Community college RIFs would mean lost revenues

When 31 College of the Sequoias instructors received pink slips in March, faculty didn't mourn, they fought back.

As a result, the 31 endangered jobs have been pared down to five, and the College of the Sequoias Teachers Association (COSTA) is hoping to get the number down even further. Faculty whose jobs where saved include a 33-year tenured professor and an award-winning journalism instructor.

"Through hard bargaining, we got the board to offer a golden handshake, which 13 faculty members will take advantage of. That helped save $1.6 million," says COSTA President Dan Shelly.

Chapter leaders believe that there should be neither layoffs nor pay cuts since it was discovered in factfinding several weeks ago that the district has a $10 million reserve (21 percent) in the bank.

"The district is going to look foolish if they lay off faculty," says Wayne Preston, COSTA negotiating chair.

The money saved through layoffs would be lost if the district is not able to offer courses to students. "We've determined that the college may save $3 million, but suffer $9 million in lost revenue," says Preston.

"What our board of trustees really wants is for us to take a pay cut, but we're not going to do that," says Shelly. "Even the people who were laid off have told us we should never take a pay cut. We did it in 1984, but we're not going to do it again."

Shelly and Preston have been among hundreds of faculty and students jamming board meetings, speaking out on campus, participating in letter-writing campaigns, and protesting the board's conduct - it met in illegal closed sessions to reduce faculty and programs. The process has been a long one, but it has demonstrated faculty tenacity and mobilized students to take action.

Some faculty leaders claim the tension between faculty and administration goes deeper than the current budget crisis. The administration, they say, has been on the warpath because of the association's attempt to defeat a board member in the November elections. The union, which was unsuccessful in its effort, has been the focus of administration attacks ever since.

"This is absolute retaliation for our election campaign," says Preston.

Preston was shocked that the board attempted to lay off tenured faculty in the first place. French professor Mary Watté, who had taught for 33 years, had been number four on the faculty seniority list, which meant that she was unlikely to receive a layoff notice. But Watté was vocal in pointing out violations of the state's Brown Act by trustees who held several closed meetings during a board retreat. Shortly after, she was laid off.

The board also eliminated the college's prize-winning journalism department, including its full-time instructor Judy House. The decision, says Preston, was directly related to criticism of the administration by the student newspaper.

Under pressure from faculty, students and the community, the board on March 10 rescinded its earlier closed session resolution that reduced "particular kinds of services," but then voted to reinstate the decision.

"Overwhelmingly, the testimony was against the resolution. I don't think anyone was in favor of it," says Preston. "Yet, after five hours of testimony, the board turned around and unanimously voted to reinstate the resolution to reduce services by an equivalent of 85 FTEs (full-time equivalent positions). It was astounding."

The faculty association has since been able to get Watté's and House's notices rescinded, although the journalism department will still be eliminated and House's position will be folded into the English department. Although the board is clear about its wish to silence students, says Shelly, the fate of the student-run newspaper, The Campus, was not known at press time.

Nevertheless, students have been anything but silent in the past couple of months. They've supported their faculty in letters and speeches to the board.

"Community college is the nest of higher education. It is where future community contributors such as myself learn how to fly," said Joseph Cotto, regional representative of California Student Association of Community Colleges, during a town hall meeting. "I just ask, on behalf of all the silent voices that speak through me today, from all the different nests throughout the state, that you ruffle our feathers, just don't cut off our wings."

At press time, the anthropology department was still on the chopping block, and five faculty members were still facing termination. But Shelly and the association were optimistic that the trustees would eventually back down.

"We're shaking them up," says Shelly. "They have to deal with a lot of experience here."