Welcome back to Spring 2020. The winter intersession was very busy for the FA. Most of our time was taken up by preparing and engaging in negotiations with the District. Though it has been a little tedious and slow going, we have made progress on several issues. You can read more about those in the negotiations section of this news letter.

The most important aspect of the negotiation is currently under way as the District and the FA have exchanged salary proposals. We are hopeful in obtaining a fair and comprehensive contract that will benefit Full-time and Adjunct members as we move forward.

Much of the time has been spent discussing working conditions such as reassignment, evaluations, Flex and DE among other topics. You find out a lot more by attending our general meetings and our Flex Day presentation.

Some of the most important work we do as Faculty Association is protecting and representing our members when the District violates the contact. This can be anything from a straightforward grievance to disciplinary matters. Currently we are facing an unprecedented number of tenure issues with our some of our more vulnerable members. The district seems intent on denying tenure to some our newer faculty. This is obviously very disturbing for the FA but it should be a concern to all faculty on campus.

We as an association remain committed to representing our members at all levels to the best of our abilities. We have very dedicated and knowledgeable grievance officers who are dealing with issues on a daily basis. As well we have an excellent legal team, who specializes in College labor matters to assist us at any time we need. We as an association, can guarantee that we will use our time and resources to fully represent and defend all faculty members.

To close, I would like to remind all of you that we are in this together. We could not do our work without our members support. If you are reading this we would assume that are concerned about the labor issues on our campus. If you are a member, we would like to thank you for your support. If you are not a member, we encourage you to become one. It is a simple and powerful stand that a faculty member can make to ensure there is a fair equitable representation on campus. Remember, there is power in numbers.

Mark Whitworth, FA President