This week, CFA sent a letter calling on Gov. Brown to sign into law AB 21, a CFA-sponsored bill to expand safeguards for undocumented students, faculty, and staff in California’s public universities.
A hard-hitting public hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee at the State Capitol this morning tackled what legislators called “troubling” audit findings.
The academic year is about to get underway, but CFA activists and leaders are already hard at work building our collective strength through organizing and taking action to further protect our students and colleagues in the CSU.
CFA President Jennifer Eagan set the record straight recently after an editorial by the Sacramento Bee attempted to criticize hardworking CSU faculty. “The state – not the faculty – is failing the CSU and our students.”
A Cal State Fullerton lecturer will be returning to campus this fall after CFA successfully fought his termination following accusations that he had assaulted students at a counter protest.
Bargaining over the full successor faculty contract will be underway in coming months, with salary, workload, faculty hiring and appointments and quality of life on the job among key focal points of our negotiations.
Students, faculty, and community allies rallied in front of the Capitol and held a news conference call at CFA headquarters in Sacramento on Tuesday in support of AB 21, which would help provide protections for undocumented students, faculty, and staff in the CSU and community colleges.
CFA was at Labor Day 2017 events all over California. They marched, rallied and spoke up for the right to join a union, and many more important needs for working people—including university faculty and students.
On Thursday, May 11, faculty, students, and community allies came together in the Capitol rotunda to sing a message to Gov. Jerry Brown: The CSU needs $325 million in additional funding for the 2017-18 year.
Inspired by the song “Seasons of Love” from the musical “RENT,” the activists participated in a flash-mob style action and serenaded the governor as he exited his press conference that morning.
On February 23, CFA hosted a forum at the State Capitol to brief legislators and their staffs about the lack of investment in the CSU, and its impact on our students and system.
Assemblymembers and CFA activists, along with SEIU and national experts, participated in the panel discussion. The following are highlights from that discussion.
Letters to the editor can have a huge impact on issues that face the CSU and CFA. Here CFA offers tips and advice on writing a letter to the editor, as well as links for local newspapers.
The Academic Senate of the CSU is taking steps to ensure that curriculum changes spelled out in executive orders issued last summer by Chancellor Timothy White are implemented in a way that will actually improve students’ education. CFA has demanded to Meet and Confer with management regarding these proposed changes prior to their implementation.
In a resolution adopted late last week, the Senate objected to the “flawed shared governance process surrounding Executive Order 1100 (revised) and Executive Order 1110 and insisted that the practice of joint decision-making mandated in HEERA [state law] be respected and adhered to…”
The CSU Board of Trustees’ meeting of September 19-20 wrapped up this morning. Here are some of the topics that were presented, considered, or adopted.
HELP FOR IMMIGRANT STUDENTS & FACULTY ON CAMPUS: CFA Associate Vice President Molly Talcott (CSU Los Angeles) addressed the Trustees plenary about more steps the CSU can take. Noting the Chancellor’s declaration of support, she said, “We have suggestions for what else the CSU can do.” She called for Dreamers Resource Centers on all CSU campuses that are connected with teaching, research, and internships on those campuses; research on how our undocumented students are doing in this crisis; and a task force to determine what more the CSU can do.
DACA-SCHOLARS RENEWAL DEADLINE, OCT. 5: DACA recipients whose waivers expire no later than October 5 (in two weeks) can apply for a renewal. Assistance to pay the $495 fee is available. Find links to resources for undocumented students, faculty and staff, and for those who wish to help, at Immigration & the CSU. Download and print a “Know Your Rights” card, get links to FAQs, and more.
LET STUDENTS KNOW ABOUT THE SQE “AFFORDABILITY STUDY”: Students for Quality Education is surveying CSU students about their experience with the affordability of the CSU. SQE hopes the data collected will advance “a free higher education plan that speaks to the needs of our student body.” The link to share is www.csusqe.org/survey
VOTE BY OCT. 2 IN CalPERS ELECTION: CFA has joined other labor unions in endorsing David Miller and Michael Bilbrey for seats on the CalPERS Board of Administration in the election underway now through Oct. 2. They are committed to protecting our pensions and keeping CalPERS strong. Click here to learn more and find voting instructions.
SACRAMENTO — Today, the California Faculty Association, state Assemblymember Ash Kalra, and CSU students called on the California Legislature to take all measures possible to defend DACA and other undocumented students from attack by voting for Assembly Bill 21.
The bill would ensure that DACA and undocumented students have access to financial aid, legal representation, and their constitutional right to due process, as well as provides safeguards for undocumented faculty and staff.
Faculty and students are planning to weigh in on accessible, affordable, and quality public higher education in the CSU during a series of Legislative hearings focusing on the California Master Plan for Higher Education and its impact on the public university systems and the state.
