.....Rebel Girl and Chunk know full well that the number of hits they're getting doesn't have to do with your interest in his bees or her journeys to the big city. They know that you're coming to the blog looking for information......Indeed, the halls were abuzz with stories and rumors today and even though Rebel Girl, as an English Major, has a deep appreciation for the story as art form, she has much less appreciation for such tales under these circumstances. In this case, it's best to stick to verifiable nonfiction. Just the facts, ma'am.
Here's what they know:As of today:
.....Reports are in about resignations from various committees (hiring committees, program review, etc). A couple committees, due to extenuating circumstances, have met but are seeking to pursue actions that would fall within the spirit or intent of the WTC (work-to-contract). Someone stopped Rebel Girl in the hall and claimed that "even accounting" had put a stop to their committee. Again, all faculty are recommended to forgo any voluntary work.
A bit of background via Lewis Long, Chief Negotiator and Past President, SOCCCD-FA:
—We're all in this together, folks. Let us know how (and what) you're doing......The Faculty Association, with the support of the two Academic Senates, decided last Thursday after the District canceled one meeting and (in a fairly nasty e-mail from their chief negotiator) refused to schedule another the following week to discuss salary and benefits proposals, that the Association should recommend to the faculty that it demonstrate its unity and dedication to the contract negotiation efforts by adhering strictly to the terms of its contract. It recommended that all voluntary activities beyond those required by the contract or because of stipends or reassignment be halted, until the District responded to our last salary proposal with a suitable offer.
.....Because of the absence of important personnel recently, the District has not been able to come up with a salary proposal. However, this is symptomatic of the District's poor preparation for negotiations throughout the process. The District has always been at least one step behind the faculty in its negotiation process, suggesting that it has not taken the negotiations seriously. We have now been in negotiations for almost a year, and the District has not until now tried to calculate how much various salary proposals might cost? The Association team can state to the dollar exactly how much its various proposals could cost in any one year, and in all three years, and can re-calculate almost instantly the cost of any proposal. The Association has even come up with a model which would allow the colleges to afford its proposed increases in compensation without violating the Board's Basic Aid funding philosophy.
.....The faculty negotiating team has become tired of the District's failure to take negotiations seriously, and is hoping that the faculty's decision to work to contract will not only demonstrate to the District, the chancellor and the Board how heavily it relies on the good-will and uncompensated hard work of the faculty, but that it's time to take a more active role in bringing these negotiations to a successful resolution, and no longer simply take a simply obstructive and negative role.
39 comments:
Even accounting?!?
My committee wanted to go forward, but, in the end, we decided that the action most consistent with the WTC was ceasing of all activity re the hiring process. It's a drag, but it's got to be!
I've stopped revising curriculum.
In the spirit of your WTC strategy, the custodians have stopped replenishing toilet paper in the restrooms.
Those b&g guys, always with the tp.
I resigned from my hiring committee with the same burden of regret that I would have felt had I not resigned. This is a terrible situation, and I hope that the district pulls itself together quickly and makes a fair and reasonable contract offer.
will the copy guy put paper and toner in the machines?
Somebody get on the psychology hiring committee at saddleback - they are continuing!
I heard that the Poli Sci Cmte. at IVC stopped for the time being.
I hope the District comes to their senses soon - why they're allowing Bob King, someone who never invested much into his job and is now leaving in a matter of days to mess things up so royally is beyond me...where's the leadership?
How can an adjunct faculty member (paying member, as well, of the association) support the effort??
Good question: how can adjunct help in the effort?
After all, they stand to benefit from the new contract - as the union has proposed it.
Four and a half weeks until the end of the semester -- what ARE they thinking?
What do they imagine will happen with Program Review, Curriculum, Tech Review, etc? if nothing gets done before summer starts?
One committee at IVC went ahead with interviews because a number of out-of-town candidates had already purchased nonrefundable airline tickets - but I understand that this committee will NOT forward recommendations until the WTC is over.
I think we should begin to plan for commencement. I like the idea previously mentioned of attending in our caps and gowns but sitting with the audience -
We do not march in.
We do not sit in our seats and applaud those on the dais.
But we do attend and support our students.
Or some variation on this - what do you think?
Where is the leadership indeed.
Look at how Lewis points out that a year into the negotiations process, the district still has not claculated the cost of various salary proposals.
How can this be?
What do they do all day to earn their bloated salaries? (Thanks to lewis again for the data about the high salaries for admin.)
The WTC has my full support.
Bob King's attempt to proceed with the committees despite lack of faculty experts has been halted, at least for now, by the Academic Senate's Wendy G. The hiring policy makes clear that King's plan is illegal.
