A MESSAGE FROM CFA

Choosing Spring Furlough Days

When selecting your furlough days, the CFA hopes that faculty will choose the common furlough day of March 4th, as recommended by the Faculty Senate. On March 4th there will be statewide actions around education, from K-12 to Community Colleges, the UCs and the CSUs. We hope you'll join us.

The CFA is also calling for NO BUSINESS AS USUAL this Spring. Faculty worked carefully to make sure that the furlough process went easily this last semester. What have we gotten for our cooperation? We know that hundreds of lecturers—perhaps 200-250 of our brothers and sisters—will lose their jobs this Spring. Those who remain have tried to do the same (or more) work for less money. We’ve seen staff laid off and student fees increased (and they probably will be raised again in January). Meanwhile the administration continues to hire for new administrative positions, and the President’s son got a transfer and a raise. The CFA respectfully suggests that you use your Spring furlough days to MAKE A STATEMENT: if we go quietly into this furlough night, we tempt the administrators to attempt to make it permanent. If we CHOOSE INSTRUCTIONAL DAYS to furlough we make a public statement about how furloughs impact instruction. Some will say we are punishing students, but furloughs and budget cuts hurt everyone—it is the Chancellor and the Legislature who are hurting our students! There is no set amount of instructional days you can furlough, use your best judgement but please take a stand and do not knuckle under!

We'd also like to remind you that if you used your "clumping option" (more than 2 days in a week or 4 days in a month) this Fall, you cannot do so again in the Spring--it is a one-time only option.

Certification Redux

The subject of the Certification form has been one of the more controversial parts of the Furlough MOU since the details were published.

The Furlough MOU in section 5. B. states:

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b. Prior to starting their assignment for any term, pursuant to this agreement, Faculty Unit employees shall certify in writing that:

i. They will not work on the assigned furlough day; and ii. They will not work beyond the duties assigned for the furlough week

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This written certification was required by the CSU Administration for "risk management" purposes so that a faculty member can't come back and demand payment for those days worked on furlough. CFA has no interest in, or reason for, monitoring your observance of the furlough days.

The problems with certifying furlough days arise from the varying nature of the work we do, and different faculty's professional responses for appropriate ways to reduce the workload in a manner commensurate with the 9.23% reduction in pay. Again, no single rule for workload reduction is appropriate. It must be left to the individual faculty member's best professional judgment, but there must be a workload reduction. If we don't reduce our workloads, then it will appear as though we can operate normally under these conditions, and the Chancellor's Office will continue to attempt to balance its budget on the backs of faculty. We need to make it clear we cannot serve students as we would wish, but we also need to meet the students' educational needs insofar as we can.

Do I Have To Sign The Certification?

Some faculty may chose not to sign the certification form. Please keep in mind that we don't recommend this and we have suggested some alternatives below. Not signing the form could lead to disciplinary action and could then make it difficult to get your preferred furlough days approved.

It is doubtful that the administration could or would police your work on a furlough day. It's not practical for them to do so, given that our furlough days will be spread across the calendar. But keep in mind that visible activities, or activities that could cause injury to yourself or students should not be done. Under furlough conditions, it is possible that you would not be covered for liability under such circumstances.

Keep in mind also that the certification protects you as well. If you include a letter and certification in your Personnel Action File

(PAF) it helps to put in context your evaluation for the year.

If the Administration decides to impose any kind of discipline for not signing the form, CFA will be there to help any faculty member who needs representation under articles 18 (Reprimands) and 19 (Disciplinary Action) of the Faculty Contract. Faculty who receive any notice of discipline for any reason should contact CFA immediately.

IF YOU WISH TO PROTEST signing the certification here's what we

recommend:

#1. Sign the online form, and add any additional "protest message" in a letter to your Dean.

#2. Submit a letter of protest to your Personnel Action File (PAF) immediately, indicating your opinion on the issue. Under article

11.2 of the Faculty Contract, "A faculty unit employee shall have the right to submit material to his/her Personnel Action File."

