COCAL-CT

Coalition Of

Contingent Academic Labor

Of Connecticut

Web Site is WWW.COCAL–CT.COM

pronounced  “ ko-káal “

{emphasis on aspects of contingent academic labor}

“Not above you, not beneath you, but with you, always, in solidarity !”

The implications of the  Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor in Connecticut  can be understood if one looks at the meanings of each of the words in its name.

Coalition  =  "an association of persons, parties or states"::  (also see consortium, any association or fellowship)”

Contingent  =  “liable, but not certain, to happen;  possible”  Contingent faculty are temporary, only utilized where full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty are not available (for a multiplicity of reasons), and the contingent letters of employment specify that such contingent faculty member  has no guarantee  for continuous employment.  They work on a specified time-period basis, which may be cancelled by the University or the College at any time.  They are truly the migrant workers of the Information Economy.

Academic =  “pertaining to an academy, college or university;  scholarly”

Labor  =  “arduous physical or mental exertion;  toil”

Connecticut  =  “pertaining to those who reside in,  or work in, the State of Connecticut”

In Other Words:--

COCAL–CT is an informal fellowship of Adjunct- Part-time- Contingent faculty members who teach in the academies, schools and universities within the State of Connecticut, or faculty who reside in Connecticut and teach in another location.   All of the members of this fellowship are dedicated to the premise that they will continue to work for positive changes in their working conditions, that they will achieve equity of pay and benefits so that they may provide excellent service for their students, and that they will not rest or accept partial solutions until parity is achieved.  We all recognize that it will be a long road, but we are determined to succeed, and will continue to move forward,  even if it is only one step at a time.

COCAL–CT is an interest group, not a union, and COCAL–CT welcomes all who would assist in moving our agenda forward.  Let us know of your interest, email us at:…. 

            membership@cocal–ct.com,   or    academy@cocal-ct.com

What COCAL–CT needs:--

One of the larger handicaps we have is our present inability to tell our story to the public at large.  If YOU have ever worked as a newspaper stringer or local reporter, we need your skill and experience.  We have the data, but we need YOU to help us to tell the story to the people who really count– the mothers and fathers of our students.  If our students and their families knew the true story, we would stand a better chance of achieving our goals of fairness and equity.  Help us to make a difference and write the true story !           

Your media experience is the key to bringing the COCAL-CT story to the attention of the public–at-large.  And, as experienced media folks, you know that it will not be a one-flash operation, but a day-to-day continuous effort to tell the story of real people, doing their best under onerous conditions, to make a difference in the lives of their students.  It will be a lot of little stories, told day after day, through all of the available media (campus newspapers, public access TV, short blurbs in local neighborhood papers, etc., all about the great things that contingent faculty members are accomplishing with and for their students.  And who better to tell that story but we, ourselves, who have to succeed despite the lack of support services provided.  We know what it costs, because we do it, and who better to speak of it than we who have experienced it first hand.

If not us, then who?....            If not now, then when?.........