Faculty Association Midterm Update

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