Statement on CSU Presidential Pay

The CSU has released a statement which clarifies their new policy on presidential compensation.

Here is the complete text of that message:

New Policy Set Forth for Presidential Compensation

The California State University Board of Trustees this week adopted a new policy that caps compensation for newly-hired presidents to no more than 10 percent above the outgoing president’s base pay.

The new policy was recommended by the board's Special Committee on Presidential Selection and Compensation that has been reviewing the system's selection process and executive compensation structure since last summer.

The new policy also includes a list of five tiers of institutions that compare with CSU campuses on location, enrollment, budget, six-year graduation rates and research funding. The comparison list will be used as a reference for presidential compensation along with an individual candidates' reputation for national policy leadership, length and depth of executive experience, and consistent with other uses of resources within the annual budget.

In the past, presidential compensation was determined with reference to the compensation of presidents at 20 institutions throughout the country identified by the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) as appropriate comparators. The CPEC comparator list included public and private institutions such as USC, Tufts and Rutgers and presidents with salaries as high as $2 million which created a salary market "gap" of more than 40 percent for the CSU’s presidents. That gap has been reduced with the new comparators.

The new policy language states "...when a presidential vacancy occurs, the initial base salary, paid with public funds to the successor president, shall not exceed 10 percent of the previous incumbent's pay."

"The new compensation limits, and the more relevant tiered list of comparator institutions, will give stakeholders a good benchmark of where presidential compensation will be set as we move forward," said CSU Board Chair Herbert Carter. "Our continued goal is to recruit and compete for the best leadership possible, but also within articulated budget guidelines."

The CSU is in the process of presidential searches at Northridge, San Bernardino, San Francisco and the Maritime Academy. The adopted compensation policy will be implemented as the board makes presidential selections and determines the salary levels of newly hired presidents.

Limits Placed on Presidential Salaries

Several months ago, the Board of Trustees voted to pay the new president at San Diego State University $100,000 more per year than the outgoing president was receiving. Less than 20 minutes later, that same board voted to raise student fees by 12%.

Needless to say, this sparked a rather large public outcry, and at least two bills were introduced by state legislators to restrict the salaries CSU could pay their top executives. Not surprisingly, the CSU opposed those bills, claiming it would interfere with their abilities to hire "the best and the brightest" candidates for these jobs.

At the Board of Trustees meeting held on January 25th, the following resolution was passed, somewhat unexpectedly and without comment by the Trustees. It limits new presidential salaries to a maximum increase of 10% over what the previous president received at each campus.

RESOLVED, by the Board of Trustees of the California State University, that the following is the compensation policy of the California State University:

1. The goal of the CSU continues to be to attract, motivate, and retain the most highly qualified individuals to serve as faculty, staff, administrators, and executives, whose knowledge, experience, and contributions can advance the university’s mission.

2. It is the continued intent of the Board of Trustees to compensate all CSU employees in a manner that is fair, reasonable, competitive, and fiscally prudent, in respect to the system budget and state funding.

3. To that end, the CSU will continue to evaluate competitive and fair compensation for all CSU employees based on periodic market comparison surveys.

4. In addition, the CSU will maintain and update annually a tiered list of CSU comparison institutions for Presidential compensation. The list will take into account location, enrollment, budget, percentage of students receiving Pell Grants, six year graduation rates, research funding, and such other subjects as from time to time be deemed appropriate. Presidential compensation will be guided with reference to the mean of the appropriate tier of comparison institutions, together with an individual candidate's reputation for national policy leadership and length and depth of executive experience.

5. Notwithstanding the presidential compensation criteria enumerated in item 4 (above) and until the Board of Trustees of the California State University determines otherwise, when a presidential vacancy occurs, the initial base salary, paid with public funds, to the successor president, shall not exceed ten percent of the previous incumbent’s pay.

Tentative Agreement Reached!

After more than a year of full-contract bargaining between the CSU and CSUEU, both sides have reached a tentative agreement.

You can read all the details on the CSUEU's Tentative Agreement website.

