The Cal State University and the California Faculty Association (CFA) continue to disagree on proposals to extend collective bargaining agreements leaving an uncertain future for faculty, students and the 23-campus system.
As state funding cuts continue to be a focal point, the CFA and the CSU have two very different visions for the future of faculty members and the type of education students receive, said Teri Yamada, CSULB CFA president.
“Our vision is to maintain quality education for students by having professional working conditions for faculty,” Yamada said.
The CSU statewide administration and Reed have proposed dangerous take-backs citing “operational needs.”
According to Yamada these take-backs have the potential to drastically change the CSU system.
“It’s about getting as many faculty as you can as cheaply as possible,” Yamada said. “There is an overwhelming work load being placed on teachers and no sense of the future.”
The CSU’s contract proposal decreases faculty pay and benefits, as well as reduces the amount of tenured and tenure-track faculty jobs.
According to the CFA, 863 tenure line positions have been lost in the CSU system since 2009.
“Faculty is at a breaking point. We’ve already lost 2,500 faculty positions in the entire CSU system,” Yamada said. “There is very little agreement between the CFA and the CSU on the contract. I am deeply disappointed in how negotiations have gone.”
Citing a steep decline in state support, the CSU said it has cut 8.8 percent of its workforce or 4,145 faculty and staff since 2008.
The CSU budget was reduced by $650 million or roughly 25 percent before the start of this semester and the 23-campus system may face another round of cuts if state budget predictions don’t come to realization.
The university also said the Chancellor’s Office has reduced its personnel by 11 percent.
If a compromise is not met, then the CSU and CFA can ask for an impasse to be declared, Yamada said. If an impasse is granted, then a neutral third party, or a fact finder, will be appointed to assist in the progress of negotiations.
Once this has occurred, the CSU will release its last best offer, a final contract proposal with revised terms and conditions.
Faculty then has the right to either accept the contract or take other actions, such as voting to strike.
“With the direction negotiations are going so far, [a strike] is possible,” Yamada said.
These circumstances negatively affect students who have already been impacted by budget cuts as tuition fees continue to rise.
“Students are paying more for bigger classes,” Yamada said. “I hear over and over that we want to protect quality education, but how can we do that when class sizes are growing?”
With the CSU’s graduation initiative to increase overall graduation rates in place, faculty also feel a burden to make sure students no longer linger to finish their college education, according to Yamada.
“The kind of opportunity to explore multiple pathways is suddenly gone as it appears to us,” Yamada said. “It feels like a factory production line to push students through as fast as possible.”
Although Yamada understands the CSU’s plans to increase graduation rates, she does not think this is the time to be pressuring students, considering the current low job market and poor economy.
“Students should be able to have the opportunity to explore their education and double or triple major so they are better prepared for job opportunities,” Yamada said.
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