to take philosophy out
of the clouds and bring it back to earth." Another student comment talks
about how he "has challenged long-held beliefs of many of his students and
forced them, through his lectures, to step outside themselves and see the
world in a way in which he/she may have never seen otherwise." Another
writes, "I will give Professor Hoeller a 4.0 for keeping the students
interested in the subject, which I think is the biggest challenge for all
educators out there."

Astronomy professor Dana Rush wrote a strong two-page letter, calling Keith
"the single most effective voice on behalf of adjunct faculty in Washington
State..." Dana mentions that Keith has "written and published more than 50
articles and op-eds on adjunct faculty issues in newspapers across the state
as well as in numerous national publications" as part of his advocacy. He
further discusses how Keith led the charge in gaining advancing adjunct
faculty salaries across the state "from an average of 40% of tenured salary
rates in 1996 to the current level of 60%" (which I believe has meant
roughly $60 million budget increase for adjunct salaries); passed a budget
amendment to expand incremental step raises to all adjuncts statewide;
drafted and passed a bill to give all adjuncts pro-rated sick leave; and
drafted bills for equal pay, annual contracts, and equal increments. Dana
also mention Keith's role in initiating the two Mader class action lawsuits
that were settled out of court for $12 million each, and led to thousands of
adjuncts qualifying for health care and retirement benefits.

A decade ago, in 2002, Keith was the recipient of the AAUP's Georgina Smith
award in recognition for his contribution on both a state and national scale
to enhancing the status of women and advancing collective bargaining.

In 2005, State Senator Ken Jacobsen, in an open senate hearing, commended
Keith by saying he is living proof of Mark 6:4, that "only in his hometown"
is a "profit without honor," referring to how Keith is hardly treated as the
saint that he is. It is gratifying that he is now receiving some credit in
his hometown as well!

Best wishes,

Jack Longmate

Philosophy and Logic, via John Kozy "The History of Knowledge: Darkness in the Acacemy," June 07, 2012 on Global Research

Professor of Philosophy and Logic, John Kozy's article reviews the history of knowledge, beginning the the Golden Age of Greece, through Rome, the Middle Ages, and with the establishment of Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. He ends with the current climate in higher education. Kozy argues that

"These universities were established as fundamentalist vocational training institutions by ignorant people. They were not established to further knowledge. They are madrassas, Sunday schools, one and all."

For more of Kozy's argument that colleges and universities, as institutions, are mandated to stop knowledge, not further it, read the complete article at the following link:

"The History of Knowledge: Darkness in the Academy. By John Kozy. Published on Global Research June 7, 2012.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31302

Seattle Times Editorial "Community and Technical Colleges: Anxious Students, Invisible Faculty." By Keith Hoeller and Jack Longmate. May 29, 2012

"Community and technical colleges: anxious students, invisible faculty." By Keith Hoeller and Jack Longmate. The Seattle Times. Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Modified Wednesday, May 30, 2012.

"Part-time college faculty members continue to lag woefully behind full-time professors in their pay as the demand for higher education continues to increase, write guest columnists Keith Hoeller and Jack Longmate."

Hoeller and Longmate compete the dismal scenario with discussions of college students unable to find work, and leaving college with crushing student loan debts.

Clearly the community college/college/university systems are in desperate need of overhaul to correct the present model that exploits students and faculty.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2018311869_guest30hoel

Jack Longmate, American Faculty Member Fighting for Freedom of Speech, Due Process Spring 2012

For all American faculty, and world faculty, here is some of the information from a faculty member, Jack Longmate, regarding his experiences with an American college and unions denying him and other faculty freedom of speech, academic freedom, and due process under the law.:

Hi all,

As some of you know from this list and from a few pieces in the Chronicle of
Higher Education and Inside Higher Education, I've been the target of
harassment by the tenured faculty within the union at Olympic College. I've
filed a complaint with the NEA last year (April 5, 2011), a harassment
complaint under my college's HR policy (December 21, 2011), and most
recently with the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (March
28, 2012).

I just returned from a meeting of the Olympic College board of trustees
where I delivered the following statement. My wife came, and she said that
my delivery was about as strong as she ever seen me speak. Of course, it
remains to be seen if the outcome will be positive. A good portion of my
remarks recounted what the faculty union president has done or said--he was
at the meeting.

Best wishes,

Jack Longmate

= = = = = = = = = =
On March 28, 2012, I filed a complaint with the Northwest Commission on
Colleges and Universities. I'd like to explain the background.

