California Faculty Association (CFA) Trustees were presented with a “Sustainability Plan” by CSU schools at a conference in Long Beach this past week and immediately rejected the proposal, according to the CFA.
The proposal focuses on increasing reliance in private funding and student tuition instead of public support to pay for CSU professors and faculty salary increases, according to calfac.org.
“It is time that the trustees examine their budget as a moral document, one that should put our core mission of instruction at the center, keep tuition as low as possible to ensure access to the people of California, and pay faculty a decent wage that allows us to fulfill this core mission,” stated CFA Bargaining Team Chair and Sociology Professor Kevin Wehr in a news release.
The sustainability plan was a result of trying to consider how to manage the cost, revenue, and resources of the CSU’s in the most effective way, according to the CFA.
“Adding these proposed fees year after year on top of the huge increases already imposed since 2000 would be unfair to CSU students and counterproductive to the CSU’s mission of access and affordability,” said former president of CFA Lillian Taiz.
Student tuition won’t increase this year or next, but annual fee increases will cause inflation in later years, according to calfac.org.
“It would make sense to raise student fees to increase faculty pay,” said student Christopher Hanhan.
Professor Donald Girard noted that the only reason he can afford to be a professor is because he had a corporate career prior to teaching.
“I could never do this full time and I admire those that do,” said Girard.
A flyer distributed to CFA members this week noted that 45 percent of CSU faculty earns less than $40,000 a year.
Only six percent of faculty make more than $100,000 a year according to the California Faculty Association (CFA).
Student William Cudney noted that one of his philosophy professors worked hard to take care of his family and devoted much of his time to his students.
“My professor put a lot of time and effort to class, and to hear that I’ve made more money than him one year is perturbing,” said Cudney.
Professor Donna Cooley and CFA member discussed that much of the issue has to do with the different company positions.
“There is a terrible gap between CEO and workers,” said Cooley.
The average president of a CSU school is making $290,000 a year, according to presstelegram.com.
“Clearly, when every single CSU campus president makes more money than the mayor of the most populous city in the U.S., both CSU’s priorities and its rhetoric are out of whack,” said Art Professor Kurt Collins in The CFA Howler.
CSU’s faculty and staff have dicussed striking if their five percent pay increase has not been met by spring quarter.
Leave a Reply