Olivia Russo
Staff Writer
As of July 1, adjunct faculty have been required to clock in and clock out in real time to record their work hours – from teaching their classes to meeting with students, to preparing for class at home.
This system was implemented over the protests of adjuncts and full-time faculty on behalf of the adjuncts. After several months of the system, adjunct faculty members are still unhappy with it, and have quite a few specific concerns. Though most who have expressed concerns about the problematic new system declined to be interviewed because of the precarious nature of their semester-to-semester contracts.
“I have to stop my class and clock in, so I can get paid,” said Linda Bartelt, adjunct professor of education. “So many adjuncts are feeling as if ‘all of my professionalism is going out the door when I have to interrupt something because I forgot to clock in and out.’”
Adjunct faculty were moved from flat-rate per-class contract pay to timecards in 2019 in response to a state law, under which the University would have had to substantially increase adjuncts’ flat-rate pay or switch adjuncts to an hourly timecard system.
The University switched to timecards then to save money.
From 2019 until July 1 of this year, adjuncts could record their work hours once every two weeks for the previous two-week period. But in July all hourly employees at the University were moved to the punch-in punch-out system, which many faculty contend is even more difficult to do adequately or accurately, as the nature of the work, including class prep, grading, answering student emails and more may happen during odd or off-hours.
Full-time faculty responsible for staffing classes across the University – more than half of which are taught by adjuncts – are concerned that if the University does not find another pay structure for adjuncts soon, they will begin to lose adjuncts, many of whom have been with the University for decades.
“(Faculty) share knowledge and life experience,” said Yehia Mortagy, professor of information technology and decision sciences.
“That professional experience that is shared with the students is an important aspect of the education. And for us to lose our adjunct may not be the best,” said Mortagy, who is also chairman of the Faculty Assembly.
Adjunct faculty, via the Adjunct Council and Faculty Senate, have communicated their concerns to University administrators, including Interim President Risa Dickson, who declined to speak to the Campus Times for this story.
Time cards are administered through the office of human resources. Carletta Loflin Lacy, executive director of the University’s office of human resources also declined to be interviewed on this matter, and directed reporting to Ani Kechichian, director of payroll.
“If (adjuncts) need assistance, if they need … individual training, the staff are regularly available, and we actually do … one-on-one training with our employees and even supervisors,” Kechichian said. “We are doing everything that we can do to make this transition easier for our employees, but it will require time for them to get used to it.”
Meanwhile adjuncts are considering unionizing.
“I think we have the people in place to maybe make this work, but it’s a two-way street,” said Rick Hasse, instructor of accounting and finance and faculty senator. “I think the fact that we are willing to compromise and do it. But it’s a tough situation. If this continues on for another semester next spring, there’s going to be talk of unionization on this campus.”
This is not the first time adjuncts have considered unionizing.
In 2013 University of La Verne adjuncts filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board, the first step toward unionizing through the Service Employees International Union.
But the effort then was ultimately unsuccessful.
University administrators are aware of the new unionizing effort. They have acknowledged at Faculty Senate and Assembly meetings that the real-time timecard system and adjunct pay structure is problematic, and they say they are looking into it.
Olivia Russo can be reached at olivia.russo@laverne.edu.
Olivia Russo is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print/online journalism and a minor in criminology. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Campus Times for Spring 2026. She has previously served as the News Editor, LV Life Editor, a photographer and a staff writer for the Campus Times, as well as a staff writer and photographer for La Verne Magazine.