In late December of 2010, I published an editorial in The News Tribune
(Tacoma) that called for the suspension of course overloads (overtime
moonlighting) by full-time tenured faculty. The antagonistic reaction this
drew from some tenured faculty intensified in early February 2011 after I
testified against a bill favored by the faculty union at a House Higher
Education Committee hearing. On February 4, 2011, the day after my
testimony, a prominent member of the union's executive committee, who was
not at the hearing, wrote to me, but copied to all union members, saying: "I
respect your prerogative to take a separatist position on policy but NOT to
be dishonest by using your position with the union to seek a platform for
expressing those ideas." There were calls for my resignation and a vote of
no confidence.

I did not use my position as union secretary to seek a platform to express
my ideas. I made clear that I was speaking as an individual, not as a
representative of the union-as the video testimony and the legislative
report of that February 3 hearing makes clear.

Still, I was vilified by a number of accusatory e-mails like that one, which
typically were sent to me but copied to the whole of the union. This
vilification resulted in a censuring resolution passed at the faculty union
meeting of 25 February 2011-it was conducted by a show-of-hands vote, which
had more of a feeling of mob action than due process, and violated the
constitution of both the Washington Education Association and the National
Education Association. On 5 April 2011, I filed a 17-page formal complaint
with the National Education Association .

I believe the treatment that I've received is what Irwin Janis describes in
his book The Victims of Groupthink as a feature of that phenomena: "an
unquestioned belief in the group's inherent morality, inclining the members
to ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions" (p. 198).

The resolution censuring me wasn't the end of the retaliatory treatment.
This past fall I initiated preparations for the annual Olympic College
Legislative Forum, as I have done for many years, by reserving a room and
securing the willingness of the president of the Associated Students of
Olympic College to serve as master of ceremonies, which has been the
tradition since 2003, and sending out an announcement to local legislators,
with a copy to Dr. Mitchell and the president of the faculty union. The day
after I sent out the announcement, the faculty union president asked me who
had sponsored the legislative forum in the past, as there was no mention of
the faculty union (OC AHE) on the announcement. I explained that the union
has and hoped that it would do so again. He wrote back to say "I can't
commit to sponsorship." In the meantime, some legislators responded to the
announcement, with some accepting, some declining, and one wishing to
discuss the format of the evening; he and I agreed to meet at his Gig Harbor
office. But the faculty union president, who was copied on these e-mails,
wrote directly to the legislator to say he felt such a meeting was
"premature" and brazenly assumed that the legislative forum was his program
to control-even though he had not shown any interest in sponsoring or
supporting the event.

Giving the faculty union president a very generous benefit of the doubt,
that since the Legislative Forum has been sponsored by the union in the
past, it would not be unreasonable for him to draw the conclusion that the
legislative forum was a union event and that his reflected a
miscommunication or mere misunderstanding about the event's cognizance, not
a willful design to frustrate my efforts and harass me.

But facts refute that assumption. When I approached the student body
president again, who had agreed to serve as the event's Master of
Ceremonies, to propose that the ASOC sponsor the legislative forum, since it
had co-sponsored it at least twice and, in 2003, provided refreshments to
the audience. The student body president then told me that the OC faculty
union vice president had approached him to discourage his involvement,
saying that the legislative forum was not taking place this year-again, even
though the faculty union had not agreed to either sponsor or involve itself.


Further confirming the intent of the faculty union to derail the legislative
forum, on October 27, 2011, the faculty union president sent out a message
to the legislators who received the original announcement, saying: "We feel
that in the past the forum was used to provide an opportunity for a small
minority of individuals to promote their personal issues rather than reflect
the concerns of the association and students." Since I have been the
organizer of the Legislative Forums from the outset, have always initiated
direct contact with the area legislators, and have always had a speaking
role, there is no ambiguity that it was I about whom the disparaging
"personal issues" comment was referring to, and that sentiment is was the
animosity underlying the censuring resolution that had been passed in
February, not a mere misunderstanding of cognizance.

What's more, at the faculty union meeting of the October 21, 2011, which I
was unable to attend, the union president declared to the members present
that I had "misrepresented" the union and had "acted in the union's name."
Those meeting minutes that were distributed on November 1, 2011, on the
Olympic College e-mail system to all faculty-full-time and part-time, union
members and non-union members. I consider these charges to be completely
baseless and libelous and I attempted, unsuccessfully, to get those unproven
assertions removed the minutes. With the publication of a November 22, 2011
article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about my situation, the Olympic
College faculty union president then did express an interest in talking, and
I'm willing to do that as soon as he formally and publicly and completely
withdraws all statements that characterize me as "misrepresenting" the union
and "acting in the union's name."

