Kenneth Bearden, Butte College Education Association

Kenneth Bearden teaches English and Humanities and has been working in the community college system for 22 years. He has served in several leadership roles on campus including the Academic Senate, Curriculum Committee and Accreditation Steering Team. Statewide, Bearden has worked on statewide Academic Senate committees and has served on Accreditation visiting teams. He began working with Butte College’s full-time faculty union in 2016 on the negotiations team, and he is now the president and one of two grievance officers. Bearden is the District A Director.

What are the biggest issues facing community colleges right now?

I think the challenges facing community colleges right now are probably the same as they are for Butte College specifically: getting enrollments back up and getting more students and faculty back on our campuses, face-to-face.

What goals do you have for your term on the CCA Board?

I would like CCA to engage more with other faculty organizations, such as the Academic Senate, so that we can more effectively exercise our collective strength.

What inspired you to take on this leadership role?

In two words: Shaaron Vogel, my mentor. But a longer response would be that I have been active locally and statewide in the Academic Senate for years, and I felt like it was time to move myself in a different direction and a direction that I am very passionate about.

Teresa Landeros, Mt. SAC Faculty Association

Teresa Landeros has been teaching as a part-time faculty member since 2004. She serves as an advocate for part-time faculty on the Mt. SAC Adjunct Faculty Advisory Committee. Landeros also serves on the CCA Part-Time Faculty Issues Committee and on the CSUF Academic Senate. Recently, she was elected to serve on the Executive Board for the Mt. SAC Faculty Association and the CCA Board to represent part-time faculty for the southern California region. Her advocacy efforts center around establishing policies, which represent the best interests of both faculty and students and building collegiality among faculty.

Landeros’ priority is to strengthen the role of part-time faculty on the college campuses they teach as vital collaborators and contributors pertaining to all matters affecting faculty and students. Furthermore, she supports equal pay for equal work for part-time faculty and policies which promote the overall general welfare of part-time faculty, such as job security and inclusion in institutional governance.

What are the biggest issues facing community colleges right now?

Pay parity for part-time faculty and connecting community college students to student resources so they reach their academic goals.

What goals do you have for your term on the CCA Board?

Continue to advocate and work toward improving the role of part-time faculty on college campuses and their working conditions.

What inspired you to take on this leadership role?

To be a voice for part-time faculty.

Lorraine Slattery, Mt San Jacinto Faculty Association

Lorraine Slattery, Ed.S., is originally from Ireland, where she grew up in a rural community that stressed the importance of family, culture, scholarship and always lending a hand to others when possible. Lorraine immigrated to the United States over 25 years ago and has made Southern California her home since. She has been part of the Mt. San Jacinto College community for over 20 years with the last 15 years as full-time faculty in the Teacher Education and Developmental Studies department. She has served for the past six years as Department Chair and has served at levels of local faculty governance including a six-year stint as Senate President.

Lorraine has also served in a statewide capacity as an Executive Board member for the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. In addition to her work on the senate side of the house, Lorraine has most recently served as her local chapter Vice President and currently holds that title, along with lead Grievance Officer and Negotiations Officer. Lorraine is a self-professed “policy-wonk” and looks forward to joining the statewide CCA Board and serving as H(2) District Representative and continuing to support local work.

What are the biggest issues facing community colleges right now?

As we all tentatively step out of the pandemic and back to life on our campuses, we see that our communities have changed dramatically. Traditional enrollment patterns are in decline. This inevitably hurts our ability to hire and retain faculty. Districts need to be flexible and responsive to student demand while also protecting faculty re-hire rights.

Students need support in areas of mental health, food and housing insecurity along with traditional learning needs. Faculty need resources, tools and support to provide the best guidance for our students.

What goals do you have for your term on the CCA Board?

External pressures on the system to improve student completions and transfer at Community Colleges have focused a lot of attention on that area of our mission. Faculty are content experts in our disciplines and our mission extends beyond transfer goals to career and workforce goals. I’d like to see faculty at the forefront of these conversations again. The working conditions of our part-time faculty must be elevated and discussed with the same urgency as every other equity issue in our system.

What inspired you to take on this leadership role?

I have a long history of involvement in faculty leadership at both local and state level. I believe my skills and abilities could benefit CCA and my faculty colleagues throughout the state. I hope that by bringing my particular skill set to the Board, we will continue to represent all our faculty with authenticity and integrity.

Matt Jones, Kern Community College District Community College Association

Matt Jones is a member of the Kern Community College District Community College Association and teaches in the Kern Community College District (KCCD), where he is a professor at Bakersfield College. As a faculty in the Academic Technology Department, he specializes in Instructional Design. He also co-teaches a class in the English department with his wife. Jones has been a member of KCCD since 2011 where he began his career in educational technology as a Systems Support Analyst.

However, for the past 8 years, he has been a member of the faculty. Although Jones is a reasonably new member of CCA, he has a great interest in the interpretation of contract language, syntax and sentence structure. Combining that interest with faculty rights drove him to participate in his local chapter, where he is the current acting secretary. Jones believes the post-lockdown world is going to present several challenges for community colleges and it is his endeavor, through the CCA lens, to assist in navigating those waters.

What are the biggest issues facing community colleges right now?

I believe the post-lockdown world is going to present several challenges for community colleges.

What goals do you have for your term on the CCA Board?

It is my endeavor to assist the community colleges of District D to navigate the post-lockdown challenges through the CCA lens. I also have a passion for instructional technology and accessibility and plan to advocate for both in my role.

What inspired you to take on this leadership role?

Although I am a reasonably new member of CCA, I have a great interest in the interpretation of contract language, syntax and sentence structure. Combining that interest with faculty rights drove me to participate in my local chapter, where I am the current acting secretary. As acting secretary, I found I had a passion for CCA and consequently decided to get involved at the state-level.

To read more about all our Board members, please visit: cca4us.org/about/leadership/boardofdirectors/