Published in the March 28, 2014 Santa Maria Times. In a previous column, I noted that students at Allan Hancock College are often nonplussed when asked to analyze a work of literature or an essay. Writing a summary is not difficult for them, but writing an analysis appears to be a task they haven’t often […]

Published in the February 28, 2014 Santa Maria Times. The Flood,” a student insisted, “is what killed off the dinosaurs. They lived alongside Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden 6,000 years ago, when Earth was created. Evolution is only a theory.” She was a member of one of my English 101 classes at […]

A new study by the CFT of Community College part-time faculty salaries shows that at AHC we have made significant gains over the past ten years. Whereas we were always ranked near the bottom (usually around 62nd of 72) we are now ranked 50th overall if you have an MA at Column 1, Step 1, […]

Published in the January 31, 2014 Santa Maria Times. Tests going back to 1998 tell the same story—American students at all levels are seriously deficient in writing skills. Only 3 percent possess advanced or superior abilities when it comes to writing. This is no surprise to a writing instructor. For almost two decades I have […]

Happy New Year to everyone! Welcome to 2014! 2013 turned out to be an exceptionally good year for the Part-Time Faculty Association. I am writing this in the hope that 2014 will be even better. Just for starters, last year we increased our membership by more than 40%. We moved to a new office, won […]