ITEMS IN THE NEWS from the CFA Communications TEAM
oct. 20, 2015
special strike vote edition
Dear CFA Colleagues: There are hundreds of “Items in the News” about the CFA Strike Authorization Vote that began yesterday, October 19, as in-person voting began at campuses around California, including events with media turnouts at East Bay, San Jose, Long Beach, Chico and San Francisco. More media turnouts are happening at Sacramento, San Diego and San Marcos today, Los Angeles tomorrow and Fresno on Thursday.
We bring you a sampling of what is reported and posted online so far (there is much more to come). Please feel free to share with us links to your favorites; send to asunshine@calfac.org
NATIONAL / STATEWIDE
Cal State faculty to vote on major strike
Associated Press
"We don't want to strike. I don't want to strike. I need every single day I can," Philip Klasky, a lecturer in San Francisco State's Department of American Indian Studies, said. "We are trying to send a message to Chancellor (Tim) White to negotiate with us fairly. Give me a break, 2 percent? Living in San Francisco?" (This AP story appeared on news web sites all over California and the U.S.)
California State University Faculty Taking A Strike Vote
Workers Independent News (audio) (text)
LOS ANGELES AREA
Cal State faculty to vote on major strike over contract
KABC-TV 7
Stalled salary talks are triggering a strike vote Monday for 25,000 professors and other Cal State University employees.
Cal State Faculty to Vote on Major Strike Over Contract
NBC Southern California | NBC Los Angeles
Thousands of faculty members at Cal State University campuses began voting Monday on whether to strike over what they're paid. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 5 & 6.
Faculty at California State University launch vote to strike
Long Beach Press Telegram
Cal State University faculty held a strike vote, with professors holding rallies at CSULB campus in Long Beach on Monday, Oct. 19, 2015. Faculty have dubbed the push to improve faculty earnings the “Fight for Five,” meaning a 5 percent general salary ...
Faculty at California State University taking strike vote
Long Beach Press Telegram
California State University faculty members voting whether to strike
89.3 KPCC NPR
The CFA — a union made up of professors, lecturers and other faculty members — has begun voting on whether they ...
CSU Faculty Rallies For A Raise
Annenberg TV News (USC Journalism School’s feed to many campuse)
Will 26,000 university employees go on strike for increased salaries? Voting began today for CSU faculty to decide whether they will authorize a strike for wage increases. The faculty expressed greivances in a rally on the Calif. State University Long Beach campus…
Will you be affected? Cal State faculty votes Monday on possible strike
MyNewsLA.com
Salary Talks Cause Concern At CSULB
Gazette Newspapers
Concerns over salaries caused faculty to hold rallies Monday at California State University, Long Beach, officials said. California State University campuses are in an impasse and in the fact-finding process concerning salary negotiations, officials said.
SF BAY AREA
SF State University faculty to vote on whether to strike for fair wages
KRON4.com - TV
San Francisco State University faculty members are expected to vote to strike for a fair wage on Monday.
Cal State Faculty Voting On Major Strike Over Salary Negotiations
CBS San Francisco (video)
CSU faculty voting to strike over stagnant wages
SFBay
Faculty at San Francisco State University, California State University East Bay, San Jose State University and 20 other CSU campuses are voting now over whether to strike over stagnant wages.
Bay Area CSU Campuses Kick Off Strike Voting Period
Patch.com
Officials are arguing that the proposed 2 percent salary increase is not enough to support the high cost of living in the Bay Area.
CFA kicks off strikevote
Golden Gate Xpress (San Francisco State)
The California Faculty Association kicked off the first day of their strike vote Wednesday as part of their Fight For Five campaign to secure a 5 percent raise.
Cal State U. faculty to mark start of a Strike Vote with Picketlines, Theater ...
Bay Area Indymedia
A Strike Authorization Vote by the faculty who teach in the 23-campus California State University system begins online and in person at 9 am on Monday, October 19.
