CFA San José - California Faculty Association

Chris Cox and Ray Buyco at a demonstration

Get in Touch

Chapter Information
Chapter President: Ray Buyco
Lecturer Representative: Alicia Henderson
Faculty Rights Chair: Janet Stemwedel
Field Representative: Shamako Noble
Click here for Executive Board
Click here for San Jose State
Click here for CFA SJSU Page

Visit Us: Clark Hall 124 San Jose State University

Become A CFA Member

Join thousands of tenure-track faculty, lecturers, counselors, librarians, and coaches to protect academic freedom, faculty rights, safe workplaces, student learning, fair pay, nand fight for racial and social justice.

Join Your Union Today

Chapter Calendar

Follow your chapter’s upcoming events with its google calendar.

Click Here to Access

Current Events / Flyers

CFA Disaster Relief Fund

The CFA Disaster Relief Fund FAQ can be found here: CFA Disaster Relief Fund FAQ.pdf

Please note that for the Los Angeles fires occurring in January 2025, eligibility is being extended to:

All CFA active members including anyone who signed up for membership before the start of the fires.
CFA’s SQE Interns
CFA’s Chapter Office Managers

CFA full-time staff are also eligible for CFA’s Disaster Relief Fund. The process for submission is the same for all.

All applications are reviewed for membership and eligibility.

For any questions please email me, Parvinder, or membership@calfac.org.

Chapter Contacts Cont.

Connect with your CFA team!

Executive Board – Elected Officers

Ray Buyco

President

Alicia Henderson

Lecturer Representative

Chris Cox

Council for Racial & Social Justice Representative & Chapter CRSJ Committee Chair

Edgar Bering

Membership and Organizing Co-Chair

Janet Stemwedel

Vice President & Faculty Rights Committee Chair

For non faculty rights questions & issues, please email: dr.freeride@gmail.com

For faculty rights questions

Sabrina Pinnell

Secretary & Communications Committee Chair

Karin Jeffery

Treasurer & Membership and Organizing Co-Chair

Expanded Executive Board List

Romey Sabalius

University Council of Chairs and Directors Representative

Kevin Moore

Assembly Delegates at-Large

Email:

Political Action & Legislative Committee Chair

Andrew Delunas

Assembly Delegates at-Large

Email:

Expanded Executive Board List – College Representative’s List

Lucy Headrick

College of Business – tenured track

Vacant

College of education – tenured track

Abe Wolcott

College of Science – tenured track

Vacant

College of engineering – tenured track

Vacant

College of health and human sciences – tenured track

Megan Gorman-DaRif

College of humanities and the arts – tenured track

Julia Curry

College of social sciences – tenured track

Vacant

College of coaches

Carli Lowe

College of library

Ginevra Scherini

College of business – lecturer

Janet Kitajima

College of education – lecturer

Vacant

College of Science – lecturer

Vacant

College of engineering – lecturer

Vacant

College of health and human sciences – lecturer

Vacant

College of humanities and the arts – lecturer

Jennifer Morrison

College of social sciences – lecturer

Vacant

College of counseling

Chapter Bylaws

Service Opportunities

CFA SJSU Chapter News

CFA SJSU Newsletter Archive

Students for Quality Education

A student organizing body fighting for educational rights in collaboration with CFA.

SQE Summary and Mission Statement + Contact

Students for Quality Education (SQE) was formed in 2007-2008 by students in the California State University system to build the student movement for educational rights in public higher education. We were assisted in our efforts by the California Faculty Association (CFA). (Read more)

Campaigns/focuses:

For the CSU to implement proactive and accessible decision making and funding transparency through policy led by students, faculty, and staff and with disclosure of all CSU investments
Get gubernatorial candidates to commit to focusing on the CFA Master Plan or Higher Education and to have it part of their public platform for the 2026 gubernatorial election
For the CSU to divest from occupation, the military industrial complex and policing and to reinvest in education and its own students/faculty/and staff

Instagram | Linktree | Email

Membership & Organizing

The Membership & Organizing (M&O) Committee focuses on outreach, building connections, and uniting members of the CFA SJSU Chapter. They lead communication and strategy efforts through College and Department Representatives to keep members informed and engaged.

M&O Committee Contacts

Outreach Flyer (Calling for more College + Department Reps)

Department + College Rep Job Description

Article IX. Campus Representatives (CFA Bylaws)

Section 1. College & General Unit Representatives

A. College and General Unit (Librarians, Coaches, Counselors) Representatives Represent the members of their college or unit within CFA Chapter. They are critical to communications in the CFA membership.They shall represent the interest of their units in the Executive Board as described in Article VI.

B. Duties: College and General Unit Representatives are members of the Membership and Organizing Committee and are expected to attend M&O meetings. They are expected to be the lead organizers in their unit by regularly interacting with and helping department representatives recruit and communicate with members. Librarians, counselors and coaches are expected to directly engage with their units regarding organizing, communication, and recruitment. College and General Unit Representatives are also voting members of the Executive Board.

C. Terms of Office: College and General Unit Representatives serve two years, being elected in odd-numbered years through at-large election by the membership.

D. Interim Appointments of College and General Unit Representatives: If an elected college or general unit representative must leave their position before their two-year term ends, there will be a process of appointment within the Executive Board, with an Executive Board member nominating an interim replacement, and a simple majority of the Board voting to confirm the interim officer.

Section 2. Department Representatives

A. Department Representatives: Represent Academic Departments within CFA Chapter. They are critical to communications in the CFA membership. They shall represent the interest of their departments in the Executive Board as described in Article VI.