It is expected that the Board of Trustees will vote to ratify the agreement tomorrow, as they are required to do.

If they accept the TA, then the bargaining team will send members to each campus to explain the changes in the proposed agreement, as well as answer member's questions.

Once that process concludes, each member will be sent a contract ratification ballot by mail. Voting is by bargaining unit, and a "Yes" vote means to accept the terms of the Tentative Agreement, while a "No" vote would require the team to return to the bargaining table.

The contract, while not perfect, offers some important gains for us, and limits parking fee increases to a maximum of $3 per year, and only in a year where we receive a general salary increase (GSI).

The Bargaining Team recommends ratification of the agreement.

Contract News Coming Soon

The CSUEU and CSU bargaining teams met yesterday and today in Long Beach, continuing bargaining over the full contract. CSUEU will be publishing an update regarding this week's bargaining session.

Links

• CSUEU
• CSUEU Bargaining News

Dire Predictions from CSU if Tax Hike Fails

The following was sent out today from the Chancellor's Office. It illustrates just how serious a funding gap the CSU is facing, along with the threat even larger cuts if the proposed sales tax increase fails to pass during the fall election.

CSU to Receive Additional $200 Million Cut if November Tax Measures Don't Pass

The California State University received no new funding in Governor Brown's 2012-13 proposed budget, thus making permanent the recent $750 million cuts to the system. Without any new funding, the system is at its lowest state funding level in 15 years, while the CSU serves 90,000 more students today.

Governor Brown's budget plan relies on the passage of a tax measure that would raise income taxes on high-income earners and increase the state sales tax. If voters do not approve the measure, a series of trigger cuts will go into effect, including an additional $200 million cut to the CSU, making the system's two-year cut $950 million—a staggering 35 percent reduction. This additional $200 million cut is equal to denying admission to 27,000 students, and it exceeds the current combined state funding of four of the smallest CSU campuses. For Cal State San Bernardino, the trigger cut would result in an additional reduction of nearly $8 million.

In two of the last four fiscal years, state support to the CSU has been reduced dramatically, forcing the CSU Board of Trustees to approve sizable tuition fee increases, reduce enrollment, implement furloughs and eliminate student programs and services—to name a few. Even with tuition fee increases, revenue from fee hikes has not kept pace with state funding cuts. For the current academic year, tuition increases raised approximately $300 million, but the CSU sustained a $750 million cut.

The CSU will continue to work with the Governor and legislature to avoid further cuts; however, if the additional $200 million trigger cuts are sustained, extremely difficult tradeoffs will be considered, including possible additional cuts to academic programs and student services, or further increases in tuition.

The CSU believes California must make public higher education a priority again; otherwise, the long-term harm is that California will find itself with far fewer college graduates to step into higher-paying, knowledge-based jobs that are necessary to the state's economic recovery.

Social Security Payroll Tax Changes

For those CSU staff concerned about the social security rate change in your December, 2011 paycheck, the state has put out a document which may help explain things:

Social Security Paycheck Change

Also, the cost of several health care providers has increased in price. Some providers, like Kaiser, have almost doubled their monthly rates, starting this month. Also, check your co-pay amounts, as these may also have changed. Your campus employee benefits office can give you specific information regarding your health and benefits plan.

The rates these plans charge for coverage is established by negotiations between CalPERS and the various state health service providers, not by CSUEU.

For information on CalPERS, including checking your retirement and benefit information on-line, visit their website located at WWW.CalPERS.CA.GOV.

Lt. Gov. Newsom Calls for Open Trustees Meeting

Lt. Governor Newsom issued this statement after yesterday's CSU Board of Trustees meeting:

"The CSU Board today adopted yet another student fee increase, continuing an alarming trend of passing more of the cost of public higher education onto hard working students and their families.

"Even more alarming was the manner in which the decision was made. With many members of the Board not even attending the meeting today, and after protesters interrupted the proceedings, the CSU leadership chose to continue behind closed doors with no members of the public or media in attendance.

