Cost of Outside-Classroom Faculty Duties at PCC Jumps to $3 Million, Up 48% in a Year

The amount of money being paid to Pasadena City College faculty for duties done outside the classroom, also know as “release time,” has jumped to $3 million, according to the Pasadena City College Budget Resource and Allocation Committee.

There had been 48.9 percent increase in the college’s release time spending from 2012-2013 to 2013-2014 school year, the Pasadena City College Courier newspaper reported.

The committee is looking into ways to decrease the cost for release time, including lessening the number of faculty members assigned outside the classroom.

Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Robert Bell, Executive Director of Business Services Joe Simoneschi and Senior VP/Assistant Superintendent Robert Miller, suggested decreasing the number of full-time faculty members on reassign time from 33 to 21. This will give the district a savings of $522,716 in total funding, the newspaper reported.

Miller tasked Simoneschi to gather data that will show the school’s release time spending from previous school years.