Outlets at Bay Area events, not yet captured online include:
KTVU Oakland Fox2 ran live news feeds over two hours Monday morning
KNBC Bay Area ran a report on the San Jose event with Assemblymember Evan Low -- NBC Bay Area has an image of the event
KPIX at San Jose and East Bay
World Journal in San Francisco
KPFA-Pacifica News
KQED-NPR San Francisco
Univision TV Bay Area
SACRAMENTO
CSU Faculty Casting Ballots On Decision To Authorize Strike For 23 Campuses
CBS Local News Sacramento (video)
Interview with CFA Bargaining Team Chair Kevin Wehr
CSU Faculty Wants Raise; Will Vote for Strike in 'Fight for 5 Percent'
FOX40
"We had our belts tightened for a long time, and it's time for us to take care of our families," CSUS Sociology professor Kevin Wehr…
Cal State employees prepare for vote on whether to strike
ABC 10 [video]
AM Alert: California State University faculty begins strike authorization vote
Sacramento Bee
There's dissatisfaction brewing at California's public universities. After arguing for months that its members are underpaid and need a significant salary bump to make up for years of stagnation, the California State University faculty union...
CSU faculty to vote on strike over new contract
KCRA Sacramento
KCRA 3 NEWS AT 6:00 STARTS RIGHT NOW. GULSTAN: A LABOR DISPUTE INVOLVING FACULTY MEMBERS AT EVERY CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY COMES TO A CRUCIAL VOTE. IT'S A BATTLE THAT COULD LEAVE ...
CHICO
CSU strike vote happening Monday
Action News Now - TV (Chico)
California State University employees are preparing to vote on whether to permit their labor union to call a strike over stalled salary negotiations. The California Faculty Association is asking its 25 thousand members to authorize a strike if contract ...
Chico State University faculty start voting on possible strike
Chico Enterprise-Record
Charley Turner, president of the Chico chapter of the California Faculty Association talks Monday during a strike vote rally on the Chico State University campus about how they plan to strike if they are not given a 5 percent raise as opposed to the 2% ...
SONOMA
Sonoma State University faculty votes on whether to strike
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Nina Kilhan, an adjunct professor in the geology department, marks her ballot, as the California Faulty Association Sonoma State Chapter holds a Strike Authorization Vote at Sonoma State University, in Rohnert Park on Monday, October 19, 2015.
SAN BERNARDINO
Faculty at California State University launch vote to strike
San Bernardino County Sun
CFA Statewide Associate Vice President-Lecturers Leslie Bryan waits for faculty to come vote whether to strike at Cal State San Bernardino on Monday.
SAN BERNARDINO: Cal State faculty begins strike vote
Riverside Press-Enterprise
Leslie Bryan, left, provides a strike authorization ballot to Andre Harrington at Cal State San Bernardino on Monday, Oct. 19.
COLLEGES: Cal State faculty kick off vote on major strike
Riverside Press-Enterprise
No dates have been set for a possible walkout and the earliest one would happen is January, union leaders say.
HIGHER EDUCATION: Cal State faculty eyeing strike
Press-Enterprise
For the fourth time in eight years, the Cal State University faculty is butting heads with the system's administrators over salaries to the point of threatening to strike.
CFA and CSU mediation continues: Fact-finding
Coyote Chronicle (CSU San Bernardino)
Fact-finding is the third part of the labor negotiation process,...
FULLERTON
California Faculty Association to vote on whether or not to strike over wage ...
The Daily Titan (CSU Fullerton)
Michele L. Barr, Ed.D., vice president of the CSUF CFA chapter said that while teachers like her prefer to be in the classroom, “there’s a point when you’ve got to go into self-preservation mode.” … “As a father of two young boys, not only can I not afford a home, not only can I not afford to pay off my student debt, but I cannot even afford to save money to one day put my kids through college,” said Matthew P. Llewellyn, Ph.D., assistant professor of sports studies.
Cal State faculty begin voting on major strike over contract
OCRegister
Cal State University faculty demonstrate after holding a strike vote Monday October 19, 2015, in Long Beach, Calif. THOMAS R CORDOVA , THE DAILY BREEZE VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.
SAN LUIS OBISPO
Cal Poly faculty union begins vote on whether to strike over pay dispute
The San Luis Obispo Tribune
Cal Poly's faculty union began its voting Monday on whether to join other California State University campus faculty in authorizing a strike over a pay raise dispute. The Cal Poly chapter of the California Faculty Association represents about 1,500 ...
Cal State faculty to vote on major strike over contract
The San Luis Obispo Tribune
Cal State University professor Sherry Span drops her ballot in the box as Cal State University faculty hold a strike vote, with professors holding rallies at CSULB campus in Long Beach Calif., Monday Oct. 19, 2015.
CSU faculty to vote on strike
Cal Coast News
CSU Seal Cal State University system faculty will begin voting Monday
5 California Things to Know for Today
The San Luis Obispo Tribune
Faculty at Cal State's 23 campuses voting on whether to permit their labor union to call a strike over stalled salary negotiations.
SAN DIEGO
CSU faculty votes on strike authorization
CBS 8 San Diego
Cal State faculty to vote on major strike
ABC10 (San Diego) [Video]
Cal State University Faculties Mulling Strike
Patch.com
Faculty at San Diego State University, Cal State San Marcos and 21 other California State University campuses began voting Monday …
CSU faculty votes on strike authorization
AM 760 KFMB
Cal State Faculty to Begin Voting on Possible Strike Over Pay
Times of San Diego
Faculty at the 23-campus California State University system — including campuses in San Diego and San Marcos — ...
Cal State faculty start strike authorization vote Monday
Central Valley Business Times
an update regarding ratification of the 2015 CA-AAUP constitution
Report: 2015 Constitution Amendment Balloting Results
September 21, 2015
The Executive Board of the California Conference of the American Association of University Professors (CA-AAUP) thanks all members who participated in amending the 2003 Constitution. We appreciate your support of CA-AAUP!
Here are the results of the balloting:
We mailed 1,611 ballots to members by U.S. mail, as required by the 2003 Constitution. The ballots were mailed August 18, 2015. Our postmark deadline for voting was 11:59 pm September 16, 2015. We received 90 ballots by U.S. mail by that deadline. Each ballot was read and votes tabulated on Friday, September 18, 2015, by Secretary/Treasurer Mary Ann Irwin and Finance Director Karen Davis. Of the 90 ballots returned, two ballots were blank. The remaining 88 ballots were counted in the final results.
The breakdown of voting on amended Articles is as follows:
ARTICLE I: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE II: 88 votes YES, no votes against
[ARTICLE III: no change from 2003]
ARTICLE IV: 87 votes YES, 1 vote NO
ARTICLE V: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE VI: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE VII: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE VIII: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE IX: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE X: 88 votes YES, no votes against
[ARTICLE XI: no change from 2003]
ARTICLE XII: one member who voted on Articles I through X declined to vote on Article XII; 87 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE XIII: one member who voted on Articles I through X declined to vote on Article XIII; 87 votes YES, no votes against
Under the 2003 Constitution, ratification required a 2/3 vote favoring an amendment. Therefore, each Article is hereby ratified, as amended.
CA-AAUP's 2015 Constitution may be now viewed on its website, at:
http://www.caaaup.org/ca-aaup-constitution.html
September 21, 2015
The Executive Board of the California Conference of the American Association of University Professors (CA-AAUP) thanks all members who participated in amending the 2003 Constitution. We appreciate your support of CA-AAUP!
Here are the results of the balloting:
We mailed 1,611 ballots to members by U.S. mail, as required by the 2003 Constitution. The ballots were mailed August 18, 2015. Our postmark deadline for voting was 11:59 pm September 16, 2015. We received 90 ballots by U.S. mail by that deadline. Each ballot was read and votes tabulated on Friday, September 18, 2015, by Secretary/Treasurer Mary Ann Irwin and Finance Director Karen Davis. Of the 90 ballots returned, two ballots were blank. The remaining 88 ballots were counted in the final results.
The breakdown of voting on amended Articles is as follows:
ARTICLE I: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE II: 88 votes YES, no votes against
[ARTICLE III: no change from 2003]
ARTICLE IV: 87 votes YES, 1 vote NO
ARTICLE V: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE VI: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE VII: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE VIII: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE IX: 88 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE X: 88 votes YES, no votes against
[ARTICLE XI: no change from 2003]
ARTICLE XII: one member who voted on Articles I through X declined to vote on Article XII; 87 votes YES, no votes against
ARTICLE XIII: one member who voted on Articles I through X declined to vote on Article XIII; 87 votes YES, no votes against
Under the 2003 Constitution, ratification required a 2/3 vote favoring an amendment. Therefore, each Article is hereby ratified, as amended.
CA-AAUP's 2015 Constitution may be now viewed on its website, at:
http://www.caaaup.org/ca-aaup-constitution.html
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO CA-AAUP MEMBERS FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE
August 10, 2015
Dear Colleagues,
After intense work, legal consultations, and exhaustive conversations among ourselves, the Executive Board of the California Conference of the American Association of University Professors (CA-AAUP) has completed long-overdue revisions to the CA-AAUP Constitution, which was last amended in 2003.
Our 2003 constitution requires us to conduct balloting on amendments to the Constitution via U.S. Mail. To save paper and to reduce the cost of this process, we have placed two versions of the 2015 Constitution on our website: http://www.ca-aaup.org
After you land at http://www.ca-aaup.org you will see two buttons at the top center of the home page.
For the “redlined” version of the 2015 constitution (showing changes to the 2003 Constitution and explanations from the Executive Board), click on the button marked
“Redlined 2015 Constitution with Comments.”
To see a “clean” version of the 2015 constitution, without markings, click on the button labeled
“Final 2015 Constitution (clean copy).”
The clean copy will be easier to read, but the redlined version will show every proposed insertion and deletion. (You will find a clean copy of the 2003 Constitution at http://www.caaaup.org/ca-aaup-constitution.html).
One important change, for example, is to the timetable for electing CA-AAUP officers. The proposed timetable change permits us to “piggyback” on the National AAUP's elections, conducted by mailed paper ballots. When competition exists for offices in the CA-AAUP Executive Board, CA-AAUP is required to conduct secret, paper ballot elections by mail, because our state conference includes members who must comply with federal labor laws. (See Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 here: http://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/statutes/lmrda-act.htm)
Paper balloting is extremely expensive. CA-AAUP's last paper ballot election cost California AAUP members roughly $6,000 for materials and wages. Alternatively, if we join in national's paper ballot elections, we will enjoy significant cost savings. Our last quote for the cost of joining national's 2014 election was $500 to $750. Since this is your money, we want to spend it in the wisest, most economical way possible!
We ask that you please read both versions of the proposed 2015 Constitution carefully. We invite you to let us know if you have any questions at all. The names and email addresses of each member of the Steering Committee appear below.
We have mailed each CA-AAUP member a paper ballot that asks you to vote “Yes” or “No” on each revised Article. A “yes” vote means that you vote to ratify that amended Article. A “no” vote means you reject proposed changes to that Article. We ask that you mark your ballot promptly and return it to us in the self-addressed envelope we will provide for that purpose.
Please look for your paper ballot asking you to approve the 2015 Constitution, arriving soon via U.S. Mail.
For your ballot to count, we ask that you return it in the envelope provided and postmarked no later than 11:59 pm Wednesday, September 16, 2015.
As required by the 2003 constitution, ratification of the 2015 Constitution will require a 2/3 majority of all votes received.
We will contact you with the results of the balloting via email as soon as possible after September 16, 2015.
Thank you for your support of the CA-AAUP!
Rosalinda Quintanar S. Ph.D.
President, CA-AAUP
Professor, San Jose State University
Teacher Education Program
Chair, International Teacher Education Consortium
Steering Committee, CA-AAUP:
President:
Rosalinda Quintanar, San Jose State University (2014-2016)
rqs335@gmail.com
Secretary/Treasurer and (Acting) Past President
Mary Ann Irwin, Diablo Valley College (2014-2016)
missinformus@gmail.com
Vice President for University of California:
Ivan Evans, U.C. San Diego (2014-2016)
ivan84@gmail.com
Vice President for California State University:
John Halcón, California State University, San Marcos (2014-2016)
jhalcon@calfac.org
Vice President for Private Colleges and Universities:
Alex Zukas, National University (2014-2016)
alexzukas@yahoo.com
Vice President for California Community Colleges:
[seat vacant]
California Faculty Association North:
Wendy Ng, San Jose State University (2014-2016)
wendy.ng@sjsu.edu
California Faculty Association South:
Kimberly King, California State University, Los Angeles (2015-2017)
profkimberly@yahoo.com
| constitution_rev.email_to_members_final_copy.pdf |
NEWSLETTER NO. 4 - MAY 2015
The California Conference of the American Association of University Professors (CA-AAUP) offered a limited number of travel grants to assist chapters and individuals with the costs of attending this year's AAUP/CBC Summer Institute.
Summer Institute 2015 took place at the University of Denver, July 23-26, 2015. This intensive, four-day series of workshops and seminars prepared participants to organize your colleagues, stand up for academic freedom, and advocate for research and teaching as the core priority of higher education. The program and additional information is available at http://www.aaup.org/event/2015-summer-institute.