Corrections on the last Union News Issue

In the last “Union News” some of the information in the “Budget and Class Cuts Require Some Lecturers to Retire” was incorrect. Below is a corrected version. Please read the new version carefully. We also recommend the Human Resources website bulletin on retirement. An excellent, very clear, explanation of retirement benefits has been made available by Human Resources and is available at this link: http://www.csus.edu/hr/benefits/Whenuseparate1/Retirement%20Processing%20Reminders.pdf.

Budget and Class Cuts Require Some Lecturers to Retire

The decision to retire, rather than risk loss of lifetime retirement benefits

Because the number if units taught in a Part-Time Lecturer’s final semester determines eligibility for lifetime health benefits in retirement, a number of Lecturers are facing a wrenching decision this semester.

A Lecturer is eligible to retire with lifetime health benefits when he/she is a member of CalPERS and is vested. A lecturer becomes a member once he/she has worked 7.5 UNITS (0.5 TIMEBASE) FOR 3 CONSECUTIVE SEMESTERS. The lecturer is vested when he/she is at least 50 years old and has worked the equivalent of 5 full-time years as a CalPERS member. [Service is prorated for part-time members. 1720 hours equals 1 year of CalPERS service credit, anything less is a partial year.]

In order to retire with these benefits though, the lecturer must teach at least 6 units (0.4 TIMEBASE) in his/her last semester of work. If YOU are qualified to retire with lifetime health benefits, and IF you think the number of units you will teach will be less than 6 this spring, investigate early retirement in order to keep your lifetime health benefits. These benefits are worth thousands of dollars over your lifetime, and their loss should be avoided if at all possible.

Retirement Timeline: Retirement is not automatic. A person has 120 days from separation date to officially “retire”. If a person is eligible for lifetime health benefits, but does not officially retire through Human Resources within 120 days of “separation”, he/she will LOSE lifetime health benefits, an incredible loss.

Should I Stay, or Should I Go? A Part-Time Lecturer who is not sure if he/she will be given enough units to hold onto benefits in the spring is confronted by a very difficult decision. The Lecturer may decide not to retire at the end of Fall, and hope to get 6 units of work in the Spring in order to keep benefits. But if the person is offered only 1-5 units in spring, he/she will have forfeited benefits for the Spring, as well as the opportunity to hang on to his/her benefits for life. Many lecturers are choosing to retire now, in order to keep lifetime health. It is possible that the lecturer might choose not to retire, work without benefits in the Spring (paying for COBRA, or getting benefits some other way), then be offered 6 units the next Fall, and again be eligible for benefits. But in these uncertain times, there is certainly no guarantee that the Lecturer will be given enough units to qualify for benefits. A department chair can NOT guarantee units in a future semester.

Be informed: If you are concerned about your lifetime health benefits (you are qualified if you are 50 years old and are vested in CalPERS), contact Human Resources for an appointment: Mary Ford is an excellent resource at 278-6213. An excellent, very clear, explanation of retirement benefits has been made available by Human Resources and is available at this link: http://www.csus.edu/hr/benefits/Whenuseparate1/Retirement%20Processing%20Reminders.pdf at the Human Resources-Benefits website. You should also contact CalPERS to learn more about your retirement benefits. Access your CalPERS account at: http://www.calpers.ca.gov/. Contact HR immediately if you are considering retirement, as the HR office closes December 21.

Return to Work after Retirement: A Lecturer may return to teach after officially retiring, but he/she may only teach up to 50% of the unit load taught IN THE LAST FISCAL YEAR PRIOR TO RETIRMENT. After retirement, a Lecturer will have lost all preference in order of appointment, and start at the bottom of the heap for class assignment upon return.

In Solidarity,

Kevin Wehr

President, CFA Capitol Chapter

Associate Prof. of Sociology