You’ve got to be kidding, 8:20. Does faculty narcissism know no bounds? What a great idea: Inject union politics into graduation! You’ll sure support the students with grandstanding on their special day just to call attention to your own economic issues. I bet you really impress all the pro-union, Orange County parents in the audience, too. Just watch them run to the ballot box to punish the board and reward the self-absorbed clowns who disrupted their kids’ graduation.
What would WTC for adjunct mean?
Hmmm, it seesm to me that the majority of faculty seldom attend commencement - has anyone ever done the numbers?
I mean, it's already a slight embarrassment though the rhetoric offered by Anon 8:50 is really over the top!
"inject politics" - oh no, never - simply bow your heads and pray. Applaud Fuentes as he "thanks God for the taxpayers" among others.
Geez.
One expects that Anon 8:50 isn't one to even take the extra time to attend ceremonies otherwise he (and it is a he, ain't it?) would have noticed that politics are on parade.
And stop it already with the fear of the ballot box thing - the board (and the rest of us) is self-deluded if they imagine that the likes of them are rewarded or punished via the ballot box. That low on the ballot, few know or care who they are voting for - they just check incumbent.
Come on, we all know it's true.
Anon 9:03 has a point.
At least at IVC is seems that many faculty regularly don't show at all these last few years. Don't know about Saddleback.
I remember one year when the faculty speaker (a certain speech teacher of note) actually began his commencement speech by telling the graduates and his family that he never attends commencement and usually goes fishing instead. He was only here, he said, because he'd been chosen to speak to them. Some rhetorical flourish, that.
In my view, most of the pople who attend the ceremony at IVC are the folks most involved at the college in terms of particpation on committes and task forces, in the union and senate - the very people who are honoring the WTC.
Perhaps we should strategize about how to participate but make our point as well.
Yeah, and Anon *;58,
forget about the ballot box threat - that's a farce and if you're worried about the injection of politics, start with the trustees, please.
If this goes on until the end of May, I expect many faculty will be even more concerned than they are now.
Ignore the troll, people!
Don't feed him.
Who is scheduled to step into Bob King's golden slippers?
Won't we have to deal with that person whoever he or she is?
Soudns like the district is acting like a student who attends class for weeks without doing any work...in this case it went on for a year!
Then isn't this about the time when they start asking "But gee, isn't there anything I can do for extra credit?"
But I also like your bee stories, Chunk, and the adventures of your kitty with peevitude.
Can it be faculty think too highly of themselves?
Can it be that you're an idiot?
Turning an turning in the widening gyre
The faculty cannot hear the administration
Things fall apart;the centre cannot hold
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the district
-apologies to Yeats
Chunk, as we stand in solidarity with the WTC we also need some Sunny Girl to lighten the mood. It has been a couple of weeks since we have seen her brilliant green eyes and peevitude. Bring us the Grande Dame of the Dissent....we all need Sunny therapy to lower our blood pressure about now.
As of today (Wednesday), the WTC is going well, with numerous committees essentially on pause or shut down. There is a degree of confusion about what is and what is not part of the faculty contract, but these things are being worked out.
I'm told that "administration" is more or less aware of the consequences of the WTC and the disaster that will unfold should faculty continue to work only to the contract.
It remains to be seen how trustees will react to all of this. Perhaps it will take some effort to get their minds around the ramifications of the contract dispute for ACCREDITATION. Here they are, refusing to provide COLA, pursuing a stupid massive hiring initiative instead--expecting faculty to do all of this work, despite its being extra-contractual.
Do these people have any clue at all?
And our salaries, folks, aren't so great. Not when a comparison is done even with local districts.
Sunny pics coming soon. --CW
Damn, people! What a depressing herd you are. You should change the name of this blog to "Just another doom and gloom day in paradise." Stop the handwringing dispair and count your blessings. Look around - all you see are fat assed faculty driving new cars and working less hours than most people in these great United States. Now get up off of your fat asses, get yourself a Café Latté and shut the fuck up! Oh yea, and smile a little for a change!
"Dispair"? Did that fellow really spell the word "despair" "dispair"?
Idjit.
Thanks, Chunk, you pinhead!
Damn you 8:59 PM! What an ignorant idiot! Go get an education and learn how to write first.
Our college mis-speled faculty "faulty" in an ad in the local fish wrap.
Other suggestions about graduation. Faculty should convene as they usually do to cheer the graduates as they exit the building. Except that this year, faculty should line up without caps and gowns and should then sit in the audience with parents and friends. Their students will recognize them, and the empty chairs will be statement enough.
Isn't that what most faculty do anyway?
I'm joking of course but out of IVC's 120 full-time faculty, usually only 30 show up -- so---
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