Rarely has the importance of CFA's relations with the Legislature been so dramatically demonstrated. In January at CFA's request, key legislators held a joint informational hearing on CETI which exposed many of its dubious and ill-considered features. As a result, the CSU has been forced to regroup, to become more public in its considerations, and to come up with a new proposal. CETI seemed inevitable and irresistible just a few short months ago, it no longer is either. Although CFA has a bargaining platform that speaks to many of the most important concerns of faculty, we expect that the sharpest and most difficult issues in bargaining will be around salary level, salary structure, and the PSSI program.
Money certainly is at issue here.
The marginalization or destruction of shared governance and collegial relationships with the faculty. And they are expecting him to keep steering on their course. The Trustees believe that they understand the mission of public higher education in the CSU better than the faculty. They believe shared governance is too unwieldy and that it undermines their authority. Most of all, they see the faculty as an obstacle to their operational view of higher education in which our curricula should directly mirror the perceived, immediate needs of the job market.