"Whatever the rationale, this issue is simply too important to not allow for a full and thorough public discussion or to contribute to the perception that this process is anything less than open and transparent. By doing so, I fear we are unintentionally inflaming the widespread confusion and acrimony that continues to build around the issue.

"Because so many members of the Board were unable to attend, and the actions were taken out of the sight of the public and media, I call on the CSU to place this issue back on the agenda for the scheduled special meeting of the Board on December 5.

"At that time the full Board can hold an open debate, with full public comment and members of the media present, so that the people of California can be confident that these decisions are being made in the open and decision-makers — myself included — are being held to account."

Links

• Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom Calls for Open Meeting on CSU Budget and Fee Increase (Office of the Lieutenant Governor)
• Related articles from Unit 9 News:
  • CSU's Own 9-9-9 Plan, More News Links
  • Photos from Trustees Meeting Protest
  • Trustees Flee Public Eye to Raise Tuition
  • Board of Trustees Meeting: Budget, Student Fee Increases

CSU's Own 9-9-9 Plan, More News Links

The CSU has its own 9-9-9 plan: a 9% student fee increase, the 9th in 9 years.

Yesterday the CSU Board of Trustees recessed then reconvened in secret, excluding the public and the press. During that closed meeting, Trustees voted to raise student tuition fees by 9.1%. Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, a member of the Board, argued against the cuts:

"In today's economy, the timing of the proposed 9 percent tuition increase could not come at a more difficult time," said Newsom, who called cuts to higher education a "catastrophic trend."

The six Trustees who voted against the tuition hike were Bernadette Cheyne, Steven Glazer, Henry Mendoza, Gavin Newsom, Tom Torlakson (State Superintendent of Public Instruction), and Melinda Guzman.

Trustees removed the tuition "buy out" option from their budget proposal to the legislature, which would have asked the legislature to fund the CSU at a level sufficient to prevent the ninth fee increase in nine years.

Newsom opposed the Trustees' decision to vote behind closed doors and urged the Trustees place the fee increase on the agenda for the scheduled special meeting on December 5.

The CSU issued a statement about the Trustees' decision to reconvene out public view, but seems not to have read some of the Bagley Keene Act excerpt they cite:

Nothing in this section shall prohibit the state body from establishing a procedure for readmitting an individual or individuals not responsible for willfully disturbing the orderly conduct of the meeting. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, only matters appearing on the agenda may be considered in such a session. Representatives of the press or other news media, except those participating in the disturbance, shall be allowed to attend any session held pursuant to this section.

Links

• CSU trustees raise tuition 9% as students protest (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Violent clash erupts outside Cal State trustees meeting (Los Angeles Times)
• California State University tuition rises for ninth time in nine years (Imperial Valley Press)
• Tuition at Cal State University campuses rises 9 percent (McClatchy Newspapers via Bellingham Herald)
• CSU approves 9% fee hike amid raucous protests (Sacramento Bee)
• CSU Tuition Hike Protest Turns Violent (NBC San Diego)
• CSU Trustees Approve Budget, Raise Tuition (KSEE, Fresno)
• CSU trustees OK tuition hike as violence erupts (CBS News)
• Cal State Tuition Protest (KFI)
• Eventful CSU Board of Trustees Meeting (CSUEU)
• Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom Calls for Open Meeting on CSU Budget and Fee Increase (Office of the Lieutenant Governor)
• Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom's Statement on California State University's Proposed Budget (Office of the Lieutenant Governor)
• CSU statement about the Board of Trustees meeting (CSU)
• CSU Asks State To Restore $333 Million in 2012-2013 Budget (CSU)

Photos from Trustees Meeting Protest

We have a few photos from Wednesday morning's ruckus at the Chancellor's Office.

Protestors at the side of the building:

Purple SEIU United Service Workers West shirts dotted the crowd:

News crews spotted included radio stations KFI, KFWB, and KNX as well as television stations KNBC, KTLA, KTTV and KCAL.

After protestors were pushed out of the meeting room and the building:

Trustees Flee Public Eye to Raise Tuition

This morning, the CSU Board of Trustees' Committee on Finance voted 4-3 to pass the tuition increase. Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, a member of the Board, objected:

"We're absolving our opportunity to put pressure on the government and the legislature by giving them every excuse to focus on those other hungry mouths up there," Newsom said, noting that the CSU has raised tuition 20 percent in the last year.

Later, the Trustees ordered police to clear ReFund California protesters from the meeting room and retired to a private room rather than continue the meeting in its normal (and now demonstrator-free) location.

Trustees then reconvened out of sight of the public to pass the tuition increase by 9-6. Most observers in the room at today's meeting were peaceful and not disruptive. The Trustees' actions show the extent of their respect for the public's right to observe their deliberations and votes.

After demonstrators were pushed outside, they attempted to re-enter the building while police held the doors to keep them (and anyone else) out. With people tugging/pushing from both sides, one of the glass doors shattered and cut an officer's arm. Police used tear gas or pepper spray (reports differ) on the crowd. Several people were arrested.

Police were also gathered at a park near the Queensway Bridge, apparently staged to respond to protests at the CSU or elsewhere in Long Beach today.

Note for those who haven't been to the Chancellor's Office: The doors at the entrance to the Chancellor's Office are glass, with no enclosing frame. They look like bigger versions of the type of doors used in home showers, which sometimes shatter (with or without someone present at the time) and injure people.

Links

• Protesters shatter glass door, disrupt Cal State board meeting (Los Angeles Times)
• Cal State trustees vote to raise tuition by 9% for 2012 (Los Angeles Times)
• CSU trustees approve tuition hike, chaos erupts at meeting (Long Beach Press-Telegram)
• CSU trustees meeting disrupted by protestors (Long Beach Press-Telegram)
• CSU Finance Committee approves fee hike (Long Beach Press-Telegram)
• Cal State Tuition Protest (KFI)
• Cal State Students Clash with Police, Board Delays Vote on Tuition Hike (KTLA)
• Glass doors: Shattered! The danger hanging in your bathroom (MSNBC)

Union Plus Scholarships

CSUEU members, their spouses, and their dependent children can apply for the Union Plus Scholarship Program, now through January 31, 2012.

Applications are submitted online. Scholarships are awarded based on academic ability, social awareness, financial need and appreciation of labor. Awards range from $500 to $4,000.

From the Frequently Asked Questions list:

Current and retired members of unions that participate in any Union Plus program, their spouses and their dependent children (as defined by IRS regulations) can apply for a Union Plus Scholarship. Grandchildren are not eligible unless a legal dependent (as defined by IRS regulations).

CSUEU members are eligible as members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a Union Plus participant. CSUEU is SEIU Local 2579.

Links

• Union Plus Scholarship information
• Union Plus Scholarship Frequently Asked Questions

Board of Trustees Meeting: Budget, Student Fee Increases

The CSU Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet this Tuesday and Wednesday, November 15-16, 2011, at the Chancellor's Office in Long Beach.

Schedule

• A closed session of the full board, for Executive Personnel Matters at 10:00 on Tuesday.
• Closed session for Committee on Collective Bargaining is scheduled for 11:00.
• The open session of the Committee on Collective Bargaining is estimated to begin at 11:30.
• After a lunch break, additional committee meetings take up the rest of Tuesday.
• Wednesday begins with the final committee meeting, Committee on Finance, at 8:30.
• The full Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for 10:15 on Wednesday.

The various committee meetings happen one after another, and actual start times may not match the published schedule exactly. The published schedule represents someone's best estimate regarding when the Trustees will finish one topic and begin another.

On the Agendas

• Contract ratification for Bargaining Unit 1, represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD)
• 2012-2013 Support Budget:
  The proposal includes $138,348,000 for a buy-out of the planned student fee increase, $154,930,000 for a 5% enrollment increase, $30,000,000 for urgent maintenance, and $84,978,000 for a 3% compensation pool, with a total increase of $397,262,000. See page 16 of the PDF Agenda for Committee on Finance, November 2011 meeting for full details.
• Tuition fee increases:
  The increase for full-time undergraduate students is $498 per academic year, or about 9.1%. See page 20 of the PDF Agenda for Committee on Finance, November 2011 meeting for full details.
• Updates on this year's assigned audits, including:
  • Auxiliary Organizations
  • Delegations of Authority
  • High-risk areas including
    • IT Disaster Recovery (Campuses on this audit list are Channel Islands, Dominguez Hills, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Bernardino, and San Francisco.)
    • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
    • Sensitive Data Security/Protection (Campuses on this audit list are Fullerton, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Sonoma.)
• Follow-up on past assignments, including
  • Special Investigations (this apparently includes whistleblower investigations and alleged embezzlements and conflicts of interest)
  • Auxiliary Organizations
  • IT Disaster Recovery
  • Intercollegiate Athletics
  • HIPPA
  • Business Continuity
• Seismic Safety Program Annual Report
  Several projects which merit special note are listed, all identified as Seismic Priority List 1, meaning they should be retrofitted as soon as practical:

  California State University, East Bay, Warren Hall

  Warren Hall is essentially vacant except for a small cadre of essential campus functions that remains operational pending relocation. These functions are the main campus telephone switch gear in the basement, campus Information Technology (IT) servers on the third floor, and various antennas. To address IT needs, the campus will relocate the data center to the Student Services Replacement Building or possibly utilize cloud computing.

  San Francisco State University, Library

  During this reporting period, a new shear wall was removed and replaced due to faulty construction. Despite this setback, this large renovation/addition of the campus library is ahead of schedule and expected to be operational in spring 2012.

  California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Classroom/Lab/Administration (CLA) Building

  [D]ue to a range of extensive deficiencies, including seismic, its demolition and replacement was included in the trustees' 2011-2012 capital program request, but it did not make it into the final state budget; it has been proposed again in the 2012-2013 capital program request. … [T]he campus is reinvestigating if it is economically feasible to seismically upgrade and renovate at least the non-tower portions of the CLA building. The CLA tower remains a Priority List 1 concern.

About Trustees Meetings

For the most part, the discussion happens in the Committee meetings, and then the full Board meets in plenary session and approves whatever is before it. The Board seldom says no to the CSU.

Meetings are supposed to be open to the public, but in practice the CSU has sometimes prevented would-be attendees, including (non-disruptive) employees, from entering the building. With student fee increases on the agenda, and faculty striking this week, this may be a problem again.

The (as yet unapproved) minutes of the previous meetings are in the agendas for the current meetings.

Anyone can address the Board of Trustees, or write to them. See page 4 of the PDF November 2011 Board of Trustees agenda for specifics.

Links

• CSU Board of Trustees agendas and notices (CSU)
  • Board of Trustees agenda, November 2011 [PDF]
  • Committee on Finance Agenda, November 2011 meeting [PDF]
  • Committee on Campus Planning, Buildings and Grounds Agenda, November 2011 meeting [PDF]

CFA Pickets Today and Tomorrow, Strikes Next Week

California Faculty Association (CFA) will be doing informational picketing on CSU campuses statewide today and tomorrow, and plans a one-day strike on November 17 at CSU East Bay and CSU Dominguez Hills.

CFA's Board of Directors voted unanimously to authorize the strike after CFA's membership voted 93% in favor of a one-day strike on one or more campuses. CFA President Lillian Taiz said we must now send the Chancellor a plain and simple message about his skewed priorities.

CFA's most recent bargaining update notes that:

the Chancellor recently rejected a second neutral fact-finder’s recommendations that faculty be paid part of the salary increases negotiated in our last contract. That action, his relentless push for hikes in student fees, and his lavish giveaways to executives bespeak a vision for the CSU that hurts students, faculty, and the CSU itself.

Informational Picketing Schedule

Here's the list of scheduled picket lines, from CFA:

Today:

• CSU Bakersfield, 4:30-7 pm, start at Stockdale, Hwy & Don Hart Dr. East, end Recreational Center Gym, where Wes Moore will speak at 7 pm
• CSU Dominguez Hills, 11:15 am-1:15 pm & 5-7 pm Union Loker Student Union walkway
• Humboldt State U, 11 am-1 pm, Campus Quad
• Cal State Los Angeles, 3-5 pm, King Hall then march
• CSU Northridge, Noon-2 pm, Sierra Center
• Sacramento State, 7:30-10 am, Two main entrances
• San Francisco State, 11 am-1 pm, 19th & Holloway
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 11 am-1 pm, University Union
• Sonoma State, 7:30-9:45 am, main entrance (off Sequoia Way & East Cotati Ave.) & the Green Music Center entrance (on East Redwood Drive)
• CSU Stanislaus, 11:30 am-1 pm, Campus main quad (Peak time 11:45 am-12:30 pm)

Tomorrow:

• CSU Chico, 11 am-1 pm, Creek Bridge
• CSU East Bay, 7:30-10:30 am, Carlos Bee & Loop Road
• CSU Fresno, 11:30 am-1:30 pm, Shaw & Maple
• CSU Fullerton, 11 am-1 pm, Humanities Bldg quad
• CSU Long Beach, 8-10 am, 7th Street entrances
• California Maritime Academy, 11:30-1 pm, Quad
• CSU Monterey Bay, 11 am-1 pm, Library Circle
• Cal Poly Pomona, 7:30-9:30 am, Corner of Temple Ave. & South Campus Dr. near the campus sign
• CSU San Bernardino, 8:30-10:00 am, at flagpole at main entrance of campus
• San Diego State, 11:30 am-1 pm, North Library Walkway
• San Jose State, 9-11 am, Front of MLK Library
• CSU San Marcos,12:15 - 2 pm, Dome to Kellogg Library

Links

• Strike! CFA Board Votes to Authorize One-Day Strikes at CSU East Bay and CSU Dominguez Hills (CFA)
• CFA Update on Faculty Collective Action (CFA)
• CSU faculty members plan brief pickets over pay (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Cal State faculty in salary dispute set to strike at 2 campuses (Los Angeles Times)
• Cal State faculty votes to strike on 2 campuses (San Jose Mercury News)
• CSU faculty union decides on one-day strike (Sacramento Bee)
• Cal-Maritime to support CSU colleagues with an informational picket Wednesday (Vallejo Times Herald)
• Union leaders OK one-day strike on two CSU campuses (Chico Enterprise-Record)
• Cal State faculty to strike over witholding pay raises (KTVU) [Thanks to Alisandra Brewer for this link]
• CSU Faculty Union Escalates Labor Dispute
(Capital Public Radio)
• Cal State faculty votes to strike (Associated Press via San Francisco Chronicle)

Several Long-Term Presidents Retiring Shortly

Presidents of 5 CSU campuses — California Maritime Academy, Northridge, Fullerton, San Bernardino, and San Francisco — have announced they will retire this year or next year. The Los Angeles Times points out this is on top of the 2011 installations of new leaders for San Diego State, San Jose State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and an interim appointment at Cal State East Bay.

Searches for all 5 positions are expected to be completed, and appointments made, by early next summer.

Despite state budget woes, and CSU's repeated student fee increases, and the annual decrease in real dollars of staff salaries, CSU continues to prioritize executive pay:

Cal State leaders were criticized this summer after they decided to pay Elliot Hirshman, the new president of San Diego State, an annual salary of $400,000, $100,000 more than his predecessor. That vote followed the board's controversial decision in January to pay $380,000 to the new president of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Reed and other officials said the salaries were necessary to attract talented administrators for the jobs of running large campuses and raising millions of dollars in private funds.

Gov. Jerry Brown disagreed, and several lawmakers have proposed limiting trustees' ability to set compensation of campus presidents.

Retiring San Francisco State President Robert Corrigan doesn't seem to think California's colleges are a bottom-of-the-heap destination:

California's Master Plan for Higher Education has long been the envy of other states. Its colleges are still sought-after, despite the state's dismal economy, said Corrigan, who attended a recent meeting in Boston of university presidents and chancellors.

