Lynette Nyaggah
I am Lynette Nyaggah, candidate for CCA President. I come from a family of teachers and union supporters whose belief in unionism and devotion to teaching prepared me for my role as an activist and advocate. I am your colleague and a professor-leader. I began my CCA work as a Board member representing Rio Hondo and neighboring colleges. Then, I became your CCA Treasurer, committed to processing your reimbursement payments immediately. I became your CCA Vice President, committed to focusing on our locals and building membership and legislative and political involvement. Now I am now committed to serving you as your next CCA president.
I want to make CCA stronger. I believe CCA will become stronger as it continues to strengthen its alliances with its partners: students, administrators, trustees, and community and labor groups. As CCA president, I will continue the good relationships we have cultivated with other faculty unions and groups, and I will build a constructive relationship with CTA, as an equal partner in our fight for faculty rights. We must work together as much as possible for a stronger voice.
I want to make CCA more responsive to its members. I want to make us more transparent and give our membership a clear role in funding decisions. We must always remember that every time we spend money in CCA, it comes from you, and we must be responsible about how we spend it. I am committed to more effective outreach to our members. I promise to visit your campuses and meet your members personally so that they know who is speaking for them across the state. I promise to respond to you quickly and to find ways to set up two-way communication. I want to listen to your ideas and make them part of the plan for our union. I want to devise ways to use your talents and expertise in new initiatives to strengthen our union, and I am committed to encouraging leadership among our members who may never have thought of being leaders. Most importantly, I promise to work with you.
You are the key to everything I will do as CCA President. Without your support, I cannot be an effective leader. In short, you are the reason I am running. We share a love of teaching and a love of our students. Together, we will embrace the new day that’s dawning!
DeWayne Sheaffer
I, with many of our members continue to be concerned about the future of CCA and developing leaders that will serve the CCA Board and our members well. The faces currently sitting on the CCA Board because of term limits will soon change, and there must be individuals ready to commit to doing the work. I have been a local chapter president of a relatively large CCA Chapter. I have worked with local political negotiations. As a statewide leader, I have been a part of many discussions that directly and indirectly affect our CCA Organization. I have spoken before the Chancellor’s Office Consultation meetings, before the legislature, and carried the CCA message before the meetings of the Student Success Task Force. My public speaking skills allow me to use humor when needed and to use words of caution when they are needed.
Currently CCA is at a crossroad. Several issues are facing this organization as we move into the future. CTA is going through a reorganization that has had an uncertain impact on CCA without consultation. The servicing of local chapters by CTA is of paramount importance. CCA must insist that all staff servicing our chapters are trained in community college law, community college budgeting principles, and understand the community college structure. Now, more than ever, a leader should rise from our organization that can and will lead through these turbulent times and into a place of meeting the needs of our members. I will “Stand Tall” for the organization in any given venue.
In being a good leader one must not let fear guide the decision making process. Facts, logic, and working with others will guide one to the right decision. I will continue to build relationships and coalitions with the leadership at our locals, with CTA Board members, the NEA leadership, and other faculty/labor organizations that support the goals
of CCA.
If I am elected CCA President, I will ensure that there will be transparency of exactly how member’s dues are spent, demand competent Local Leadership Support, and establish communication with and commitment to all members as it relates to the effectiveness of The Community College Association. I will stay focused on those issues that define CCA. I will celebrate what we do well, and enhance what needs improving. I will stand up to any organization that tries to remove or diminish the purpose and power of CCA.