That has not happened, and on December 21, 2011, I filed a complaint under
Olympic College Human Resources Harassment/Discrimination Complaint
Procedure. On March 12, 2012, with the Olympic College harassment complaint
still pending, I met with the executive of the State Board for Community and
Technical Colleges, Charlie Earl and head of Human Resources, John
Boesenberg and mentioned my complaint, saying that I felt if it were
investigated by an independent, outside reviewer, it would be found
successful, but since it was being conducted in-house, I had misgivings
about its outcome. Two days later, on March 14, Olympic College finally
released its report, and my misgivings were confirmed. The finding did
declare that the very limited scope of its investigation, and urged that the
complaints against the union be taken up with the union. Of course, it made
that recommendation knowing full well that I had submitted a 17-page formal
complaint to the union.

In summary, I have given the union, both the NEA and the WEA, a chance to
act, and I have given Olympic College the chance to act, yet I've still been
denied due process by both and am subject to the inherent conflicts of
interests: Just as a business cannot credibly audit itself, a college
cannot investigate itself.

Holding union office should not excuse a faculty members at Olympic College
from having to act in a professional, respectful manner nor should it give
license to abuse whatever authority they have.

I have the right to speak freely to the state legislature and these union
officers took it upon themselves to use college resources, including e-mail,
meeting rooms, to denigrate my reputation and attack my integrity.

It is obvious that these tenured faculty were trying to chill my advocacy on
behalf of adjunct instructors both here at Olympic College and in the state,
again, using Olympic College resources to do it.

Olympic College trustees' jurisdiction does not extend into the union
meeting, but to the extent that the body is using OC resources, it has a
responsibility to see to it that they're being used appropriately.

The treatment that I've received is quite counter to the noble wording of
the Olympic College Values Statement and the 2009 Self-Study Report, which
from page 6-4 proclaims:

"Olympic College has established an educational environment for students,
staff, and faculty in which the dignity of all individuals is respected. In
support of the Affirmative Action Policy, the College does not tolerate
harassment or discrimination of any person. Such conduct is deemed
unacceptable and may be grounds for disciplinary action and/or separation of
the relationship of that person with the College."

Alas, such unacceptable conduct has happened at Olympic College. 

Washington State Senate Committee Services: Higher Education and Workforce Development: Part Time Faculty at Colleges and Universities

From Washington State, here is information provided by the Washington State Senate Committee Services on Higher Education and Workforce Development.

"Senate Committee Services Higher Education and Workforce Development: Part Time Faculty at Colleges and Universities." Written by Ailey Kato, SCS Intern, Summer 2011

http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Committees/HEWD/Documents/PartTimeFacultyRpt.pdf

Critique of David C. Levy's Editorial "Do College Professors Work Hard Enough?"

The Wordpress blog, Virtual Paper Balls, has published a March 25, 2012 post titled "The Shelf Life of Total B.S." The post reviews David C. Levy's editorial published in the Washington Post, titled "Do College Professors Work Hard Enough?"

Levy spews forth one misconception after another, without considering the entire educational hierarchy of administrators, tenured professors, and untenured faculty who labor on poverty-level wages.

The poster composes a classical argument essay, in which Levy's editorial is sliced and diced to reveal the less-than-freshman-level of Levy's argument. The replies to the post provide food for thought about the entire country's issues with injustice, economic woes, and still trying to keep the American dream alive for all.

http://virtualpaperballs.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/the-shelf-life-of-total-b-s/

P.D. Lesko on New Faculty Majority Faces Same Old Problems and Offers Same Old Solutions.

http://www.adjunctnation.com/?p=4112
New Faculty Majority Faces Same Old Problems & Offers Same Old Solutions

By P.D. Lesko

"...[Jack] Longmate wrote to the president of the NEA and received a form letter in reply. It was a display of bullying that would have gotten most fourth graders suspended, but instead the NEA allowed its Washington State affiliate to bully a member for exercising his right to free speech....

In Washington State, HB 1631 College Faculty Increment Funding discriminates against the majority of faculty.

In Washington State, a bill before the House would fund increment pay increases only for faculty who are called "full-time." In the Washington State community college system, the majority of faculty are termed "part-time." Thus, HB 1631, called the College Faculty Increment Funding, should really be called the College Faculty Increment Funding Discrimination bill. This bill treats faculty as being unequal, with a minority of faculty due to receive raises, and the majority of faculty due to receive nothing for their teaching efforts.

