Talks on Faculty Contract resume this week

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1 From the California Faculty Association CFA HEADLINES September 17, 2014 Weekly news digest from CFA Talks on faculty contract resume this week Attend your CFA campus chapter Bargaining Update Meeting Now is the time to return your ballot in the CalPERS election CSU Trustees prep early to request better funding in 2015/16 Faculty Rights Tip: Health benefits for part-time faculty SF State CFA Chapter hosts Climate Change Film Festival Links of the Week Talks on Faculty Contract resume this week CFA s Bargaining Team will be back at the table with the Chancellor s Office negotiators this Thursday and Friday. The resumption follows a brief hiatus marked by a Trustees meeting. During this time, CFA Officers and Bargaining Team members have gone to the campuses for Bargaining Update Meetings where they laid out for CFA members the issues that still need resolution in order to settle the faculty contract. Those Update Meetings continue at more campuses. At the Trustees meeting last week, four faculty members made compelling presentations describing the difficult and unfair circumstances created by the CSU s unhealthy salary structure as well as by excessive workload. The salary structure problems, they explained, are exacerbated by ongoing campuslevel decisions to lowball newly hired faculty and to stall progression of all faculty members through the salary steps. We saw clearly that the Trustees and other CSU executives at the meeting this month paid careful attention to what our faculty members told them, says Andy Merrifield, chair of CFA s Bargaining Team. We hope that that attention will translate into appropriate progress toward a fair contract this week.

2 Attend your CFA campus chapter Bargaining Update Bargaining Update Meetings continue at the campuses. CFA s Officers and Bargaining Team members urge all faculty to participate. See the schedule of all upcoming meetings View a photo gallery of Bargaining Update Meetings Over the next week, meetings will be held at Bakersfield (Sept 24), Channel Islands (Sept 23), Northridge (Sept 23), San Bernardino (Sept 22), San Francisco (Sept 18), San Luis Obispo (Sept 25) and San Marcos (Sept 18). Get details and the schedule at all campuses. Now is the time to return your CalPERS election ballot; Vote Theresa Taylor! It is time for CFA members to return our ballots in the 2014 CalPERS election for who will fill the State Employees position on the CalPERS Board of Administration. Please vote! Ballots must be in the CalPERS office in Sacramento by Monday, September 29. To be sure your ballot arrives in time PLEASE MAIL YOUR BALLOT NOW. Important facts: THE ELECTION CFA has endorsed Theresa Taylor for the State Employee seat Watch a video of her speak on her candidacy. You can learn more about the election from CalPERS and from CFA. YOUR BALLOT Your ballot was postal mailed to you on August 29. If you did not receive your ballot, please contact CalPERS immediately at (800)

3 or (916) Ballots must be back in the CalPERS office on September 29. **Paid for by Faculty for our University s Future, a committee sponsored by the California Faculty Association. Not authorized by a candidate or committee controlled by a candidate. CSU Trustees prep early to request better state funding in 2015/16 The CSU Trustees Committee on Finance took an early look this month at a draft funding request the Trustees could submit to the governor later this year for the 2015/16 CSU budget. While the Governor has indicated that he will provide the CSU with a 4% increase ($119.5 million) in the budget, the CSU draft budget asks for an additional $116.5 million for a total of $236 million. We are pleased to see the CSU administration request a more robust investment in our system, said CFA President Lil Taiz. We hope to resolve bargaining quickly so that we can all participate in a vigorous advocacy effort. Faculty Rights Tip of the Week : Health benefits for part-time faculty Part-time Lecturers and coaches qualify for health benefits through the CalPERS system if they are appointed for 6 WTUs (weighted teaching units) or more for one semester (on semester campuses) or two consecutive quarters (on quarter campuses) Eligible lecturers and coaches in academic year classifications who are appointed for at least six (6) Weighted Teaching Units (i.e., 0.4 time base) for at least one (1) semester or two (2) or more consecutive quarters shall be eligible to receive health benefits offered through the CalPERS system for the life of this Agreement.

4 Other part-time faculty qualify for benefits with half-time employment for six months. Qualifying employment includes work in more than one department and at more than one campus, even a semester and a quarter campus, as long as the duration requirements are satisfied. If you are combining employment on more than one campus for benefits eligibility, you should check with both campuses to make sure all of your work is counted. Want to learn more? Become active with your local CFA chapter faculty rights team. Find your campus CFA chapter faculty rights representative here. See previous Faculty Rights Tips on a range of topics in our contract. 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. Climate Action Forum at San Francisco State The San Francisco State Chapter of CFA will host a climate justice film festival on campus as part of the Climate Action Forum, October The Forum will include a presentation on October 15, immediately after one of the films, by global climate activist Bill McKibben and the SF CFA chapter will film his talk for use by other CFA Chapters and other organizations on any of the CSU campuses. If your chapter is interested, please contact Phil Klasky, a leader in the CFA SF State Chapter, at (415) Links of the Week Cal State University hopes for $236 million increase from state Inland Daily Bulletin Less than three months after Gov. Jerry Brown signed the state budget, finance officials for Cal State University are back on their calculators in hopes of reaping more money this year. CSU board fields wage, harassment complaints Daily Titan (CSU Fullerton) Several California State University faculty members came forward Wednesday at the CSU Board of Trustees meeting to express their frustration over the lack of consistent raises What Would You Change at the University? Huffington Post Governor Jerry Brown wants California's colleges and universities to do a better job getting students to graduation, and he wants it done without spending more. To entice college leaders along this efficiency path the governor has taken the unusual tack of offering one-time prize money to colleges for the best

5 innovations implemented this year. A total of $50 million has been allocated, with each award expected to be worth at least $2.5 million. Gov. Jerry Brown signs bill to require paid sick leave Los Angeles Times Employers in California will be required to give part and full-time workers at least three days of paid sick leave each year under a state mandate that takes effect in July Student Loan Debt Burdens More Than Just Young People New York Times Janet Lee Dupree, 72, was surprised when she received her first Social Security benefits seven years ago. About one-fifth of her monthly payment was being withheld and she called to find out why. (She) discovered the deduction from her benefits was to repay $3,000 in loans she took out in the early 1970s to pay for her undergraduate degree. I didn t pay it back, and I m not saying I shouldn t, she said. I was an alcoholic, and later diagnosed with H.I.V., but I ve turned my life around. I ve been paying some of the loan back but that never seems to lower the amount, which is now $15,000 because of interest. I don t know if I can ever pay it back. She is among an estimated two million Americans age 60 and older who are in debt from unpaid student loans, In Academe, the Future Is Part-Time Chronicle of Higher Education Reporters at The Chronicle share the trends they see as the growth of the work force transforms the professoriate. $200,000 financial aid scam hits Bay Area colleges San Francisco Chronicle Police at the College of Marin are investigating 23 individuals suspected of posing as students in a plot to steal $200,000 in federal financial aid Two vigilant faculty members brought the suspected scam to the attention of college administrators after noticing that several students in their online classes shared the same address and phone number, weren't participating in online discussions and withdrew soon after financial aid had been disbursed. * * * Join CFA s social network on Facebook at: For the latest news, follow CFA on Twitter at: See CFA and other great video on: