The Board of Trustees held a public hearing of the Citrus College Faculty Association’s initial proposal during their meeting on Nov. 15.
The CCFA held their initial presentation at the Board of Trustees meeting Oct. 18 to share their negotiations on topics concerning the Citrus faculty such as salaries and working conditions.
At the meeting, Director of Human Resources Robert Sammis introduced the agreement. He said under collective bargaining law, it’s required to share their initial proposals before taking part in their negotiations.
“I look forward to this process beginning, there’s a lot for us to talk about,” Sammis told the board. “We’ve always been able to listen to one another in negotiations and make progress. I’m hopeful that these negotiations will continue to demonstrate that.”
Auto tech instructor and CCFA’s Chief Negotiator David Brown said it has felt like a long time to get where they are, although they are four months ahead of schedule. Brown said he hopes those will be a meaningful four months.
Although there are many items listed in the negotiations, President of the Faculty Association Senya Lubisich and Brown said salaries were the biggest concern.
Lubisich said via email that when the pandemic began faculty had to conform to a new way of teaching over a weekend, which resulted in difficult work that many times would go unseen. Brown said this has left everyone feeling undervalued.
“Our job has gotten bigger and we are looking for salaries that compensate and recognize the scope of work that faculty do,” Lubisich wrote.
Not only did these circumstances intrude in their work, it also had an impact in their personal lives. Brown and Lubisich wrote that inflation has made it difficult for faculty to keep up with prices of food, gas and their monthly bills.
“In my role, I think about my colleagues who are the sole earner for their family. I think about my colleagues who are raising children or caring for dependents. I think about colleagues who are paying off school loans,” Lubisich wrote.
Beyond the faculty students are also impacted by this, Lubisich says students know when faculty are enjoying their job. After the pandemic many faculty feel tired and burned out leading to atmospheres with low morale that is contagious.
Although salaries have top priority, there are other areas the CCFA wishes to resolve.
Brown said the district’s and the Faculty Association’s proposals share common themes. The CCFA has identified mutual areas with the district that could be improved.
“They have to do with the scheduling of classes and how that process ought best to take shape,” Brown said at the meeting Oct. 18. “We have some best practices ideas that we are looking at.”
Brown also said the CCFA has ideas on online education because it will not go away and will only continue to grow. The CCFA wants to discuss how online evaluation can be improved.
Lubisich agreed with Brown that it has been a long road to get where they are.
“We look forward to your consideration of our proposal, we certainly look forward to the process,” Lubisich told the BOT on Oct. 18. “We look forward to continuing to serve a college that means a terrific amount to so many people.”
Lubisich ended the presentation by saying she wants Citrus to be a place that is meaningful to faculty and their students.
On Nov. 29 the district proposed a raise, to which Brown says the CCFA proposed a counter proposal they find very fair.
“The proposal on salary that CCFA received from the District has started good conversation and discussion. For a faculty that is looking to see our value communicated, we are making good progress,” Lubisich wrote.