CA-AAUP travel grants are intended to assist with travel and registration costs. The maximum grant is $600/person. We encourage applicants to also seek funding from their home campuses and AAUP campus chapters.
The deadline to apply for a CA-AAUP Summer Institute Travel Grant was midnight Friday, May 29, 2015. CA-AAUP scholarship award notifications were issued by midnight Sunday, May 31, 2015.
NOTE: Early registration for Summer Institute 2015 was $575/person, due by June 2, 2015. Full-price registration is $600/person, due by July 1. Registration includes all workshop materials, 3 nights’ single-occupancy room, plus 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and opening dinner reception on Thursday, July 23 (see website above for details).
Priority for CA-AAUP travel grants was given to CA-AAUP members from:
* chapters with financial hardships,
* campuses that do not have AAUP chapters but are considering creating one
* chapters that are providing their own matching support to help finance costs for attendees
TO APPLY FOR CA-AAUP FUNDING: Please answer each of the following questions and send your responses via email to westcoast@aaup.org :
1. Your name, the name of your institution, your status (faculty, staff, etc.), chapter/union position (if any), and /or any other relevant positions you hold (e.g., member of Academic Senate). Include your preferred email address and phone number and mailing address.
2. A brief explanation of the reason for your application for travel funding.
3. How you expect to use information/experience gathered at the meeting (e.g., to organize faculty, to initiate specific actions on your campus, and/or to address another specific need).
4. Please state the sum that you are requesting. Reimbursable expenses include: registration fee ($575 early or $600 full-price), airport shuttle service/local transportation, taxi, hotel, airfare, mileage ($0.56/mile) to/from airport or conference location and meals (up to $50/day). CA-AAUP will not reimburse attendee’s costs for alcoholic beverages.
After the meeting, awardees will submit their receipts and summarize total costs on a signed and completed CA-AAUP Reimbursement Voucher. As a condition of receiving a travel grant, each CA-AAUP travel scholarship awardee will submit a brief report to CA-AAUP (approximately 100-200 words) reporting on awardee’s planned or actual use of the Summer Institute experience on his/her campus or institution or within his/her organization. Reports are due by August 26th, 2015, or within 30 days of the Summer Institute. Please email reports to westcoast@aaup.org. CA-AAUP may choose to publish excerpts from these reports on the CA-AAUP website.
For further info: contact CA-AAUP at westcoast@aaup.org
Summer Institute 2015 took place at the University of Denver, July 23-26, 2015. This intensive, four-day series of workshops and seminars prepared participants to organize your colleagues, stand up for academic freedom, and advocate for research and teaching as the core priority of higher education. The program and additional information is available at http://www.aaup.org/event/2015-summer-institute.
CA-AAUP travel grants are intended to assist with travel and registration costs. The maximum grant is $600/person. We encourage applicants to also seek funding from their home campuses and AAUP campus chapters.
The deadline to apply for a CA-AAUP Summer Institute Travel Grant was midnight Friday, May 29, 2015. CA-AAUP scholarship award notifications were issued by midnight Sunday, May 31, 2015.
NOTE: Early registration for Summer Institute 2015 was $575/person, due by June 2, 2015. Full-price registration is $600/person, due by July 1. Registration includes all workshop materials, 3 nights’ single-occupancy room, plus 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and opening dinner reception on Thursday, July 23 (see website above for details).
Priority for CA-AAUP travel grants was given to CA-AAUP members from:
* chapters with financial hardships,
* campuses that do not have AAUP chapters but are considering creating one
* chapters that are providing their own matching support to help finance costs for attendees
TO APPLY FOR CA-AAUP FUNDING: Please answer each of the following questions and send your responses via email to westcoast@aaup.org :
1. Your name, the name of your institution, your status (faculty, staff, etc.), chapter/union position (if any), and /or any other relevant positions you hold (e.g., member of Academic Senate). Include your preferred email address and phone number and mailing address.
2. A brief explanation of the reason for your application for travel funding.
3. How you expect to use information/experience gathered at the meeting (e.g., to organize faculty, to initiate specific actions on your campus, and/or to address another specific need).
