The main event of the evening was the approval of the budget, and the big news was the bigger piece of the budget pie that will gobbled up by management in the coming year. But more about that later.

Pay Equity Advocated

Before the trustees recessed to closed session to meet with the district’s chief negotiator, Andrea Adlman (VC AFT FT VP) and Sumita Lall (AFT Membership Chair) assisted me in demonstrating the inequities in pay for faculty in our district. At a minimum, a FT teacher gets paid 18% more than a PT, overload, or summer school teacher with exactly the same qualifications and experience for exactly the same work. At worst the difference is 56%. (It should be noted that the 25% portion of FT salaries that compensates for office hours and professional responsibilities has been taken out of these calculations and that the cost of benefits has not been added in.) I concluded by saying that a person who believes in equal pay for equal work, who favors social justice, or who supports labor cannot ignore this situation. I told the trustees that we didn’t expect these inequities to be remedied in a single negotiation cycle, but I urged them to take the proverbial first step in a journey of a thousand miles. The amount our union is requesting to make progress toward pro-rata pay is just a .3% crumb of the total district budget to be shared among 1000 PT teachers and the 300 FT faculty who work overload and summer school.

When the board returned from closed session, there was a brief reception to recognize retiring District Police Chief James Botting, who was praised by trustees for raising the level of professionalism of his department during his five-and-a-half-year tenure.

Community College Initiative Endorsed

When the board reconvened, it took up the issue of endorsing the Community College Initiative, which will appear on the state ballot in February. The initiative, which has strong support from CFT and FACCC, would increase and stabilize community college funding and lower student fees to $15 per unit with future increases not to exceed rises in the cost of living. Trustee Bob Huber wondered why the board vote couldn’t be delayed a month so that he could get more information; he questioned why fewer than twenty elected officials had signed on as supporters and why there needed to be a constitutional amendment. Chancellor Meznek responded that it was important to pass the endorsement as soon as possible so that statewide organizations could generate support among voters. Trustee Cheryl Heitmann indicated her support and remarked that the initiative has been discussed in the Legislative Committee on which she serves. The motion to endorse passed with four “ayes” and Huber’s abstention.

College Presidents’ Reports

Next the board heard reports from the college presidents. Dr. Robin Calote (VC) reported large enrollment increases, which she attributed to outreach efforts and the attraction of new buildings on campus. The VC Promise, which she initiated, has had 1200 participants, and many of them are taking advantage of financial aid to continue their studies. Colleges in California and other states are inquiring about this successful program for attracting and retaining students. Calote also announced a new Arts and Lectures Series at VC and a large endowment established by Helen Yunker to support music programs at the college.

Dr. Eva Conrad (MC) spoke about 40^th anniversary events at her college, reported on the nearly-complete renovation of the former library (now Fountain Hall), and commented on the upcoming Year of the Environment at MC.

Dr. Richard Duran (OC) told trustees about the enrollment surge at his college, progress on its accreditation report, and plans for training opportunities for faculty and staff. He also talked about his President’s Forum, which will foster connections and communication between the college and community leaders.

Budget Endorsed for ’07-‘08

Following the presidents’ reports, Vice Chancellor of Business Services Sue Johnson reviewed her executive summary of the ‘07-’08 adoption budget. While faculty salaries as a portion of the budget pie grew almost imperceptibly (from 42.2% to 42.4%), the part that goes to management salaries jumped from 3.8% to 4.5%. In other words the piece of the budget pie going to managers grew by more than 18%! Employee benefits actually decreased as a portion of the budget. Trustee Art Hernandez asked for and got reassurance from Johnson that the GASB requirements were being met. She said the district is in compliance with the accounting standards and is making steady progress towards putting away funds to meet the projected liability for current and future retirees’ benefits. The budget was adopted on a unanimous vote.

VC East Campus Survey

After the vote Calote presented the results of a survey to assess the educational preferences of residents of the Santa Clara River Valley (Santa Paula, Fillmore, and Piru). Those polled showed a preference for occupational over degree programs and for Santa Paula as the best location for an off-campus center. Huber cited the Newhall Ranch project as evidence that the greatest population growth in that area would most likely occur to the east of Piru and encouraged the district to plan for the long term in deciding where to locate any new off-campus facility. Hernandez, while he didn’t disagree with Huber’s projections, said that it is important to address the immediate needs of the community.

