Welcome back for a new semester and academic year. I hope the first week of classes went smoothly.

First, we have 40 new colleagues who have joined the SDSU faculty this semester and I would like to welcome them to our campus community. It is heartening to see that many of the campus colleges are hiring once again.

As a faculty union, we have the significant challenge of bargaining our new faculty contract. Negotiations with the Chancellor's Office over a fair contract continue to be difficult. An example is the exchange of salary proposals this summer.

The Chancellor's contract proposal: Nothing Now and Less Later
The Chancellor's Office recently put forward what can be described as a "Nothing Now and Less Later" proposal. Nothing now: The Chancellor proposes no salary increases this year. Less Later: The Chancellor wants the ability to re-open the Salary and Benefits articles of our contract in 2012/13 and 2013/14. If the Chancellor demands to re-open our salary and benefits after a new contract is signed, he can impose cuts to our salary and benefits. (As a point of comparison, consider that in mid-August the UC President proposed a 3% salary increase for the UC faculty.)

CFA salary proposals
CFA is mindful of the economic climate and has put forward what I believe to be a reasonable proposal. The CFA salary proposal includes:

1. implementation of Year 2 of the previously-negotiated Equity program in order to address the long-standing salary inequities for Associate and Full Professors;
2. a 1% General Salary Increase (GSI) for ALL faculty members in 2011/12, 2012/13, and 2013/14;
3. increasing the GSI to 5% in the first year in which the CSU's operating budget grows to what it should have been in 2008/09, when faculty would have received a 5% GSI; and,
4. paying eligible faculty members a service salary (step) increase each year (as continues to be done for most other state employees).

Continuing our support for our contract
Achieving a strong contract at the bargaining table is only possible if the faculty stand up in support of our contract. This past April, nearly 400 SDSU faculty members signed a petition to Chancellor Reed in support of a strong faculty contract and over 120 faculty members joined in an informational picket line. During the course of the Fall semester, we will let you know when tangible faculty support is needed.

CFA Faculty Reception - Thursday, Sept 15
Save the date for a CFA Faculty Reception on Thursday, September 15. It will be an informal opportunity to meet colleagues from other parts of the campus and to discuss issues that are important to you with our campus CFA board members. Details regarding time and location will be sent out soon.

CFA contact information
Please feel free to contact our campus California Faculty Association office at any time if we can provide assistance, whether on a contract rights issue or other matter. Our campus CFA chapter has a Faculty Rights Committee, composed of faculty volunteers, and we are available to talk with faculty colleagues about individual situations and assist in resolving issues. Our office has a new location -- Education 106 -- and we can be reached at cfa@mail.sdsu.edu or x42775.

Best wishes for a healthy and productive year.

Charles Toombs
Associate Professor of Africana Studies
President, SDSU Chapter, California Faculty Association
President, SDSU Chapter, American Association of University Professors
CFA Office Phone: 619-594-2775