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President Corrigan's ViewPointViewPoint by President Corrigan is published in First Monday for the faculty and staff at SFSU on the first Monday of the month during the fall and spring semesters by the Public Affairs and Publication s offices. EXT 8-1665. pubcom@sfsu.edu |
This column picks up where I left off in December -- but on a much happier note. When I wrote about the bargaining process before the holidays, negotiations appeared to be at a standstill, and I ended the column with a plea for action: "This is an urgent matter. I can see no higher priority right now for all of us than to get the bargaining process moving, to get a f ine faculty -- one of California's richest resources -- the compensation they need, and so richly deserve."
Now, at last, an agreement is in sight. And while it represents, as it must, compromises on both sides of the table, faculty are likely to regard it as preferable to the only other option at the end of this hard year: imposition of the CSU's "last best" offer. The proposed three-year agreement is based on the recommendations of the fact-finding pan el. In the area of the contract which has most deeply concerned me -- compensation -- the proposed agreement does put us on the path to closing the faculty salary gap. The three percent across-the-board increase, retroactive to October '98, is a start. Merit increases are fully retroactive to July 1, 1998.
The doubling of the merit pay pool, to 40 percent of the salary base, provides an opportunity for widespread improvement of faculty salaries. In 1997-'98, we were able to make 150 faculty merit awar ds on this campus. The expanded pool would allow us to reward far more faculty, far more generously. The proposed agreement also recognizes the workload issue for department chairs, providing for a minimum additional stipend, which campuses can augment -- and which I intend to, as our budget allows.
To look at the compensation package's average five percent increase in more individual terms, take the case of a full professor -- a group that makes up almost 65 percent of this University's full-time fac ulty. With the five percent, the academic year salary of CSU full professors would average about $71,600. The average salary for full-time CSU faculty at all ranks would rise to slightly more than $63,000.
Looking ahead, Chancellor Reed and the Trustees recognize that we still have a way to go to close the faculty salary gap. Accordingly, they have committed the system to providing a six percent faculty salary increase in 1999-2000, assuming the CSU gets its requested budget from the state.
When it comes to the mechanisms for merit pay, we can be proud that San Francisco State is recognized as the system leader. In fact, our move to give more responsibility in the merit pay process to college and department faculty is in line with the proposed agreement. As a result, a provision in the agreement makes us the only campus allowed to award '98-'99 merit increases using our '97-'98 process. Thus, we would be able to make the awards the very day the agreement is ratified. The letters are signed and waiti ng.
I am pleased to see that the agreement dedicates the unspent GSI funds (July-September '98) -- some $7.22 million for the system -- to faculty, to be used for professional development. A pro rata distribution would bring some $500,000 to this campus and allow us until June 30, 2001, to spend it.
Of course, there is a great deal more to academic life and working conditions than salary. The proposed contract responds to a number of what I know are strong faculty concerns, among them:
Retaining department chairs in the bargaining unit. - Allowing tenured faculty to be considered for promotion in their fifth year.
- Including counselors in faculty ranks as eligible for sabbatical leaves.
- Providing two-year employment contracts for lecturers with six years of continuous service; permitting salary placement above the SSI maximum with new appointments; increasing the periods of leave for part-time lecturers.
- Doubling paid maternity/paternity leave and mak ing it available to all bargaining unit employees; increasing paid bereavement leave.
- Increasing department and college responsibility for merit decisions and strengthening the appeals process.
- Providing mandatory reviews by department chairs for all evaluations.
- Increasing substitute pay from 18 class hours to 20 days.
There is far more to the proposed contract than I can cover in this one column, and I am not attempting a comprehensive review of its provisions. Rather, I want to convey my satisfaction that an end to a very hard year may be in sight. While I admit to mixed feelings about some elements of the proposed agreement, I am enthusiastic and hopeful about others. Our faculty deserve a reward system that matches their excellence, and a work environment that stimulates and supports their teaching, service, and scholarship. With a contract agreement at hand, I hope that we can now go forward in this, our Centennial year, with renewed and redirected energy.
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