Rights and Responsibilities

Introduction including Union Information

In this section, you will learn about the responsibilities you have as a Bristol faculty member. These responsibilities come both from our union contract and Bristol’s own policies. Bristol honors the Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC) Contract. For more information about the MCCC, click here. It is also important to be familiar with the contract appropriate to your position. The Day Contract governs full-time faculty. The DCE Contract governs adjunct faculty. All Bristol Faculty are governed by the same Distance Education Contract. 

Full-Time Faculty Rights and Responsibilities

Full-time faculty workload

Information about the full-time faculty workload can be found in Article XII of the Day Contract. Some key language is below: 

On Instructional time: The standard faculty instructional workload shall be a minimum of twenty-nine (29) instructional hours per week and a maximum of thirty-five (35) instructional hours per week with no more than three (3) preparations per semester and no more than five (5) preparations per year. 

College Service

Information about the full-time faculty College Service can be found in Article XII of the Day Contract. Some key language is below: 

Information about noninstructional time: 

Faculty shall provide seven (7) hours per week or equivalent on a semester basis or its annual equivalent in student advisement and/or college and/or community service as determined by the President or the President’s designee consistent with Article XIII (Evaluation). 

Councils

All full-time faculty are required to serve on one of Bristol’s Governance Councils. Adjunct faculty also may have opportunities to serve on these councils, which play a key role in Bristol’s shared governance strategy. You can find out more about Governance Councils here. 

To request to join a specific council, or to get more information about a council, reach out to the council co chairs listed in the council co-chairs directory.

Advising  

All full-time faculty members at Bristol are required to perform advising work as part of their duties. We are currently transitioning to a new model of advising and will be updating this area with new materials. You can find a guide to effective Proactive Advising techniques HERE.

Search Committees

Faculty may be requested to participate on search committees as search chairs, committee members, or equity reps. For more information and/or training regarding search committee roles, please contact Human Resources or check out the “Recruitment” section of the Human Resources Forms page.

Office Hours

Prior to the start of the semester, faculty should email proposed office hours to their dean. Office hours should be clearly listed on the syllabus and attached to office doors. 

Professional Development

Bristol offers all employees, including full-time faculty members, the opportunity to apply for professional development funds. Our awards may come with a request to share what you gained from your development with the Bristol community. The application form for faculty professional development can be found here: Bristol Community College Professional Development Application. 

General Education Competencies

In order to graduate from Bristol Community College, students must meet Bristol's General Education Competencies. You may teach a course that meets up to three of these competencies, and you will be requested to provide artifacts from all of the classes you teach that will help us assess how much progress our students are making towards the attainment of these competencies. You can find out more about Bristol's competencies at this link.

Mandatory Meetings 

Full-time faculty are required to attend several mandatory meetings. The dates, times, and (real or virtual) meeting locations are available on AccessBCC or through your email. Links to Bristol Calendars, which include information about the dates and times of these meetings, are in the Academic Calendar and Meetings Calendar on the Academic Calendars page. Information about these meetings is provided below.  

All Academic Meetings 

Throughout the school year, there are monthly meetings led by academic leadership. These meetings provide important news about Bristol policies, activities, and initiatives. 

Professional Development Day 

All Bristol full-time employees, including faculty members, are required to attend Bristol’s Professional Development Day. These usually occur during the Spring Semester and will provide you the chance to select sessions that fit your development interests. 

New Faculty Seminar  

All new full-time faculty members must complete the New Faculty  Seminar in the first year, including faculty members who were previously adjuncts. The New Faculty Seminar meets every other week throughout the school year and combines general best teaching practices with information about Bristol-specific programs and resources. View the New Faculty Seminar Syllabus.

Opening Days

All Bristol full-time employees are required to attend Opening Day, which typically occurs the Thursday before the beginning of the Fall and Spring Semester. During Opening Day, you will learn about Strategic planning for the semester, vital news about the campus, and have the opportunity to network with their colleagues from across Bristol. 

Department Meetings

You will attend monthly department meetings. The format and goals may differ from department to department.

Area Meetings 

You will attend monthly meetings in your academic area, led by your dean. These will vary in structure from area to area, but will always contain important information 

Assessment Day 

All Bristol full-time employees must attend Assessment Day, a full-day event that typically occurs in the fall semester on a Thursday. While there is some professional development on Assessment Day, the most important aspect of Assessment Day for faculty is the assessment of artifacts to assess student success. Currently, we primarily use this day to assess our General Education Competencies.

Course Observation  

Policies concerning course observation are currently being updated. When they are updated, we will place them in the Faculty Handbook.

Adjunct Faculty Rights and Responsibilities

Information about Adjunct Faculty’s Rights and Responsibilities can be found in the DCE Contract. Particularly important information is found in Article XIII, which focuses on Adjunct Workload. Some key issues include the following:

Adjunct Faculty are not required to attend All-College, All Academic, Departmental, or other meetings (although they are invited).

With the exception of state-mandated trainings, a required training in excess of four (4) hours shall be compensated at $75.

(Article 10.03) A tentative appointment for one course will be offered first to those eligible unit members as defined above with the longest service in the Division of Continuing Education at the college in that work area, except under [certain] conditions.

FERPA

All Bristol Faculty members are required to abide by Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). You can find out about FERPA in this document.

MCCC

Bristol Community College is a union campus, and its faculty members are represented by the Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC). For more information about the MCCC, click here. Bristol’s subchapter of the MCCC is the Bristol Community College Council (BrCCC), and you can learn more about it at the BrCCC website. 

MACER 

MACER is the entity on campus, outlined in our Collective Bargaining Agreement (contract) that has representatives from management meet with representatives from the union (BrCCC) to discuss things of “mutual concern.” We do this for both contracts as the contracts are different and they deserve their own time and attention. You are encouraged to bring issues to your chapter leaders for consideration for MACER. For more information about MACER and other BrCCC bylaws and Frequently Asked Questions, click on the BrCCC Frequently Asked Questions page. 

Dues and Membership 

Check out the MCCC Website for information about becoming a dues-paying member of the MCCC and the benefits that doing so entails. 

Mandatory training 

Bristol Community College requires that all employees complete a number state-mandated trainings each year. The trainings appear in multiple locations. Your HR department will send you an email with instructions and due dates for the trainings.

Student Evaluation  

There are potential changes coming to Bristol’s Student Evaluation policies. When we have more information, we will provide a complete write-up here. In the meantime, please check Article XIII of the Day Contract or Article XI of the DCE Contract for more information.