By Ayden Vasquez
Riverside Community College District unanimously approved covering 100 percent of health insurance premiums for eligible associate faculty members across all three colleges in the district during the Board of Trustees meeting on March 20.
With over half of the associate faculty across all three colleges in the district being eligible for coverage, this will not only benefit professors at RCC but the entire district.
“With most classes in the district being taught by part-time instructors, this program will give associate faculty comfort and stability in the workplace but also allows them to not worry about if they should spend money on health insurance or feeding themselves and their families,” Co-lead negotiator and full-time faculty at Norco College Virgil Lee said.
With special open enrollment for this program starting on April 1, those who are eligible will be required to have a teaching assignment of 0.4 or greater.
In addition to the unanimous passing of this program, RCCD’s Board of Trustees also agreed to completely refund all associate faculty who spent money on healthcare premiums for RCCD health insurance options during the 2023-2024 academic year across all three colleges in the district.
“This program is not only a huge win for our associate faculty counterparts but is a win for students, teachers, and the district,” said Lee. “With benefit and healthcare equality being the driving points of me and my fellow negotiators of the Faculty Association, we are all proud to have fought so hard for this.”
Out of the 73 different community college districts in the state of California, RCCD is one of the first districts to offer this program to its associate faculty hopefully paving the way for the rest to do the same.
“We are ecstatic and incredibly grateful that RCCD is able to give us this opportunity and stability that in this generation for educators is very much needed. In the end, I and so many others feel lucky that RCCD is a forward-thinking district and has their faculty in mind,” Lee said.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