Whatever your feelings are about HB 1631, please use our democratic process to contact Washington State legislators in the House of Representatives in Olympia, WA, to share your ideas regarding this legislation.
Frank.Chopp@leg.wa.gov ; Richard.DeBolt@leg.wa.gov ; Jan.Angel@leg.wa.gov ; Mike.Armstrong@leg.wa.gov ; Cathy.Dahlquist@leg.wa.gov ; Deb.Eddy@leg.wa.gov ; Roger.Goodman@leg.wa.gov ; Tami.Green@leg.wa.gov ; Bob.Hasegawa@leg.wa.gov ; Norm.Johnson@leg.wa.gov ; Troy.Kelley@leg.wa.gov ; Joel.Kretz@leg.wa.gov ; Marcie.Maxwell@leg.wa.gov ; Jim.Moeller@leg.wa.gov ; Tina.Orwall@leg.wa.gov ; Eric.Pettigrew@leg.wa.gov ; Tim.Probst@leg.wa.gov ; Ann.Rivers@leg.wa.gov ; Cindy.Ryu@leg.wa.gov ; Joe.Schmick@leg.wa.gov ; Shelly.Short@leg.wa.gov ; Larry.Springer@leg.wa.gov ; Pat.Sullivan@leg.wa.gov ; Kevin.VanDeWege@leg.wa.gov ; Judy.Warnick@leg.wa.gov ; Eileen.Cody@leg.wa.gov ; Joe.Fitzgibbon@leg.wa.gov

Hours for Teaching and Preparation Rule of Thumb: 2-4 Hours of Prep for 1 Hour of Class

Many instructors may wonder how much prep time to spend on a class. Prep time can mean different things to different people. Many instructors assume prep time includes only the time spent getting ready for a particular class. Other instructors include meetings with students, advising, meetings with other faculty, professional development, and the numerous tasks and responsibilites of teaching.

The University of California at Berkeley included a discussion of actual preparation hours for class.
The newsletter contained the guidelines that distinguish between a class a teacher has taught before and a new class. For a class taught before, the teacher should plan to spend 2 hours out-of-class for each hour of class for preparation and grading. For a new class, the teacher should plan to spend 4 hours out-of-class for each hour of class.
The Office of Educational Development. Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching, Learning, Academic Planning and Facilities. "Instructor Preparation Time." 

Other experts concur. The DeCal site answers the question: "Developing a Course: How Much Planning Time Should I Allow for Getting a Good Class Together?"
"Most teachers spend at least two hours in prep time outside class for every hour spent inside class. Most teachers working with material for the first time spend three or more hours in prep per every one hour in class."»

Teaching and the Case Method Harvard Business School Press. "Spend a maximum of two hours prep time for each class hour."

Mader v State of Washington

Mader v State of Washington
http://204.200.167.203/pastcases.html

This information, via the attorneys' website, of Bendich, Stobaugh, and Strong, explains the successful lawsuit brought against the State of Washington by faculty who are called "part-time," and whose work hours were "mischaracterized."

Mader v. State of Washington, et al., No. 98-2-30850-8 SEA (King County Superior Court
Class action on behalf of part-time community college instructors who worked half-time or more, but who were denied retirement benefits because their work hours were mischaracterized to give the appearance of working below half-time. Settled in 2002 for $12 million.
News articles re Mader v. State:

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer Story: Agencies knew about part-time faculty inequities 11/9/99
• Puget Sound Business Journal: Judge approves $12 million for part-time profs
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Part-time instructors win on retirement benefits.

Mader v. Health Care Authority

This links to the case Mader v. Health Care Authority, also referred to as "Mader II."
"Supreme Court of the State of Washington Opinion Information Sheet
Docket Number: 72273-1
Title of Case:
Eva Mader, Teresa Boyden (aka Knudsen) v. The Health Care Authority
File Date: 06/05/2003
Oral Argument Date: 11/13/002"

Mader v. Health Care Authority
h:tp://www.appeal-law.com/appeals/mader.html

Additional Sources:

State of Washington Appropriations for Mader II
http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/budget/lbns/2004sa.pdf

Reference to Mader v. Health Care Authority in a Law Book
http://books.google.com/books?id=0pjru3veKjMC&pg=PA192&lpg=PA192&dq=mader+v.+health+care+authority&source=bl&ots=sSAlFEsp15&sig=Qqr0uKEWykLJUc2Sqmv7K2wDxho&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DWYPT--zOqOLiAKK5eXBDQ&ved=0CB0Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=mader%20v.%20health%20care%20authority&f=false