4. Please state the sum that you are requesting. Reimbursable expenses include: registration fee ($575 early or $600 full-price), airport shuttle service/local transportation, taxi, hotel, airfare, mileage ($0.56/mile) to/from airport or conference location and meals (up to $50/day). CA-AAUP will not reimburse attendee’s costs for alcoholic beverages.
After the meeting, awardees will submit their receipts and summarize total costs on a signed and completed CA-AAUP Reimbursement Voucher. As a condition of receiving a travel grant, each CA-AAUP travel scholarship awardee will submit a brief report to CA-AAUP (approximately 100-200 words) reporting on awardee’s planned or actual use of the Summer Institute experience on his/her campus or institution or within his/her organization. Reports are due by August 26th, 2015, or within 30 days of the Summer Institute. Please email reports to westcoast@aaup.org. CA-AAUP may choose to publish excerpts from these reports on the CA-AAUP website.
For further info: contact CA-AAUP at westcoast@aaup.org
NEWSLETTER NO. 3 - JUNE 2014
Greetings CA-AAUP Members!
The California Conference of the AAUP (CA-AAUP) is pleased to announce that its Steering Committee has approved a limited number of travel grants to assist chapters and individuals with the costs of attending this year's AAUP/CBC Summer Institute at Hofstra University, Long Island, New York, July 17-20, 2014. This intensive, four-day series of workshops and seminars will prepare you to organize your colleagues, stand up for academic freedom, and advocate for research and teaching as the core priority of higher education. The program and additional information is available at http://aaup.org/event/2014-summer-institute
The deadline to apply for a Summer Institute Travel Grant from the CA-AAUP is midnight June 6, 2014.
Priority for these travel grants will be given to members of the CA-AAUP from
To apply for funding:
Please answer each of the following questions and send your responses via email to westcoast@aaup.org by JUNE 6, 2014.
1. Please provide your name, the name of your institution, your status (faculty, staff, etc.) chapter/union position (if any), and /or any other relevant positions you hold ( e.g., member of Academic Senate). Include your preferred email address and phone number and mailing address.
2. Please provide us with a brief explanation of the reason for your application for travel funding
2a. Please indicate all other sources and avenues of funding that you have explored to assist you with the costs of attending. (e.g., other funding sources from your school, organization or faculty association that might fund your travel but are inadequate or non-existent).
3. Please describe how you expect to use information/experience gathered at the meeting (e.g., to organize faculty, to initiate specific actions on your campus, and/or to address some specific local need).
4. Please state the sum that you are requesting.
Reimbursable expenses include: registration fee ($575), airport shuttle service/local transportation, taxi, hotel, airfare, mileage ($0.56/mile) to/from airport or conference location and meals (up to $50/day).
The registration fee includes:
Alcoholic beverages are not included in reimbursement costs.
After the meeting, awardees will submit their receipts and summarize total costs on signed and completed CA-AAUP Reimbursement Vouchers.
As a condition of receiving a travel grant, each CA-AAUP travel scholarship awardee will submit a brief report to CA-AAUP (approximately 100-200 words) reporting on awardee’s planned or actual use of the Summer Institute experience on his/her campus or institution or within his/her organization. Reports are due by August 19th, 30 days after the Summer Institute and should be emailed to westcoast@aaup.org. Sometimes excerpts from these reports are used on this CA-AAUP website: http://www.ca-aaup.org.
The California Conference of the AAUP (CA-AAUP) is pleased to announce that its Steering Committee has approved a limited number of travel grants to assist chapters and individuals with the costs of attending this year's AAUP/CBC Summer Institute at Hofstra University, Long Island, New York, July 17-20, 2014. This intensive, four-day series of workshops and seminars will prepare you to organize your colleagues, stand up for academic freedom, and advocate for research and teaching as the core priority of higher education. The program and additional information is available at http://aaup.org/event/2014-summer-institute
The deadline to apply for a Summer Institute Travel Grant from the CA-AAUP is midnight June 6, 2014.
Priority for these travel grants will be given to members of the CA-AAUP from
- chapters with financial hardships,
- members from campuses that do not have chapters but are considering creating a chapter, and
- members from chapters that are providing their own matching support to help finance the costs for their
To apply for funding:
Please answer each of the following questions and send your responses via email to westcoast@aaup.org by JUNE 6, 2014.
1. Please provide your name, the name of your institution, your status (faculty, staff, etc.) chapter/union position (if any), and /or any other relevant positions you hold ( e.g., member of Academic Senate). Include your preferred email address and phone number and mailing address.
