The California State University Board of Trustees held the first of two open meetings at the Chancellor’s office Tuesday and unanimously ratified a collective bargaining agreement with university police and discussed CSU policy and programs.
At the meeting, Jeff Solomon, an associate of the State University Police Association pushed for support of university police on campuses.
“I don’t want the university police to be only thought of during negotiations or even worse because of a critical incident,” Solomon said. “We are no longer the necessary evil that the university system has to have, but we work with the students and faculty and campus communities.”
The board specified SUPA as the labor union exclusively responsible for representing CSU police forces. According to the bargaining agreement, the CSU system will supply its officers with a wide range of equipment, from the standard badge, handgun and handcuffs to AR-15 rifles and riot gear. The agreement also covers standard terms of employment including health coverage and vacation time.
The president of the California State University Employees Union, Pat Gantt, voiced concern about the pay rate of employees during the CSU Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday.
“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but we have 1250 employees throughout the system we represent that make less than $15 an hour,” Gantt said.
Other representatives of university faculty voiced distrust for the CSU born from the university’s complacency when faced with establishing salary equity for its employees and the apparent inability to quickly address issue of socially toxic workplace environments.
Kevin Weir, the California Faculty Association chairman, said that only one of 23 CSU campuses has established a “concrete plan for equity.”
The BOT reported that 72 CSU programs – majors, certificates, and degrees – are being discontinued, and 20 new programs are being established. The board was unable to answer whether this reduction in available programs would result in financial savings for the university.
According to the Board of Trustees, the CSU Early Start program ensured that 59 percent of all CSU freshmen began their fall 2014 semesters “college-ready” in both math and English, a 5 percent increase from high school graduation. Early Start offers incoming CSU students the opportunity to take preparatory courses in math and English at reduced tuition rates during the summer leading up to their initial fall term.
Ephraim Smith and Ken O’Donald said that the initiative’s efforts would begin with K-12 students, and that its ultimate goals would include ensuring that all eligible Californian students have the chance to get a degree in the CSU system and that they have “high-quality education experiences while they’re here.”
The CSU BOT has yet to specify any concrete means of reaching those goals. The board held a second meeting that began at 8 a.m. on Wednesday that focused on university finances.