Chair’s Report
Faculty Chair Jeff Reeder opened the meeting by describing the extraordinary budget difficulties that SSU and all campuses of the CSU face this year. On the one hand, expenses are significantly greater than usual due to unprecedented demands created by the coronavirus pandemic, which require most instruction be done virtually and also much staff work. But revenue is substantially lower as well, both because unprecedented demands on state services have required the state to reduce appropriations, and because student enrollment is down and therefore fee revenue is down also.
Chair Reeder also mentioned the new Ethnic Studies requirement recently imposed by the State Legislature. All campuses in the CSU are in the process of developing programs to meet the requirement. Sonoma State is “ahead of the curve” because we already have an ethnic studies requirement (although it may need some modifications to meet state mandates).
Addition to Agenda
Before the agenda was approved an important item was added: “Proposed Academic Senate Resolution on Faculty Workload”. The document is appended below to this report.
Resolution on Faculty Workload
The Senate determined that this matter is important enough and urgent enough that it voted to waive the First Reading. Schedules are already being set for the spring term, and issues in contention must be resolved. After discussion the Resolution was then approved without dissent.
These points were made:
- We know the administration is facing severe difficulties in coping with budgetary shortfalls. In these unprecedented times they have far worse budgetary pressures than even the very bad ones we normally live with. They've got to run a University with fewer funds and far heavier demands than ever before or ever imagined before.
- But it is not acceptable to ask faculty (and other University employees) to sacrifice by accepting lower salary or higher workloads. There is a contract, after all: the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). If necessary this can be renegotiated by mutual agreement of both parties but until and unless it is, it remains a Contract that must be observed, and the administration is legally and ethically compelled to respect it.
New Emeritus Faculty
The Senate approved pro forma a recommendation to the President that 14 recently retired faculty be awarded emeritus status.
Name Department
Cinzia Forasiepi Literacy Studies and Elementary Education
Marc T Jacobson Geography, Environment and Planning
Jeanne M Janae Kinesiology
Kurt J Kemp Art
H John Kornfeld Curriculum Studies and Secondary Education
George Ledin Jr Computer Science
Mutombo Mpanya Hutchins School of Liberal Studies
Janeen E Olsen Business Administration
Gerryann Olson Psychology
James A Robison Business Administration
William Teed Rockwell Philosophy
Michael Schwager Art
Wendy A Smith Nursing
Nora B Wilkins Chicano and Latino Studies
President’s Report
The Chancellor’s Office has just announced that throughout the CSU, spring 2021 classes will again be on-line to the extent possible. We will once again need WASC approval for our on-line instructional offerings.
The search for a replacement for Chancellor Tim White is almost complete, and his successor will be announced on 23 September.
EPC Report
The EPC presented for approval a proposal for a new BA degree in physical science. Since this is a new degree, approval by the Chancellor’s Office is required. Within the degree, students may choose either of two concentrations, or none: 1) Teaching and 2) Foundational Health. There is considerable flexibility in the choice of a field of specialization within the natural sciences. The degree proposal was accepted for a First Reading.
FASC Report
The Committee has given considerable thought to how to accommodate RTP procedures in the world of CoVid. They presented a proposal, but there were some concerns with it expressed by Senators. The Committee will consider these comments and bring back a revised proposal next time.
There was a brief discussion about a problem that seems to have arisen because we have new deans almost across the board, and these deans are not only new to their positions but new to SSU and even the CSU. There have been complaints that these new deans are operating under RTP guidelines other than those approved by our own faculty, putting faculty seeking tenure and/or promotion in the awkward position of having prepared to meet one set of guidelines and then being judged by a different set. More attention will be given to this concern by the Committee.
Diversity Committee
The Diversity Committee has been looking further into problems for low-income students of expensive course materials. There has also been some concern about the faculty members’ relationship to the Bookstore.
The Committee had recommendations for dealing with the former issue. Primarily, they recommend formal mechanisms for faculty to share with each other resources that will be instructionally adequate but less expensive. This is especially important with regard to new hires. The Senate approved the package of recommendations from the Committee.
>> Submitted by Rick Luttmann, Senate Representative for SSU-ERFSA
PROPOSED ACADEMIC SENATE RESOLUTION ON FACULTY WORKLOAD
September 10, 2020
RESOLVED: That the SSU Academic Senate states its grave concern about the Sonoma State University Administration efforts to force departments to increase class enrollment without prior consultation with faculty, without providing adequate resources to accommodate additional students, and without regard to its negative impact on the learning conditions of students;
RESOLVED: That the SSU Academic Senate demands that the Sonoma State University Administration faithfully adhere to the provisions of the CSU/CFA Collective Bargaining Agreement on faculty workload;
RESOLVED: That faculty in all disciplines be assured of their right and obligations to resist pressures to increase class sizes, workloads, or other measures which in their judgment might compromise the academic integrity of their courses and programs;
RESOLVED: That the SSU Academic Senate charges it standing committees and their sub-committees to review policies relevant to faculty workload and student learning conditions to ensure that they are in keeping with the guidelines and the spirit of the CSU/CFA Collective Bargaining Agreement and the primary mission of the university of providing high-quality liberal arts education and ensuring students success.
Rationale:
From May 2020 to June 2020 – while faculty members were on summer break – several faculty members received emails from their department chair informing them that their class sizes for Fall 2020 semester would be increased (in some cases, by up to 129%). Some faculty members were given a Hobson’s choice of either agreeing to teach the larger class or not get any teaching assignment at all in the Fall 2020 semester. Email records indicate that the orders to increase class sizes came directly from school deans.
In response to this, the CFA filed a chapter grievance for excessive and unreasonable workload on June 26, 2020. On August 11, 2020, SSU issued its Level 1 Response to the chapter grievance dismissing the faculty’s claims of excessive and unreasonable workload. SSU has taken the position that (1) the university does not need to consult with faculty before increasing enrollment caps, and (2) it can increase class sizes as much as it wants to. The CFA has moved the chapter grievance to Level 2 where it will be heard by the Office of the Chancellor.
More recently, academic departments received instructions from school deans to increase class sizes for the Spring 2021 semester in an attempt to deal with the budget cuts.
It is true that the university is in the midst of challenging budgetary times. In times of crisis, there is always a temptation to cut corners and set aside values and principles for short-term gains. However, it is during times like these that the university’s actions should reflect its professed values and principles. Sonoma State University is a public institution of higher learning and its priority must always be providing high-quality education to its students. Requiring its faculty members to teach larger classes without providing needed resources not only violates faculty rights under the Collective Bargaining Agreement but, more importantly, leads to deterioration of the quality of teaching. Whether in face-to-face or in online classes, larger class sizes limit instructors' ability to offer more depth in learning activities, keep students engaged, monitor students’ learning progress, and provide advising and support.