Here’s Our Academic Freedom Bargaining Proposal

Last week, we broke down the CFA Bargaining Team’s “Order of Assignment” proposal, which guides who receives offers of work, how many units those offers will be, and all within the context of an order of assignment. Other proposals we have covered in CFA Headlines include appointment, salary, and the use of AI.  

We are looking to add our Academic Freedom proposal as a new stand-alone article that includes protections in the contexts of instruction, research, and scholarly work.    

In general, we propose that faculty members shall not be punished or retaliated against for exercising rights to free speech, expression, and assembly either in the performance of university duties or in engagement and expression outside the classroom, office, library, sports arena, clinic, the university, the larger academic community, or the community at large. 

We are fighting for faculty to have the right to determine appropriate pedagogy so long as faculty members meet learning outcomes as assigned. We want to protect faculty members from censorship or retaliation that may arise from activities connected to scholarship, research, discovery, and creative endeavors. 

The CFA Bargaining Team has also proposed specific Academic Freedom protections for counselor, coaching, and librarian faculty. Additionally, our proposal includes protections for faculty to speak freely on matters of university governance. We are seeking to protect faculty from retaliatory performance or conduct reviews for speech outside of the CSU, too.  

Lastly, our proposal on Academic Freedom includes protective measures to resist fascism. For example, our proposal would require the CSU to support faculty who are targeted due to their speech on or off CSU campuses. Such support may include offering alternative assignments, removing contact information from university websites, and granting emergency leave.   

Unfortunately, management’s counter to our thorough, forward-looking proposal is to simply reassert the preamble of our contract, which doesn’t offer enough solid protections to academic freedom in these turbulent times. In bargaining, management also shared the CSU’s 1971 policy on Academic Freedom.  

Back then, Glenn Dumke was the chancellor of the CSU. Dumke was known to try to fire or deny tenure to faculty he perceived to be too activist or on the political left. He was also known to try to suppress student groups he disagreed with politically. 

The 1971 policy was written during a time of intense right-wing backlash (led by then-Governor Ronald Reagan) against higher education in California. By bringing it up, management is saying faculty need to be controlled and disciplined like Dumke, the Board of Trustees, and Reagan did.  

But we will not accept management’s infuriating and chilling counter. We will fight for the Academic Freedom protections that faculty need and deserve.  

Management’s current Academic Freedom policy can be found here. It says “Teaching faculty are entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results, subject to the adequate performance of their other academic duties; but research for pecuniary return should be based upon an understanding with the authorities of the institution. Teaching faculty are entitled to academic freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject.” 

To win strong contracts, we need strong engagement from our members. As bargaining continues over the summer, we encourage all CFA members to talk with their colleagues and departments about our current proposals on the table.  

Remember: every campus has an elected bargaining team member at the table, representing you so don’t hesitate to reach out to them for questions, comments or suggestions. Look here for Your Bargaining Representative.  

If you know of any faculty members who are not yet members, encourage them to join us in this fight! Also, reach out to your field representative or chapter president for more ways to get involved. You are always welcome.  

This work will take all of us, but we win when workers stick together to demand fairness in the workplace!