Salary remains the primary item pending agreement in the current negotiations process, which both teams agreed to extend until October 15, 2016.
As we move into the fall semester, we need to work together collectively—with all faculty on deck—to advocate for a strong salary improvement. A significant part of this will include presenting an alternate angle on the budget to the Governing Board.
In our current contract agreement, teams agreed to prioritize faculty salaries when possible. “The intent is that CCFT receive a fair share of increased revenues to be allocated toward the faculty total compensation package of salary and benefits, with the goal of returning to and improving the salary schedules as quickly as possible” (Article 13, Salary).
The main area of differing perception seems to be the college budget and available resources. The college administration has always been somewhat conservative in budgeting. Last year the Board agreed to increase the official college reserves from the 5% recommended by the state to 7%, a move that faculty members disagreed with. This while our actual net ending balance, which includes the official college reserve, has been about 20% for the past several years and reached an all-time high at the end of last year. Last year was one of the best budget years from the state colleges had seen in many years, with a significant combination of ongoing and one-time funds. Complicating the situation, of course, is our declining enrollment. The college can and does go into “stability” funding in years of declining enrollment; understanding how this will affect the budget has several levels of complexity.
We know that there are and will always be budget uncertainties. And, we respect a Board that wants to be fiscally responsible. At the same time, we believe that a combination of ongoing revenues that came in last year, (almost $4 million more than appeared in the final budget), combined with some ongoing resources in the budget for this year, would allow the Board to make some headway in terms of improving salaries.
The most important aspects of student success blossom with quality faculty members that are around, available and invested in their students’ education. It is also essential that the college is able to hire and retain quality instructors.
Given that faculty salaries have shrunk as a percentage of the college budget, have dropped to the bottom quartile of comparative salary rankings, and that there is a
contractual commitment to improving faculty salaries, CCFT Council, in concert with membership, will be pushing the Governing Board to look hard at the budget and to prioritize faculty salaries.
As we progress through the semester we will need your support. Please mark your calendars for the following Governing Board meetings, as we move forward we may ask for you to attend on one or more of the following dates:
September 12
October 3
November 7
December 5
Board meetings generally start at 6pm; depending on what action is needed we may want faculty to show up before or during the meeting. Stay in touch with your CCFT reps for more info.