Faculty News Notes September 1, 2014

September 1, 2014

Welcome:

            As the new CCCFE President, I want to welcome all of you to the 2014-15 academic year. We look forward to a productive year with participation from all the faculty members. I especially want to welcome the new faculty to the campus, and we will hold a new faculty union orientation within this month.

Negotiations Update:

            We are waiting for a response from the district as to when the district’s team is available to meet.  We sent the District our available times last week. If anyone is interested in serving on the negotiations team, please contact me Jose Villalobos at ext. 2424.  The meeting times we sent to the district were Tuesdays and Thursdays after 1 p.m. and Fridays as a last resort.

            The union has reached a tentative agreement on the Division Chair issue;  according to that tentative agreement, there will be 3 division chairs, one chair person for each Division Dean;  the Division Chair will have 40% reassigned time, but no additional compensation except for the summer months. The District had been, for many months, adamant that there be no Division Chairs.
            We continue to work on the evaluation article;  the district wants to have comprehensive evaluations every three years and eliminate entirely the basic evaluations for all faculty;  the Federation has made numerous counter proposals that have gone no where, suggesting that we are negotiating with ourselves, since the District has made no effort to come to a mutually acceptable position.

            The District has made no response to our compensation proposal.

Measure C:

            The District is eager to obtain a bond for $100 million for future construction and renovation projects. Last week we were sent a “fast facts” sheet regarding the value that this bond has for the institution. The Executive Board met with Dr. Curry to notify him that according to what faculty leadership is hearing, members of the community are concerned that there will be a repeat of the previous bond experience. The faculty leadership made it clear that the faculty members were concerned with “bread and butter” issues, such as salaries and benefits.  The District seeks faculty support for this measure;  however, the generalizations in the “fast facts” sheet sent out following this meeting suggest that more concrete information is needed before the faculty makes any decision regarding the bond.  We will address this matter at the CCCFE meeting on Thursday, September 11 at 1 p.m. in the E Row. This is during the College Hour.

Tentative Meeting Dates:

        CCCFE Meetings for all faculty will be once a month and as additionally needed.  The first of these will be September 11.  All meetings will be held during the College Hour, from 1 – 2 p.m. in the E row, on the second Thursday of each month. 

            Executive Board meetings will be held twice a month, and additionally as needed;  the first of these will be on Tuesday, September 9 at 1 p.m. in the union office, (M-1).  These meetings will be held on the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesdays.

            Negotiating team meetings will be called as needed, depending on the District’s establishing a negotiations meeting schedule.

Director of EOP&S Retires:

            Valarie O’Guynn, who has been at Compton for more than 35 years, retired Friday after a distinguished career, beginning when she was a student worker, progressing to a Classified employee, a faculty member in the Counseling department, the Director of EOP&S,  and interim Dean of Student Services. In whatever position she held, she learned it thoroughly and always acted with integrity.  She will be sorely missed.