Faculty Rights Tip: How to Challenge Workload Creep Amid Manufactured Austerity

Unionized workers across the CSU system came together last academic year to lobby against proposed cuts to the CSU budget by the state of California, and we made incredible progress moving the CSU from an 8% budget cut down to virtually zero (with the inclusion of a zero-interest loan). We, the workers of the CSU, did that.

However, CSU management continues to manufacture a discourse of austerity – especially when it comes to funding instruction (in classrooms and libraries), counseling, and coaching – that is, all the student experiences faculty provide that are central to university life and high quality education.

In our Collective Bargaining Agreement, our workload rights are governed by Article 20.

On many campuses, management is imposing their manufactured austerity budgets by cutting courses, increasing class sizes, and talking about the need to raise the student-to-faculty instructional ratio (known as “SFR”), resulting in more crowded classes, higher workloads for those teaching, and less work offered for faculty on temporary contracts. Faculty should know that these deliberate plans violate the spirit of Article 20, and in particular, the language of 20.34, which states:

Student/Faculty Ratio and Student/Tenure-Track Faculty Ratio

20.34 The California State University and the California Faculty Association agree that educational quality is a function of the number and quality of faculty resources. The parties also agree that a lower Student/Faculty ratio (SFR) and a lower Student/Tenure-Track Faculty ratio (STTFR) improve the quality of instruction.

So, how do we challenge workload creep in an era of manufactured austerity?

First, the sharing of information among faculty, and with CFA leadership on your campus, is crucial. We know that despite their alleged commitment to transparency, most CSU administrations rely on faculty being siloed, divided, or just too busy to communicate with one another about everything from our salaries to our working conditions. Many of our workload fights will be won through campaigns on campuses that unite us, that call them to account for exploiting us (or laying us off or not meeting our entitlements), and that use a variety of tactics. Let’s watch what management does (e.g. pet projects and high salaries for themselves and austerity for the rest of us), not what it says (“We are student-centered!” “We are transparent!”), and act together in solidarity, according to our visions of the People’s University.

Within the realm of faculty rights advocacy, if your campus is increasing class sizes above previously approved course caps, you can file an individual Article 20 workload grievance, if you believe your workload is excessive or unreasonable. If you do this, it is important to document, in hours and other quantifiable measures of your labor (e.g. papers graded, office hours expanded, emails answered), how much your workload is increasing. We know this requires yet more work, but it is vital to winning your case. Contact your chapter leadership and faculty rights representative for support on how to document, and grieve, your workload. 

On some campuses, administration has been quite brazen about the deliberate attempt to exploit our labor through these slash-and-burn “cut the courses” and “pack the remaining rooms” tactics. In these cases, your chapter leadership may decide to demand a meet-and-confer or file a chapter grievance on the intent to increase workload. Do be in touch with your chapter leadership with your concerns, as faculty rights advocates don’t know what they/we don’t know about what is happening in different departments and colleges; reach out with what you know, and ask for what you need.

If you are a counselor, coach, or librarian, your workload is also protected by Article 20. Full-time faculty who are counselors, coaches, and librarians have the right to a workload that does not exceed 40 hours per week. In the case of all faculty – both part-time and full-time – you have the right to consult with the appropriate administrator about your work schedule and assignments, and you may make requests about your preferences.

Additionally, CSU management has agreed to make an effort to increase the counselor-to-student ratios in order to align with professional standards, after years of pressure from CFA’s Counselor member-leaders. Article 20.11 states:

The parties recognize the importance of adequate student mental health resources. Campuses that have less than 1 FTE counselor (excluding trainees) for every 1,000 to 1,500 students, should endeavor to reach this goal. The parties agree to meet in 2026 to discuss the CSU’s efforts to increase counselor staffing.

You can discuss the progress made (or lack thereof) in reaching this goal with your chapter leadership. Faculty rights advocates can and do issue information requests to monitor progress on these forms of aspirational language in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. And, you can learn more and join the efforts of the CFA Counselors Committee here.

Finally, our workload article, Article 20, also recognizes and compensates faculty for the cultural taxation involved in our labor in the form of the “Exceptional Service to Students” reassigned time (see Article 20.37). It additionally recognizes the service labor of Temporary Faculty Unit Employees Performing Institutional Service (see Article 20.38; this is for those of us on contingent contracts, even if for the length of our careers).

Especially in times of manufactured austerity, it is up to us to make sure that management actually implements these forms of reassigned time for work performed. If you have not received any information about the application process for either of these forms of workload relief for AY 2025-26, you can ask your chapter leadership and faculty rights representative for support on these questions.

Our workloads are interconnected. One person’s packed class is another’s loss of work. And as we know, our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. So let’s use all the tools available to us, including but not limited to the grievance process, to organize together for just workloads for all faculty, and in solidarity with our staff siblings on our campuses.

Want to learn more? Become active with your local CFA chapter Faculty Rights team. Find your representative here.

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