Bargaining & the November strike

As the new term gets underway, CFA Dominguez Hills Chapter president David Bradfield revisits the November one-day strike in his upcoming Welcome Back message to the faculty on his campus.

“The faculty proved again last fall that we can accomplish great things when we put our minds to it,” Bradfield writes. “The November 17 strike here and at CSU East Bay was historic and highly successful. They said we wouldn't do it. They said we couldn't pull it off, and we proved them wrong in a big way.”

CFA’s Bargaining Team feels the successful strike gave them the support they needed, according to Team chair Andy Merrifield.

“While a one-day strike rarely gets an immediate result, these job actions made clear to everyone that the faculty are solidly united and that we have the will and the capacity to carry out bold action to get a fair contract and protect quality education,” Merrifield says.

He adds, “Of course, our next goal is to make progress in the current mediation and get this thing resolved. We should all be working together to get the funding our public university needs.”

CFA chapter leaders educate Trustees on faculty one-day strike

CFA leaders from the two campuses that struck for one day in November addressed the CSU Trustees at their meeting Wednesday at the Chancellor’s Golden Shore Headquarters.

Jennifer Eagan, president of the CFA chapter at CSU East Bay, said the Trustees are only hearing from “a one-man show,” referring to Chancellor Reed. She said in order to make the best policies that can steer the CSU through tough times, they must end “extravagance at the top and cuts at the bottom” and she advised them to “listen to the faculty—we are your eyes and ears on the ground.”

Eagan also advised the Trustees that, “The conditions that motivated the East Bay and Dominguez Hills faculty to strike on November 17 and for faculty from all other 21 campuses to join us on the picket line are still alive” and that the Trustees must focus on these. “People you wouldn't expect to do so keep asking me ‘What's next? We're ready to go,’” she said.

Vivian Price, CFA chapter secretary-treasurer at CSU Dominguez Hills, warned the Trustees that “by disinvesting in the faculty” by putting an unfair burden on Lecturers and increasing class sizes “you are disinvesting in students.” She said faculty action is motivated by “hiring practices and working conditions that are deteriorating” even as enrollment grows.

Trustees adopt last-minute limit on executive pay increases

Bowing to years of pressure to curb university executive compensation hikes, the CSU Trustees at their meeting on Wednesday adopted a last-minute change to a new pay policy for campus presidents.

The policy they adopted will limit the increase in taxpayer dollars devoted to the starting salaries of newly hired campus presidents. New presidents will get a maximum of 10% more than the pay that had been given to their respective predecessors. There is no restriction on the amount of donated dollars, referred to as “private” funds, which can be used to augment executive pay above state dollars.

CFA President Lillian Taiz said of the change, “It is good that the Trustees finally realize that unfettered pay increases for the top 1% of this public institution are not acceptable; these are, after all, still public jobs. We hope this signals an era of improved priorities that focus on the quality of our students’ education instead of presidential pay.”

Trustees clearly felt the pressure from a series of proposed laws to rein in their authority over pay for public university executives. That legislation coupled with heightened criticism statewide over those raises from newspaper editorial boards, elected officials, and many organizations including CFA finally resulted in a change in policy.

The policy was adopted just hours before it became public that Mildred García, former president of CSU Dominguez Hills, has moved into the top spot at CSU Fullerton. The Trustees also named Leroy M. Morishita permanent president of CSU East Bay. He has been interim president since April when his predecessor, Mohammad Qayoumi, moved over to San José State.

Their new salaries have not been announced yet. It is expected that the 23-campus system will hire at least five more campus presidents during 2012. The Trustees did set pay at $295,000 for two interim presidents, one at CSU Fullerton pending Garcia’s move and the other at CSU Northridge.

Information from the Chancellor’s Office on executive compensation can be found at http://www.calstate.edu/exec_comp/

See the new policy with its revision (p. 23)

See a wrap-up article on the new policy in the San Francisco Chronicle.