"There's hardly a state that's not dealing with the kinds of issues we are, although they may be more pronounced in California," the San Francisco State leader said. "We have what had been a strong economic base, a large state with a large population and very smart people. I don't think it will be a situation that prevents us from getting good candidates."

The article mentions a 10% yearly turnover rate for public and private colleges in the US, citing the increase in the age of college presidents. A report from the American Council on Education (ACE) shows an increase in age of college presidents from 1986-2006. The executive summary for ACE's 2007 edition of American College President states:

The average age of presidents increased from 52 years in 1986 to 60 years in 2006. More telling, the proportion of presidents who were aged 61 or older grew from 14 percent in 1986 to 49 percent in 2006, suggesting that many institutions will lose their presidents to retirement in coming years.

The report also notes an increase over that period of length of time in the presidency:

Presidents had served an average of 8.5 years in office at the time of the 2006 survey. Length of service has increased since 1986, when the average time in office was 6.3 years.

Links

• Presidents are bowing out at some Cal State schools (Los Angeles Times)
• American College President, 2007 report (American Council on Education)

BUC 9 Report for November 5, 2011 Meeting

Bargaining Unit Council 9 (BUC 9) met yesterday evening at the CSUEU Board of Directors meeting in Sacramento. Here is the Chair's report, being delivered to the Board today:

---

Bargaining Unit 9 Report
Sacramento
November 5th, 2011

Unit 9 currently faces the most extreme challenge since it was created. From our work rapidly migrating to "the cloud", to the on-going increases in layoffs and outsourcing, never have the more than 6000 members of Bargaining Unit 9 faced such a direct and real threat to our jobs. Unit 9 employees appear to be a significant target for the CSU. In the past two years, the unit has experienced more real and/or potential layoffs than any other unit, and it is obvious from management's current behavior that additional layoffs are being considered. Please let every member know that our activities are squarely under the CSU's microscope, watching everything we do. As the CSU budget continues to shrink, such scrutiny will continue to increase as the campuses look for ways to save money wherever possible. To help protect our jobs, it becomes the duty of each employee to ensure that their job description is both accurate and complete. As technology changes, employees often fail to make written records of new skills, assignments and job duties. If layoffs were to suddenly hit your campus, having an accurate written documentation of your skills and duties could make the difference between keeping and losing your position.

The Chancellor recently mandated that campuses retain all e-mail, both sent and received, for 90 days. This is in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed against the CSU by a group of students upset with recent student fee increases. While we do not yet know how this will affect our day to day operations, one thing is certain: The Chancellor has the right to mandate how state equipment is used. This could have a profoundly chilling effect upon the Union's use of a campus e-mail system, especially in matters of representation. For this reason, it is recommend that no confidential Union business be conducted using either a CSU email address, or on state-owned equipment. The risk of revealing either representation issues or internal Union strategies to the CSU is too great to allow this to happen, even if it is only remote possibility. Each chapter should obtain and use only off-campus e-mail accounts (i.e. Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) for each steward. Chapters should also use non-state-owned computers for their Union activities, and store all Union data on secure external hardware such as an encrypted flash drive.

The Unit 9 Council heard from Teven Laxer and Alisandra Brewer regarding the bargaining issues which are most important to Unit 9. These include contracting out, student assistants performing our work, movement through the salary range, and the CSU's proposal to allow campuses to raise parking rates as they see fit. In addition, significant discussion was held concerning the percentage of duties performed within a higher classification, and what might happen if red-circle rates were eliminated, which could lead to demotions and pay cuts. The next bargaining session will be held December 5th at the Chancellor's Office.

The conversion from Library Assistants to Library Services Specialist classifications is, as Joan Kennedy reported "being done 23 different ways at 23 different campuses". While a few employees have successfully completed the process, others are having great difficulty in doing so, as it appears that management is unable to comprehend what we see as a simple, straightforward process. CSUEU is monitoring the process and is working to resolve problems as they are discovered.