B. Duties of Department Representatives: Department Representatives are the primary CFA contact persons within each Department. These representatives will be asked to help in the solicitation of viewpoints on critical issues from the faculty, to help in the distribution of information to the faculty, and to serve as the primary contact for faculty regarding contract negotiations and other union issues. Department representatives are encouraged to attend meetings called by their College Representatives.

C. Appointment of Department Representatives: Departments determine the selection or election of these representatives. In addition, the M&O Committee, in conjunction with departments, can also appoint department representatives if there is a vacancy. While departments are encouraged to have at least two representatives (preferably one tenure/tenure-track and one lecturer), departments may choose to have additional representatives.

Faculty Rights

Please review the grievance forms and contact your CFA chapter office with any questions you may have about filing a grievance and further assistance.

Faculty Rights Committee Contacts

Faculty Rights Resources

Faculty Rights Forms

CFA will help, but it is necessary that you choose the track, sign the grievance, file it on time and with the appropriate administrator, and provide the information necessary to understand and pursue a resolution of your problem.

These forms and resources will be helpful for anyone facing a grievance situation.

Campus CFA Chapter Faculty Rights Representatives
Lecturers’ Handbook
Coaches Handbook
Counselors Handbook
Grievance Flow Chart
Statutory Hearing Manual
CFA Representation Policy
EP&R 76-36: Faculty Workload Policies and Procedures This 1976 document is still relevant to faculty employment in the CSU today.
App for Reporting Police Misconduct
Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA)
Unfair Practice Charge Information
Employment Law fact sheets – click on “Employment”(these cover non-labor law topics like discrimination, family leave, unemployment benefits, etc.)
Discrimination: While the Collective Bargaining Agreement has an anti-discrimination provision in Article 16, faculty are protected by federal and state laws. For more information, go to California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Also see:
- Interim CSU Nondiscrimination Policy, the CSU’s “Systemwide Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation, Sexual Misconduct, Dating and Domestic Violence, and Stalking against Employees and Third Parties and Systemwide Procedure for Addressing Such Complaints by Employees and Third Parties.”

Join the Faculty Rights Committee!

Do you want to support Faculty fighting for rights, justice and equity? Are you interested in or skilled in reading, interpreting and applying policy? Then consider joining our Faculty Rights Committee!!!

How much work would this be?

We’re working to build out the committee in order to make sure that none of its members need to take on a heavy burden, and to refine our mechanisms to ensure that collectively we’re staying on top of faculty requests for help, sharing essential information, and refining our strategies together. I can’t convert that to a firm hours/week ceiling, but I’m hopeful that it will end up averaging a few hours per week at most, and less than that most weeks.

What kind of work would this be?

The work of the FRC includes activities like:

-Helping other faculty members file grievances when they feel that they have been harmed by a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) or of University policy

-Helping other faculty members to mount arguments for more equitable pay

-Helping other faculty members to frame rebuttals to RTP or other evaluations — or to craft their narratives for such evaluations in the context of the policies that are supposed to guide these evaluations

-Helping other faculty members (such as department chairs) understand the CBA and/or University policy to avoid accidentally creating grievable situations

Generally, this is work aimed at making our University function more fairly for the Unit 3 faculty it employs — whether or not those faculty are CFA members. A lot of it is one-on-one work, but if you enjoy giving workshops, there’s an opportunity to do some of that. Some of the work of the FRC is oriented around understanding the rules, but some of it is oriented around persuading the University to treat compliance with the CBA and policy as a floor, rather than a ceiling.

In addition to regular check-ins the rest of the campus FRC, our CFA Field Rep and the CFA statewide Faculty Rights folks will be a resource to help you learn how to do this important work.

I hope you’ll consider this invitation (and maybe even suggest a colleague or two you think might also be interested). Please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions whose answers might make a difference to your decision!

Best,

Janet D. Stemwedel – Chair, Faculty Rights Committee (facrightschair.sj@calfac.org)

Shamako Noble – CFA SJSU Field Rep (snoble@calfac.org)

Faculty Rights One Sheets

Campaigns and Issues

Listed Here

Anti Racism and Social Justice

CFA Anti Racism Resources

Council for Racial and Social Justice (CRSJ)

Lecturers’ Information

Lectures’ Resources

Political Work

Save Our Sonoma

Elections

Immigration

What Can International Students and Other Non-Citizens Do to Protect Themselves?
It is important to seek the advice of an immigration attorney, especially if workers believe that
they may be subject to “Catch and Revoke” because of previous protest activity that may be
visible in social media, news reports, etc. An attorney may advise that a habeas corpus petition
be prepared in advance of possible arrest and detention.
It is a good idea for workers to discuss the possibility of ICE arrest with trusted family, friends,
and union representatives in order to develop a plan for the best way that an attorney can be
contacted in the event of an ICE arrest.
It is crucial for an attorney to file a habeas corpus petition before workers are transported to
immigration detention facilities that are far away from the workers’ attorney and home. In
Mahmoud Khalil’s case, he was transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana where legal
representation is difficult if not impossible.

See Full SEIU Guide for International and Other Non-Citizens Guide Here

Politcal Education

Housing Committee

Legalize Middle-Class Housing!

Greater San José has the highest housing prices in North America. The average one-family home here costs $1.9 million (fall 2024), about 5 times the U.S. average. Prices are more than double those of regions comparable to San José including greater Seattle (average $802,300) and greater Boston ($758,700).

The gap in rents is less. Seattle and Boston, like San José, have serious rental housing shortages. But San José rents are, in fact, higher than those in any other big metro area except San Francisco – 18% higher than Seattle’s. 22% of San José renters pay more than half their income for housing.