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Who’s on First? (…a response to Mike Allen’s April Article) |
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by Steve White, Executive Vice President of Instruction I agree with many of the
points raised in Mike’s article, “You First,” which
appeared in last month’s Chaparral.
He is correct; we have an obligation to examine all the potatoes
(programs/services/etc.) both large and small to diminish the deficit
created by the Sacramento budget cuts.
Our goal is unfortunately very complex.
We must find six million+ dollars of cuts
(the current budget shortfall) that do a minimum of damage to our
academic programs and services for students.
Every dollar we fall short of that goal must be recaptured in
reduced salaries and benefits for all
employees (faculty, staff and management), in order that the college
remain financially solvent. Mike urges
college administration to take the “first step,” and lead by example
and take a voluntary pay cut. Again
I agree with Mike; administration does, I believe, have an obligation to
lead by example. In fact,
the administration took a giant first step by refusing
to issue March 15th notices of impending layoffs
to FT faculty and other certificated personnel.
The GCC Board and college management team took a huge risk during
this period of uncertain budgets by guaranteeing the jobs of so many of
our staff. Many colleges
around the state took the opposite approach. Because of
our history of collegial collective bargaining and collaborative
problem-solving over the last 12 years, the Board and administration
have faith that the faculty will ultimately be willing to accept some
sacrifices, as long as they believe the process of creating the upcoming
’04 budget makes every reasonable attempt to control costs prior to
considering take-backs from employees. Ventura CC
represents an illuminating negative case study.
The Ventura Board issued March 15th
notices to the entire full-time faculty, then entered salary
negotiations with the union. The
eventual settlement called for a minimum 4.3 percent salary
rollback which could reach 5.0 percent or higher if triggered by
additional new cuts from Sacramento, in exchange for the district
agreeing to rescind the layoff notices. Compare
that to the more progressive (dare I say family) approach at GCC. The
Board, at the urging of the administration, decided to take the prospect
of certificated layoffs off the table last January.
Two months ago, Larry Serot, VP of Administrative Services,
elected to expand the ’04 budget process by including three times as
many faculty and classified representatives on the committee in an
effort to consider every reasonable cost savings and to make the process
as transparent and as participatory as possible.
Unfortunately,
next year’s revenue shortfall is so great that it was necessary to
eliminate a number of classified positions, which had been added over
the last six to eight years. This
was easily the most difficult set of decisions the college has had to
make in the last 30 years. Talented,
dedicated, hard working members of the GCC family who contributed
important services in a dozen programs throughout the campus were let go
in an effort to maintain our mission in the face of greatly diminished
resources. Everyone I have
spoken with is deeply troubled by this development: never before and we
hope never again. In the end,
if the expense-revenue gap cannot be collectively eliminated during the
budget process, all employees will be asked to make sacrifices on a
proportional basis, in the same way that we pass out equal COLA raises
to all employees in most years when funds are available for salary
increases. One important way
we have built unity among all college employees, regardless of job
classification, is by sharing the pie proportionally in times of plenty.
One way we maintain this unity in times of crisis is to share the
sacrifices as well. Good times or bad, we are adrift in the same
lifeboat. This is one
critical reason why we have been able to sustain collegial working
relationships for two decades, while other campuses around the state
have succumbed to civil war.
All
of the college managers (certificated and classified) have pledged to
accept the same percentage salary reductions that are ultimately
negotiated with the unions, so that individuals with higher pay rates
will ultimately receive greater salary reductions in absolute dollars
regardless of whether they are faculty, staff or administration. This whole
topic is distasteful in the extreme.
By accepting employment in public education, either last year or
20 years ago, we knew that salaries would not keep pace with the private
sector. In exchange, we
expected job security, longer vacations and quality health care and
retirement plans. This is
the third time since the early 1980s that this social contract has been
placed in jeopardy by statewide financial crises beyond our control.
The prospect of losing ground has all of us frustrated and
apprehensive. However, I
remain confident that our stores of good will be more than ample to help
us collectively navigate through the unpleasant set of choices that
confront us today.& |
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