From the California Faculty Association CFA HEADLINES August 31, 2016 Weekly news digest from CFA Welcome back CSU Channel Islands, Maritime Academy, Northridge, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Marcos! Mark your calendar: Bargaining meetings start soon Help urge Governor to support proposed Ethnic Studies legislation Prop 55 and the CSU: Three reasons to vote YES Stay connected to CFA Faculty Rights Tip: What to do when you re being investigated or called in to discuss a complaint of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation Links of the week Mark your calendar: Bargaining meetings start soon What are your priorities for the next contract? Share your ideas with members of CFA s Bargaining Team. Come learn more about the process, timeline, the challenges that we ll face, and the important work that we all need to do to prepare. Make your voice heard by attending an all-faculty bargaining meeting on your campus. Many campus CFA chapters have begun scheduling meetings, which begin on some campuses as early as next week. Click here to view the listing online. Hearing what issues the faculty are willing to fight for is an important step for us in preparing for the bargaining process, said Kevin Wehr, chair of CFA s Bargaining Team and president of the CFA Capitol Chapter. CFA returns to the bargaining table with CSU management in Summer 2017. To view an updated list of meetings near you, click here.
Help urge Governor to support proposed Ethnic Studies legislation Assemblymember Luis Alejo is asking California residents to help encourage Gov. Jerry Brown to sign legislation that would develop an Ethnic Studies model curriculum as an elective for 9 th to 12 th grade students. AB 2016, which CFA has endorsed, passed both houses and is on the governor s desk. Click here to send an email to Gov. Brown today, asking him to sign the bill. In other legislative news,,, A bill that would require the CSU to grant release time to an employee who is a union member and has been elected to serve as an officer in an affiliated union is heading to Gov. Jerry Brown s desk. AB 2294, authored by Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, was sponsored by CFA. The right solution is to create statutory parity and equity for CSU faculty with our educator brothers and sisters, Susan Green, CFA Treasurer and a director on the CTA Board of Directors, testified to the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this month. Click here to read more about CFA s legislative efforts. Prop 55 and the CSU: Three Reasons to Vote YES! While Proposition 55 concentrates on providing tax revenue to K-12 and community college education, it would have an impact on the California State University. Here are three compelling reasons to vote YES on Prop 55: Prop 55 would generate an estimated $8 billion to $11 billion in revenue each year, thus freeing up money in the General Fund for other needs, such as funding the CSU and other vital services. Without Prop 55, the CSU could suffer a $250 million cut to its base budget each year.
We can t afford any more cuts. The recession cut CSU funding by as much as a third, and the CSU still hasn t recovered. In 2015, the CSU received 17.7% less from the state in real dollars (adjusted for inflation) than it did in 2007-08, despite there being 13.5% more full-time equivalent students to serve. Our students, faculty and communities deserve better than to return to an era of drastic budget cuts, larger class sizes and understaffing. Vote yes on Prop 55. Sign up today to help your local CFA chapter spread the facts about Proposition 55. Together we can protect quality education K-12 and higher ed in California. Click here to sign up using our online form. Stay connected to CFA this fall Don t miss out on important news and information from CFA this fall. Get the latest from CFA on your desktop, on your phone and on the go. Connect with us online at www.calfac.org, and join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. To get CFA news delivered right to your inbox, be sure to sign up for CFA Headlines, and encourage your colleagues to do so as well. Or for a mobile version of calfac.org, download our user-friendly app to your smartphone or tablet. Just open the web browser on your smartphone and type in www.calfac.org/m. To add the CFA app button to your homescreen, with the app open, tap the export box at the bottom of the screen. Then tap Add to homescreen.
Faculty Rights Tip of the Week: What to do when you re being investigated or called in to discuss a complaint of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation If you are asked to answer questions about allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and connected conduct that you or someone else is accused of, ask CFA for help right away. You have the right to schedule the investigatory meeting at a time that works for both you and your union advocate. Contact your chapter s faculty rights chair or CFA staff person. Executive Orders 1096 and 1097 are usually the policies at play, as they explain (and demonstrate compliance with) federal and state civil rights laws that protect employees and students. In short, these policies prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation of colleagues, students, subordinates, and others in the CSU community. While such rules are not new, the CSU s issuance of the policies, monitoring of training compliance, and investigations have increased in the last few years. Other higher education institutions are increasing their enforcement and monitoring as well. Executive Order 1096 is the CSU s Systemwide Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation, Sexual Misconduct, Dating and Domestic Violence, and Stalking against Employees and Third Parties and Systemwide Procedure for Addressing Such Complaints by Employees and Third Parties. Executive Order 1097 is the CSU s Systemwide Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Sexual Misconduct, Dating and Domestic Violence, and Stalking against Students and Systemwide Procedure for Addressing Such Complaints by Students. Again, if you are accused of violating one of these policies, you have the right to have an advocate come with you to investigatory meeting, and you can ask for CFA help if you are dismissed, suspended, or demoted. See also Article 19 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Next week, we ll address what to do if you are subject to discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. If you have questions about a faculty rights tip or would like to suggest a tip, please write us at cfa@calfac.org with the subject line Faculty Rights Tip.
Links of the Week A false promise on graduation rates Sacramento Bee California has broken a lot of promises to its citizens who want access to a quality, low-cost college degree. Now comes Senate Bill 412, dubbed The California Promise, that purports to help CSU undergraduates, including transfer students, complete their bachelor s degrees in four years. The problem is that this legislation, sent to Gov. Jerry Brown, will probably not help those most in need. Students at Cal State schools could get extra help graduating on time under bill sent to governor Los Angeles Times Glazer's bill would create programs at CSU campuses to help students graduate on time. Cal State University looks to boost 4-year graduation rates Long Beach Press Telegram The concept of a four-year university, at least at Cal State University campuses, has long been something of a polite fiction for many students. D.C. Official Hired to Improve CSU Graduation Rates, Close Achievement Gap SCVNEWS The California State University is pleased to announce the appointment of James T. Minor, Ph.D. as senior strategist for Academic Success and Inclusive Excellence effective Sept. 1. At Cal State, student homelessness has been hidden until now Los Angeles Times Racing from her last class of the day at Cal State Long Beach, Shellv Candler had about an hour to get to Wilmington. Her mother was trying to save her a bed at the Doors of Hope Women s Shelter, but curfew was 6:45 sharp. Trigger Warning: Elitism, gatekeeping, and other academic crap The Tattooed Professor Making the rounds on Twitter today was a letter from the University of Chicago (more specifically, the Dean of Students) to the incoming students of the Class of 2020 with the purpose, I guess, of letting them know they were in for a real education. More of a full-on broadside than a welcome letter, the dean let the incoming students know in no uncertain terms, that the University is totally committed to academic freedom and freedom of expression from its faculty and students. Obama names CSUN alumna as recipient of top teaching award CSUN Today On Aug. 22, President Barack Obama named one teacher from the state of California as the science recipient for Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching California State University, Northridge alumna Erica Rood. * * * Join CFA s Facebook page For the latest news, follow CFA on Twitter Check out CFA YouTube