Participatory Governance Discussed

Eva Conrad took the podium next to report on efforts to develop a participatory governance handbook. A team comprised of the college presidents, the Academic Senate presidents, the chancellor, and the director of administrative relations worked through the summer and had resolved all but a couple of issues. These sticking points have to do with relations between college and district groups and the charter and charge of the District Consultation Council. Underlying these sticking points is the very contentious issue of faculty and campus control over curriculum. Huber asked Conrad about the projected timeline for completion and noted the importance of the governance handbook to the accreditation reports.

After a break OC Academic Senate President Scott Corbett said that faculty at his college are happy because of positive enrollment trends but anxious about preserving their rights, an obvious reference to the governance issue. Kathryn Schoenrock, VC Senate president, explained that any governance policy must pass through her campus governance council and that there was great concern over any district group filtering what goes from the college to the board. She was encouraged by the fact that the participatory governance process seemed to be working in the development of the participatory governance handbook itself. Margaret Tennant, MC Senate president, said that her campus community was not too upset about parking shortages there as they signified an increase in enrollment. She announced that efforts were underway to create a timeline for program review and to develop a process for evaluating student services and thanked the board for getting an early start on finding a replacement for the retiring president.

Several trustees commented on the difficulties with the participatory governance handbook. Huber said he had read a total of nine previous accreditation reports, and all of them had cited the need for the handbook. Hernandez responded specifically to Shoenrock’s concern about having a district group intervening in communications from college faculty to the board. He pointed out that senate presidents could always speak directly to the trustees but said that there needed to be a process. He said that trustees would always listen to faculty and others but that they would always turn to staff for their expertise.

$102K Management Position, $200K Legal Fees, $56K Monument Sign, $100K Consultants Approved

When the board got to the consent agenda, Heitmann had pulled for a separate vote the establishment of a new management position: Director of Human Resources. She said she had concerns about the position and would vote against it. Hernandez said that he, too, had concerns, but he, along with the other three trustees, voted to approve the position to the tune of $102,000 in salary and $36,000 in benefits.

For the third month in a row, the board unanimously approved more money for legal expenses, this time up to $200,000 and without any discussion or hand-wringing. Here are the hourly rates for legal services:

lead attorney and partners: $250

associates: $150-$225

paralegals/clerks: $125

The trustees also voted to award contracts:

$55,842 for a “monument sign” at VC.

$100,000 to search for and hire a new MC president.

The nursing departments at MC and VC and the math department at MC were unable to fill full-time positions this fall. How much will the board spend to recruit highly-qualified applicants for those positions? Maybe that sign at VC will attract them or maybe that new HR director or those lawyers know someone. Competitive salaries might help.

I’m looking for a sign that this board has its priorities straight.

In unity,
John Wagner
President, AFT Local 1828

AFT Executive Council Meetings

Friday, December 7

2 p.m., MC - CCCR

Friday, January 4

2 p.m., AFT Office

Friday, February 8

2 p.m., VC (Room TBA)

VCCCD Board Meetings

Tuesday, December 11

7 p.m., District Office

Tuesday, January 8

7 p.m., TBA

Tuesday, February 12

7 p.m., TBA

SOLIDARITY 2007

FACULTY STAND TOGETHER

TO DEMAND MORE FROM DISTRICT

200+ Attend Board Meeting to Demand Fair Contract for Faculty

    Over two hundred packed the gallery at August 28 Board of Trustees meeting and the overflow filled the lobby and pressed their faces against the windows from outside—not just faculty members, but students, alumni, businesspeople from the community, and members of SEIU, the classified staff union, who were there to fight for their own contract as well as show solidarity with faculty.

AFT Budget Analyst Janice Feingold reviewed for the board how faculty’s buying power has declined from 2001 to 2007. While the cost of living here went up 18.56% and the district’s COLA rose 15.32%, our salaries improved by just 8.1%.

Negotiating team member Dan Kumpf followed with the revelation that the district has decided to “roll over” up to 900 FTES from Summer ’07 to the ’07-’08 academic year. He asked the trustees why they would deliberately pass up collecting an additional $3.5-$3.9 million in funding—money that the district can never recover. He speculated that management is delaying the enrollment reporting in order to withhold the funding from the campuses and to keep the money off the bargaining table for faculty and clas