Several months ago, the CSU notified CSUEU that they were ready to meet to update the classifications within the Accounting Series, which consists of more than a thousand individuals from Unit 7 and 9. In order to study the needs the of those staff within this classification, Unit 9 is seeking input from any staff member who might have insight into this classification. If you're interested in helping, please let your Bargaining Unit 9 Representative know. A few examples of questions we need answers to: What parts of the current Classification and Qualification Standards (CQS) don't fit the jobs as they're being done now? Do the current individual classifications make sense, or do they need reorganizing?

There are currently two at-large vacancies on the Unit 9 Council. A letter of interest will go out via e-mail to all BU 9 representatives next week soliciting interest in those positions.

A reminder about upcoming CSUEU election cycle: Chapter elections must be completed by early April, 2012. The Bargaining Unit Representatives (BURs) from each campus will then meet as a group to elect a Chair, Vice Chair and the 6 At-large Bargaining Unit Council members. You must be elected as your chapter's BUR to run for any of these positions. If you are interested in running, begin planning your election campaign at your local chapter now.

Rich McGee, Chair
CSUEU Bargaining Unit 9
csueu.unit9@gmail.com

New On-Line Degree Program?

CSU plans to begin marketing "CSU Online" in February, in an effort to attract additional online students to a vaguely-defined set of course and degree offerings. Using $50,000 from each CSU campus (that's $1,150,000) and what the San Francisco Chronicle terms a cross-your-fingers plan to get $20 million from the state, the hope is to make money down the road from the new students.

Faculty, meanwhile, are concerned about the lack of faculty involvement, the diversion of CSU resources, and the possibility that the CSU will buy pre-packaged courses from publishers rather than having actual CSU faculty design the courses offered under the CSU name. The Chronicle states the CSU refused to meet with concerned faculty, claiming it was too early. CSU also declined to answer a series of questions about CSU Online from the California Faculty Association (CFA), which represents CSU faculty.

In an open letter to CSU Chancellor Reed, CFA asks Why is Chancellor Reed developing a separate and competing system to the California State University?

Describing "CSU Online" as an opening wedge in an effort to enlist the CSU's resources and good name in damaging the CSU's own status as a public entity, the letter points out:

Were Reed genuinely interested in coping with the perceived shortfall in the CSU's ability to meet the next generation's higher educational needs, he would be proposing that CSU enhance its existing offerings in house, both online and traditional face-to-face courses, including through CSU's long-standing Extended/Open University.

Instead of taking that logical and reasonable step, Reed is laying the groundwork for "CSU Online" to compete with the existing CSU, funneling revenue away from the CSU into for-profit companies' coffers.

CFA describes the breathtaking contempt for instructors exhibited at the kickoff meeting for "CSU Online" last February:

[T]he outside team hired by Reed to promote "CSU Online," features as its very first content slide the following: "CSU Online: Why Do This?" accompanied by a picture of an imaginary robot teacher and the words: "I have designed the teacher of the future. Instead of using people I have chosen cyborgs because they don't need to be paid."

Links

• CSU Online Takes System Further Towards "For Profit" Model (CFA)
• Update on Chancellor's Online Initiative (CFA)
• Open Letter to Chancellor Charles Reed about the "CSU Online" Plan (CFA)
• CSU rolling out expanded online program (San Francisco Chronicle)

Unit 9 Council Agenda for November

Bargaining Unit 9 Agenda

Sacramento

November, 2011

1. BUC 9 Member Introduction – Each BUC 9 Member

2. Chair’s Remarks – Rich McGee

3. Vice-Chair’s Remarks – Alisandra Brewer

4. LA - > LSS Conversion Update – Teven

5. E-Mail Archiving - Rich

6. Layoff Update – Teven

7. Bargaining Update – Alisandra

8. New Business – Group
1. Vacancies on BU 9 council
2. Reminder about upcoming election cycle

9. Questions/Open Forum – As time permits