See a report on other aspects in the new policy, including “comparison” universities chosen by the Trustees where nearly all executives earn more than CSU presidents, in CFA Headlines last week.

Special Investigator to look into events at Nov. 16 Trustees’ meeting

One of the more tense moments during any CSU Trustees’ plenary session happened last Wednesday, interestingly, during the adoption of their minutes.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, an ex-officio Trustee, said the minutes had “sanitized” reporting on the tumultuous November 16 meeting when the Trustees moved to another room out of public view during a student protest to vote on a 9% student fee hike.

CFA Secretary John Halcón was at the scene in November when police released pepper-spray that filled the lobby of the Chancellor’s Office. Last week, he told the Trustees,”The (CSU) Administration's description of events is so at odds with what really happened that there must be an independent investigation into what went on that day.”

CFA Headlines learned today that a special investigator has been appointed and is conducting interviews with witnesses.

CFA chapters adopt resolutions on student actions set for March 1 and March 5

CFA Chapters at San Francisco State and CSU East Bay have adopted resolutions about participation in national days of protest for higher education being called for March 1 and March 5.

See the resolutions at the CFA East Bay and San Francisco State web pages.

CFA chapter opposes Chancellor’s threat to cut Northridge for accepting students

The CFA chapter at CSU Northridge has joined student-led opposition to Chancellor Reed’s latest threat to cut funding to the campus. Reed says the campus must reduce the number of students it accepts or risk losing $7 million.

In advance of the cut, campus managers already are limiting class offerings and refusing to allow faculty to place students on wait lists.

Students with MEChA and Students for Quality Education met with interim campus president Harry Hellenbrand, who pointed them to the state legislature and governor.

Nate Thomas, president of the CFA chapter at CSU Northridge, wrote in his welcome back letter to the faculty, “Here on campus we are confronted with the Chancellor’s threat to penalize financially any campus that exceeds by more than 3% their annual enrollment target.

“The result is that our students can't get the classes they need. Many of us have had to turn students away from our classes. If you've had students asking to join your class(es), as I have, you should consider directing them to ‘Vent to the Top’... These individuals need to hear directly from students.”

Thomas urged faculty and students to contact:

• Interim-President Harry Hellenbrand: hhellenbrand@csun.edu, (818) 677-2121

• CSU Chancellor Charles Reed: http://www.calstate.edu/executive/ (562)951-4738

• Governor Jerry Brown: http://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php (916) 445-2841 or (213) 897-0322

Participate in CFA Hate Crimes Survey

In light of hate-motivated attacks on CSU campuses, CFA’s Affirmative Action Council is gathering details of faculty member’s experiences and raising awareness of available resources through a survey. The Council will use the results to develop tools that can contribute to safer campuses for all students, staff and faculty.

You are invited to take part in this research.

Learn more about the CFA Affirmative Action Council.

Please Note: the Survey is now complete and no further submissions are needed at this time (03/10/12)

Links of the week

Viewpoint: Pension-cutting plans on ballot promise savings but don’t deliver
Business professor Steven Filling explains sometimes the truth hurts. In this case, the truth is that the two pension-slashing ballot measures that may face voters in November would provide no effective report while dramatically increasing taxpayer costs by as much as $1 billion a year for as long as 30 years. — Sacramento Bee, Jan. 31, 2012

Students Bear the Burden of State Higher Ed Cuts
As states cut funding for higher education students are hit three times: higher tuition, lower financial aid and less bang for their buck. — Time Magazine, Jan. 25, 2012

For-Profit College Executives Make Much More Than Their Higher Education Counterparts
For-profit colleges have been in the hot seat over the past two years, with the federal government and more than a dozen state attorneys general probing fraudulent recruiting tactics and high student debt levels. But there has been relatively little attention paid to how the Wall Street corporations that own many for-profit colleges pay those at the top. —Huffington Post, Jan. 30, 2012