Greetings, colleagues.

It is just past the eighth week of classes, which means we are half of the way through Fall 2022.  At this midpoint of the semester I want to provide some updates about the current priorities of your faculty leadership.

Supervision Pay Model

I am writing first to say thank you for your patience and grace as we continue to address the implementation challenges with the supervision pay model contained in the 2022-2023 Faculty Agreement.  Faculty Association leadership is aware that the current model presents challenges on multiple fronts, including but not limited to issues: for counseling faculty now supervising FYE, for small divisions or departments at large colleges, for chairs who teach in programs with few residential faculty and who have challenges in hiring adjuncts, for programs that have specific accreditation or credentialing requirements, and for colleges that have historically calculated stipends outside of load limits.

Please be assured that addressing these challenges is a top priority for the new Residential Faculty Administration Collaboration Team (Residential FACT) and the 25 Load Task Force, a subcommittee of the Residential FACT. We have heard the concerns shared by faculty and we are working to address them through the policy development structures which are part of the new Faculty Agreement.  The goals are to complete the work of the 25 Load Task Force in early November and to share recommendations with Residential FACT, who will then share with faculty and administration stakeholders.

Faculty Minimum Hiring Qualifications (FMHQ)

Faculty leadership is working with college leadership and the offices of the Provost, Human Resources, and the CCTA to address current issues surrounding minimum qualifications for faculty in academic and occupational Faculty Service Areas.  We support the process to document FMHQ that meet accreditation requirements.  We are committed to advocating for resources to support faculty who will need to meet the established qualifications.  You can expect regular communication about the processes and our efforts in the coming months.

Additional Priorities

In addition to the priority work surrounding supervision pay and FMHQ, the Faculty Association is providing leadership and critical perspective in the areas of Strategic Planning, the Advisory Budget Council, and the Compensation Advisory Council.  We are co-chairing and well represented on the Executive and Vice Chancellor Provost search.  We continue to meet with District Leadership through scheduled (monthly or twice monthly with District HR, District IT, District Legal, College Presidents, the Provost, and the Chancellor) and impromptu (as situations arise) meetings to share faculty concerns and questions brought to FEC from college Faculty Senates.  We are also sharing the concerns and expertise of faculty with respect to enrollment challenges, technology and system difficulties, and the barriers that students face in retention and completion.

Please continue to share information with your local senate leadership that will help us to represent you.  All faculty obviously cannot serve on every District committee, so the primary way to engage issues is through participation and engagement with your local college Faculty Senate.  We are grateful to college faculty leaders for their work on FEC to represent their faculty colleagues.

Thank you for all that you do for students and our communities.  And thank you for your continued support of the Faculty Association.  We are stronger when we all stand together.

Camille

Colleagues,

Welcome Back!! I hope you had a wonderful summer and are ready and excited to begin Fall 2022.

This summer has given me, as Faculty Association President, optimism for the coming year.  In July, I reached out to the Provost’s office when we discovered that the Faculty Agreement presented to the Governing Board for approval was not the version ratified by the Faculty Executive Council (FEC). The Provost’s office immediately scheduled a meeting with faculty and administration leadership, and within a week we had a plan to make things right and respect the ratification process, restoring the FA ratified by faculty.  The plan was based on consensus of those assembled and in the confidence that our Governing Board would support this necessary work.

This approach would have been unthinkable a little over four years ago when the Governing Board (under Laurin Hendrix) abolished Meet and Confer, tore up the RFP, and gutted shared governance in Maricopa.

It’s tempting to call MCCCD’s return to shared governance and respect for faculty “miraculous,” but there were no miracles involved in creating the situation we have today.  The current shared governance in MCCCD is the result of commitment, vision, and hard work on the part of our Faculty Association and FEC, and the support and engagement of the faculty in Maricopa.  When the worst we’d experienced happened, we didn’t buckle.  We rallied and worked together to confront the attacks and the attackers, to gather the backing of local and national organizations, and to support Governing Board candidates and MCCCD administrators who value education, teaching and learning, and shared governance. It took effort – late nights, long meetings, tireless canvassing, and lots of resources – but we prevailed.

Today we enjoy the fruits of that effort.  Some examples of our work in shared governance  include:

• Faculty once again are participants on the Chancellor’s Executive Council, and FEC is a Senior Council providing leadership in the system.
• Faculty are rightfully co- and tri-chairing important hiring committees, including those for college presidents, the Office of General Counsel, and the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.
• A faculty member is a tri-chair on the Advisory Budget Committee, ensuring transparency and collaborative leadership with respect to the budget in Maricopa.
• The Committee on Academic Freedom, the Center for Excellence and Integrated Democracy, and the new FACT team have been structured based upon faculty input and leadership.
• The Governing Board has for each of the last two years approved the recommended salary increases outlined in the Employee Compensation Philosophy, and faculty continue to be participants in the work toward sustainable and predictable salary progression in Maricopa.

So what is the next step if we are no longer fighting for shared governance?  What we have is certainly not finished or perfect, but what is our best path forward now that we are working to develop, nurture, and maintain shared governance?

The short answer is that we are stronger when we all stand together. The strength of the Faculty Association comes from its members.  When more of us stand together by joining the Faculty Association, it gives greater weight to our participation in shared governance.  Higher membership also gives us the resources we need to advocate effectively in MCCCD and the legislature, ensuring continued benefits for faculty and our organization.

The majority of Maricopa’s faculty are already members of the Faculty Association. Thank you sincerely for your support!  If you have not had the opportunity to join, please consider standing with your colleagues.  To join the Faculty Association, please go to our Membership Page and select your preferred dues payment schedule and method.  See Membership Benefits to learn more about the value of joining the Faculty Association.

Thank you all for the work that you do for students and our communities.  I wish you all a fulfilling and enjoyable academic year.

In solidarity,

Camille