2. Please provide us with a brief explanation of the reason for your application for travel funding
2a. Please indicate all other sources and avenues of funding that you have explored to assist you with the costs of attending. (e.g., other funding sources from your school, organization or faculty association that might fund your travel but are inadequate or non-existent).
3. Please describe how you expect to use information/experience gathered at the meeting (e.g., to organize faculty, to initiate specific actions on your campus, and/or to address some specific local need).
4. Please state the sum that you are requesting.
Reimbursable expenses include: registration fee ($575), airport shuttle service/local transportation, taxi, hotel, airfare, mileage ($0.56/mile) to/from airport or conference location and meals (up to $50/day).
The registration fee includes:
- all workshop materials,
- 3 nights in a single-occupancy room in a residence hall on campus,
- breakfast on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, lunch on Friday and Saturday,
- opening reception on Thursday evening (dinner served).
Alcoholic beverages are not included in reimbursement costs.
After the meeting, awardees will submit their receipts and summarize total costs on signed and completed CA-AAUP Reimbursement Vouchers.
As a condition of receiving a travel grant, each CA-AAUP travel scholarship awardee will submit a brief report to CA-AAUP (approximately 100-200 words) reporting on awardee’s planned or actual use of the Summer Institute experience on his/her campus or institution or within his/her organization. Reports are due by August 19th, 30 days after the Summer Institute and should be emailed to westcoast@aaup.org. Sometimes excerpts from these reports are used on this CA-AAUP website: http://www.ca-aaup.org.
member newsletter no. 2 - march 6, 2014
Bob Samuels, President of the University Council - AFT and a lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, gave the afternoon talk at the CA-AAUP's Annual Meeting at Santa Clara University February 8. He is also the author of the popular blog, Changing Universities, and the book Why Higher Education Should be Free.
Here is a synopsis of his talk: "Making Public Education Free"
As I argue in my book Why Public Higher Education Should Be Free, the United States is already spending enough to make all public undergraduate higher education free to the students, but what we lack is a federal policy to make this happen. While some may say that this is a new role for the federal government, we must remember that the feds already have strict requirements related to research grants and financial aid. Tying aid to the institutions would force them to make the right decisions regarding access, affordability, and quality.
My proposed plan is
- that each university and college receiving federal and state funding generate at least 75% of its student credit hours in classes taught by full-time faculty.
- to tie this support to a certain level of direct instructional spending and to demand that at least 75% of the courses be taught in classes of less than 26 students.
This policy would not only force schools to put more resources into undergraduate education, but it would also motivate schools to have more effective learning environments.
It is clear that students also go into debt
- to pay for living expenses, books, housing, and other related costs.
- to pay for tuition
So if we want to stop a generation of students from going into life-crippling debt and if we want to increase our graduation rates, we need to find a way to pay for the total cost of attendance.
According to the Department of Education’s latest statistics, in 2011-12, there were 6.7 million full-time-equivalent undergraduate students enrolled in public universities and 4.2 million enrolled in community colleges. Since the average cost of tuition, room, board, books, and living expenses for undergraduates at public four-year institutions was $20,612, and at two-year public colleges, was $13,237, the total cost was $195 billion.
Sources: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_330.10.asp
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_288.asp
Of course $195 billion is a lot of money, but in 2011 the U.S. spent $201 Billion on financial aid and higher ed tax breaks, enough to make public undergraduate higher education free; however, we are currently spending $25 billion on low-performing for-profit colleges. Moreover, colleges and universities inflate their tuition price in order to pay for financial aid at the same time that more schools are moving from need-based aid to merit-based aid, which privileges the wealthiest students.
To fund higher education, States and the federal government have turned increasingly to tax incentives that rarely help the students with the highest levels of need. Instead, many wealthy people have figured out how to use college savings plans as tax shelters resulting in reduced fund for states and the Federal government to spend on higher education, which in turn, drives down the graduation rates. In fact, only 40% of students entering public universities and colleges end up earning a degree, and the biggest causes for non-completion are cost of attendance, related debt, and the need to work while in school. Free public higher education would increase enrollments and degree attainment by removing these financial obstacles to graduation. As more students graduate in a timely fashion, more spaces will be available for new students who are currently being cut out of public higher education.