What does the Faculty Association do?  How does it differ from the Senate?

The association preserves, enforces, and negotiates the certificated contract.  In other words, the association ensures that faculty compensation and working conditions are protected.  In contrast, the Senate concentrates on professional and teaching issues.  Quite often, of course, the two organizations work together to ensure that both professional and working condition concerns are supported.   On certain bodies, such as the department chair task force, representatives from both the association and the Senate work to see that department chair structures and procedures are sound educationally and create reasonable working conditions for the faculty.

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Why should I join the association?  What are the benefits and obligations?

• To begin with, membership in the association is voluntary:  you don't have to join.  If you do decide to join us, you will help yourself, the district, the district faculty, and education in general.  Membership dues amount to     per month, deducted automatically from your salary.

• Membership helps you, providing you with access to special insurance programs, credit union services, and up to one million dollars worth of legal protection.  

• Second, when you join the association, you get to have a voice and to become involved.  Members vote on the contract; non-members cannot, even though they are affected by it.  Members vote for council members; non-members cannot, even though they are affected by council actions.  Members select faculty representatives on the Salary Advancement Committee (indirectly, through the council); non-members have no say on who sits on the Salary Advancement Committee.

• In other words, by not joining, you are disfranchising yourself, abrogating your right to vote on the contract, to select the officers that will help you with grievances, even to have some voice in your own promotions and sabbatical leaves.

• Most important of all, if you do not join the association, you are not fulfilling your responsibilities as a professional educator.  You are not contributing to the state-wide and national efforts to protect teachers, their pay and retirements, their ability to operate freely in the classroom environment.

• So often we hear complaints about the union, about what "they" do not do or what "it" does not provide.  In reality, we are the union.  When we join and run for office, offer our support, pay our dues, and get involved, the union is just a little bit stronger than it otherwise would be.  When we don't join, we weaken the whole structure, top to bottom.  In short, we are strong when we stick together and support one another.  We are strong when you join us.

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Who participates in the association?

By state law and contractual agreement, the faculty association represents all full-time faculty in the Mt. San Jacinto College District (both tenure and non-tenure track).  The associate faculty is represented by a different organization.

Is the association affiliated with other regional, state, and national organizations?

                 The Mt. San Jacinto College Faculty Association is affiliated with the Community College Association of California (CCA), the California Teachers Association (CTA), and the National Education Association (NEA).

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      This means that the local association is tied into a web of other, larger organizations that represent the interests of teachers and support education through political lobbying in Sacramento, Washington D.C. and elsewhere.   We also gain strength in numbers through these alliances.  The National Education Association, for example, has become the largest public employee union in the United States, with better than 2.4 million members.

     CTA and CCA lobbyists have been able to get Proposition 98 funds increased for community colleges, augment state contributions to the teachers’ retirement fund (STRS),  and garner support for Proposition 1A, the largest educational bond in state history.

     To an extent, our dues support these organizations.

What do I do if my rights have been violated or if an administrator is violating the contract?

If you suspect that an administrator is doing something to violate the contract, please contact the association.  Quite often, these problems are best resolved informally.  If that fails, then you may wish to work with a faculty association grievance monitor to file a grievance.  A formal process outlined in the contract (Article V), a grievance serves faculty members who believe that their rights under the district contract have been violated. The contract clearly outlines the timelines and formal procedures that come into play once you file a grievance.  Timelines are critical, please consult the contract. To learn more, please contact your grievance monitors: Roy Mason and Del Helms.

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How do I rise on the pay scale?

Your pay and your pay raises depend on negotiations and on the contract.  The salary schedule and the contract determine what sort of pay you receive when you hired into the district and what sort of pay you will receive as a result of salary advancement.  Both initial placement and advancement are determined by the Salary Advancement Committee.

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How does the association become involved in committees and other organizations at the college?

When any college activity involves pay or working conditions for the full-time faculty, the association should get involved.  One committee, the Salary Advancement Committee, is run by the association, with administration membership.  We also have representation on College Council and on the Fringe Benefits Committee.

How long does the district contract remain in effect?  How are disputes or disagreements over the contract resolved? 

• Normally, the contract remains in effect for three years.  If the district or the association choose--through mutual agreement--to amend the contract or to add to it, they can do so through a memorandum of understanding, which will normally become part of the contract with the next negotiation cycle.

• If both the district and the association agree that contract language is confusing and unclear, then the Contract Maintenance Committee meets to redraft and clarify contract language.

• If the association feels that the district is violating the contract, then the association as a whole or an individual faculty member may file a formal grievance, which, through stages, may work its way up to the Board of Trustees and possibly lead to binding arbitration.  In extreme cases, the association may call upon legal counsel to represent it in disputes with the district.