AB 1972 did not come to a floor vote. The Legislative Committee will closely examine any future legislation which contains the concerns expressed in this resolution.
Whereas, AB 1972 (Daucher) is a bill recently introduced that provides for the Board of Governors to designate any area of study as critical without defining any criteria by which its critical nature is established;
Whereas, Once an area is designated as critical, AB 1972 then calls for the hiring of faculty in a non-tenure track position for up to three years if it is determined that there is an undefined "shortage" of qualified faculty in that area;
Whereas, AB 1972 under such a determination provides for the Board of Governors to extend the "critical status" for any area of study at which time the local governing board must offer the non-tenured track faculty of the "critically" extended area of study the choice of tenure track or three more years of non-tenure track; and
Whereas, By creating a cadre of three-year non-tenure track faculty, this proposed law change will clearly reduce the faculty population that is able to exercise academic freedom to its fullest capacity;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges oppose AB 1972 (Daucher) as of March 17, 2006.MSC Disposition: Legislators, Local Senates, System Office