California’s community colleges do not employ enough full-time faculty and in some cases districts are misspending state funds allocated for those faculty instead on too many part-time adjuncts, according to a newly released report from California’s state auditor.
The audit, ordered last year by state lawmakers, probed hiring practices for full-time faculty at four community college districts: Foothill-De Anza, Kern, Los Rios and San Diego. Auditors also reviewed how those districts have spent state dollars, including $100 million provided by the Legislature in 2021 to help districts hire more full-time faculty.
California has had a longstanding goal that 75% of community college classes should be taught by full-time faculty, but the audit found that the districts are falling well short of that. At the San Diego district, just 50% of instruction is taught by full-time faculty. The district with the highest share, Sacramento-based Los Rios, was still only at 63%.
The auditors say the chancellor’s office should provide more oversight when it comes to how districts are spending state dollars allocated for full-time faculty. One of the districts reviewed by the auditors, Foothill-De Anza, spent those dollars on part-time faculty, according to the audit. The other districts left money unspent or couldn’t prove they were spending it on full-time faculty.
Evan Hawkins, executive director of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, said in an interview Friday that the audit findings were “unfortunately what we expected.” The faculty association had originally called for the audit.
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