How To Get A Raise At A College

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1 From the California Faculty Association CFA HEADLINES January 7, 2015 Weekly news digest from CFA Happy New Year! Greetings to faculty back on campus this week at Bakersfield, East Bay, Los Angeles, Pomona, and San Luis Obispo Faculty Contract available online as a PDF Gov to release 2015/16 Budget Plan California higher ed unions join in call for more funding CSU Chancellor to give State of the CSU on Jan 27 Faculty Rights Tip of the Week: Definitions are important John Hess honored with national award by New Faculty Majority Links of the week Faculty Contract available as a PDF The complete text of the Faculty Contract between CFA and CSU management is now posted as a PDF on the CFA web site. Please note: It s a large file. Download it now More info about the contract can be found on the Faculty Contract web page. Among the items a tool to estimate your salary increase and an FAQ answering many of your most pressing questions about the contract. Gov to release 2015/16 Budget Plan Gov. Jerry Brown gave his State of the State address this week, an event that leads up to the presentation of his 2015/16 budget plan for the state, which includes his plan to fund the CSU. Watch the governor s State of the State on the California Channel, listen to it on Capitol Public Radio or read about it in the Los Angeles Times In preparation of the governor s budget plan, each year the CSU Chancellor s Office and Board of Trustees send him a request for funding. The 2015/16 Support Budget Request (executive summary / full document) for the CSU calls for an increase of $216.6 million, more than observers note the governor plans to propose.

2 California Higher Ed Unions join in call for more funding In mid- December a new collaboration of unions that represent employees in the CSU, UC and California Community Colleges released a letter addressed to Gov. Brown calling on him to up the funding he intends to propose for public higher education. The union presidents signed the letter addressed to the governor and copied to leaders of the state Assembly and Senate and to the heads of each of the three higher ed systems. CFA President Lillian Taiz, who signed the letter on behalf of CFA, said, It s important that our unions in public higher ed speak out together. We all confront attempts to shift the cost of providing education onto employees and students through inadequate pay, benefit reductions, and tuition and fee hikes. We need the state to take higher education seriously the future is at stake. CSU Chancellor to give State of the CSU on Jan 27 At the CSU Trustees meeting coming up on January 27, CSU Chancellor Tim White will present his State of the CSU address. As prelude, he has done short interviews on KFBK radio and Capitol Public Radio Among the topics addressed in the interviews, he spoke about the looming degree deficit in California, a reference to the Public Policy Institute of California 2025 study that predicts California s economy will suffer badly from a shortage of about one million college- educated people. CFA has shared that study repeatedly with state legislators as we argue for adequate funding for the CSU. He reiterated the California Master Plan for Higher Ed dictum that public higher ed must stand for accessible, quality, affordable degrees, and he added completion, a reference to the demand that students finish their degrees more quickly. On KFBK, the conversation about tuition referred only to system- wide costs to students; he said the system has not raised tuition for four years.

3 On Capital Public Radio, White defended the use of individual campus student success fees against criticism that the are essentially tuition increases in disguise. But he said students will likely get to vote on future success fee increases. White asserted, however, the CSU needs more state funding to fulfill its higher ed mission. Watch the chancellor s State of the CSU address on Jan 27 (NOTE: Normally, the Chancellor s Office posts the link a day or so before the webcast) Faculty Rights Tip of the Week: Definitions Are Important Article 2 of our Faculty Contract specifically defines certain terms used throughout the agreement. For instance, a day is defined as a calendar day and the definition goes on to describe how to compute a day and how to deal with holidays. Department is defined as the faculty unit employees within an academic department or other equivalent administrative unit, and the President is defined as the chief executive officer of a University or college or his/her designee. Definitions for terms such as these are crucial for correctly interpreting and enforcing provisions of the faculty contract. Arbitrators frequently cite specific definitions when issuing decisions on grievances. If you have a question about the definitions found in Article 2 contact your campus CFA chapter faculty rights representative If you have questions about a faculty rights tip or would like to suggest a tip, please write us with the subject line Faculty Rights Tip.

4 John Hess honored with national award by New Faculty Majority Retired CFA Lecturer leader and organizer John Hess has been honored with New Faculty Majority s national Steve Street Award The NFM awards committee writes it chose John because the depth and breadth of John s work, carried out tirelessly across decades, merits recognition not only because of its quality and courage, but also because it is fitting for us to recognize those who have made this movement possible. John, who taught in cinema at San Francisco State, was among those who initiated CFA s work to assert fair working conditions for Lecturers. Along with Elizabeth Hoffman and others, he organized the CFA Lecturers Council and was CFA staff person as Lecturers built the Council into a large, active group that has led advances in faculty contracts and CSU policies. CFA President Lillian Taiz applauded this national recognition. She said, It is difficult to calculate the importance of John Hess role in making academic work more secure and more fair. Along with countless Lecturer colleagues in CFA and across the nation, John has advanced public higher education for all faculty and our students. New Faculty Majority is a national organization advocating for the rights of faculty working under contingent appointments. NFM is a participant in the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education Links of the week TUSD's culturally relevant classes allegedly violate state law KVOA Tucson Unified School District was given a notice of noncompliance by the Arizona Department of Education after one or more of TUSD's culturally relevant classes allegedly violated state law. Big Union Win Inside Higher Ed New York Times Chronicle of Higher Education The National Labor Relations Board issued a ruling that could clear the way for much more unionization of faculty members at private colleges and universities. The ruling rejected the claims of Pacific Lutheran U. that its full- time, non- tenure track faculty members are managerial employees and thus are not entitled to collective bargaining. In doing so, the NLRB offered a set of standards for evaluating whether faculty members are managerial as described by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1980 ruling in NLRB v. Yeshiva University, a decision that has largely made unionization impossible for tenure- track faculty members at private colleges and universities. Last week's NLRB ruling suggested tools for evaluating

5 whether private college faculty members have enough power to be considered managerial, and the standards set appear likely to be used by unions to say that faculty members at many private colleges - - even those on the tenure track - - aren't managerial, and are thus entitled to unionize. Union Advocates Applaud Recent NLRB Decisions Inside Higher Ed Union advocates applauded two decisions by the National Labor Relations Board one which protects the right of employees using work for union communications, and the other which revises rules for union elections and could shorten the union election process. California colleges see surge in efforts to unionize adjunct faculty LA Times A wave of union organizing at college campuses across California and the nation in recent months is being fueled by part- time faculty who are increasingly discontented over working conditions and a lack of job security. Yesterday: The Factory Floor Today: The Campus Commons Huffington Post Occupy Wall Street's "Strike Debt!" working group has a modest goal in mind for 2015: to organize America's debt- burdened college and university students into a union strong enough to bring today's institutions of higher learning to their knees. In much the same fashion as labor unions were able to bring auto and steelmakers to heel, this OWS group will incorporate some classical tactics - - and a few modern ones of their own making - - to accomplish this goal for students. Students cover more of their public university tuition now than state governments Washington Post Observers Greet Education Dept. s Ratings Plan With Heavy Skepticism Chronicle of Higher Education For the past 16 months, the Obama administration s plan to rate colleges has been one of the most talked- about issues in higher education. The Education Department s draft plan arrived with a whimper Large California pensions consider divesting of coal industry assets The Guardian California pension plans would divest all assets related to the coal industry under a measure the leader of the state senate said he will propose to reduce support for an industry that critics blame for contributing to climate change. * * * FACULTY: If you are not already a member, it s time to Join CFA Click the link and you can join online, by fax or by postal mail. EVERYONE: Join CFA s Facebook page & follow CFA on Twitter