Members and supporters of the California Faculty Association spoke out in the library quad regarding potential layoffs, bargaining issues and student safety during the National Day Of Action for Higher Education on Thursday.
On the same day, Sacramento State Provost Erika Cameron sent out a message to all faculty, deans and department chairs confirming a “substantial budget shortfall” and telling all colleges to reduce course offerings due to a lack of one-time funding and state funding. This follows another notice sent to the CFA Monday confirming that faculty layoffs will be imminent.
Anne Luna, president of the Sacramento chapter of the CFA and a lecturer in the sociology department, said that these actions by administration are preemptive considering that the state budget has not been finalized yet. She said that people’s livelihoods are at stake, even those who may have security through tenure.
“I am a tenured faculty member. I’m an associate professor. I have multiple advanced degrees, and I still live paycheck to paycheck,” Luna said. “They always try to push the work on us. We have to do so much labor just to try to get them to pay us and to keep our positions. ”
Luna said that professors without tenure security are more likely to be at risk of losing employment, but they also have less time to prepare financially.
According to the CFA’s bargaining agreement, tenured professors must be notified of budget related layoffs 180 days in advance. Yet temporary faculty and lecturers, who make up over half of the university faculty, only receive 45 days’ notice.
“That’s a month and a half to try to save up money or get another job somewhere. It’s really, really scary.” Luna said. “That’s why we’re organizing and pushing back now.”
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Danielle Duckett, a lecturer in the sociology department and lecturer representative for the CFA Sacramento executive board, said she has been dedicated to Sac State for 11 years, and is worried about not having a job next semester.
Duckett said she feels that the California State University system is misappropriating their money and manufacturing the crisis by not prioritizing more funding for education. She said that faculty are not the only ones who will be affected by layoffs, but students as well. She said that there will be less access to individualized attention, as class sizes grow due to lack of staffing.
“We should be showing what colleges can do and how we can be helping train leaders to make significant positive social change in society,” Duckett said. “Instead, I feel like we’re looking at the bottom line.”
Kathy Jamieson, CFA treasurer and kinesiology professor, said that as a full-time professor she is worried about what her retirement is going to look like. Jamieson said she feels like the CSU is punishing faculty for gaining a decent contract and is worried they might come after benefits.
“I’m not only a faculty member here. I am also a product of the CSU. I intentionally came back to the CSU to finish my career here because I believe in our mission,” Jamieson said. “If they refuse to support the staff, faculty and students in living up to our CSU mission, then this is no longer the place that educated me., iIt is no longer the place that I wanted to support because of all we contributed.”
Jaime Jackson, CFA member and non-tenured professor of political science, said that she is not concerned that she will lose her job due to layoffs because of the CFA’s bargaining agreement. However, Jackson said that she is still worried about the consequences of her activism on her employment.
”The federal government is really coming after higher education and academics,” Jackson said. “If our leaders at the state level, at the Chancellor’s office level and at the campus level are not willing to protect us, I’m very scared of what can happen to faculty like me.”
Michael Lee-Chang, a junior political science major and student organizer for Students for Quality Education, said that now is the time for students to use their right to free speech to support higher education.
“There have been students who have been threatened with deportation,” Chang said, “We need to defend our students, or else we’re gonna start seeing classrooms get emptier and emptier. Not because everyone’s facing deportation, but because people are afraid.”
RELATED: International CSU students and alumni face visa revocations from federal government
SQE held a table to support the CFA, along with other unions and organizations, such as the Teamsters and CSUEU. Matthew Mason, the representative for the Teamsters chapter 2010 and chief steward on Sac State’s campus, said that it is essential for unions to come out and support each other.
Mason has worked on Sac State’s campus for 17 years and said that the role they fulfill is pivotal to the health and safety of the campus. He said that teamsters have been laid off on other campuses, leading to weaker infrastructure management done at a higher price for the school.
In the middle of the event, Sac State President Luke Wood made an appearance, visiting each booth and interacting with both attendees and participants. Wood said that he loved seeing the unions and Sac State community come together in solidarity with faculty, mentioning that he is proud to have worked for the CFA as a student.
“There are many different ways to get to a better place. I have more hope than I am fearful, but it is going to require us working together as a team,” Wood said. “On some campuses, that’s not the relationship, but here I feel like that’s the strong desire from the leadership.”
Mutt Martinez, a junior public relations major, came to the event to support faculty after hearing about it from their professor. They said that they were concerned about the way Wood has treated the issues plaguing faculty and students, and the campus community needs to come together to support each other.
“I’m here protecting my Sac State family. If something is wrong and something needs to be done to correct it, I’m here to help correct that,” Martinez said. “If we’re a family, they’re our family too. You can’t treat our family like sh*t and then expect us not to say something about it.”
Another protest has been promoted by SQE on April 24 at 11 a.m. in the library quad advocating against class cuts, professor layoffs and raised fees.
