LCCEA President’s Update, June 9, 2026

Posted on June 9, 2026 by LCCEA

LCC Faculty Colleagues –

As we prepare to celebrate students at graduation on Saturday, please find some updates for summer and fall below on retro pay, salary increases for next year, insurance information, program and service cuts, inservice schedule, HB 4124, and tomorrow’s Town Hall supporting increased funding for public education at all levels.

Retro Pay, Salary Increases, and New Contract

Look for retro pay on your June 25 paycheck. In addition, increases from 3% COLAs, compounded with 1% part-time pay parity adjustments, and the new 1.5% longevity step at the top of all the salary schedules will take effect for the 26-27 year. For faculty working in summer, these increases will be in effect on summer paychecks. For faculty not working in the summer, increases will go into effect in Fall.

In addition, your Bargaining Team continues to work diligently with the Administration as we finalize the full contract document so that it will be available to all faculty and managers. Thank you to April Myler, Peggy Oberstaller, Gerry Meenaghan, and Russell Shitabata for ongoing dedication and service to all faculty this term!

Insurance Open Enrollment – Mandatory this year

OEBB open enrollment will take place between August 15 through September 15 and will be mandatory again this year. All faculty who are eligible for insurance will be required to make plan selections during the open enrollment period. 

Thanks to our successful contract campaign, employee contributions to insurance will remain effectively flat for next year, with minimal increases beginning in October to out-of-paycheck contributions (e.g., less than $5 per paycheck more for full-family insurance and a lower increase for other insurance tiers). If not for our new contract, faculty with family insurance, for example, would be paying $342 more per month or more than $4100 per year to maintain the same insurance plan. Thank you to everyone for standing in solidarity for a fair contract.

In addition to the same plan offerings that we currently have (i.e., Moda 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Kaiser 1), the LCCEA Insurance committee has added two additional options: Moda 6 and Kaiser 3. These are HSA-eligible plans for faculty comfortable with much higher deductibles who wish to take advantage of the tax savings provided with HSA accounts. Our new contract language requires the College to make a contribution to the HSA account in the amount of the difference between the cost of the HSA-eligible medical plan and the cost of Moda plan 1 (i.e., the base plan). IRS rules prohibit having both an HSA and Section 125 account, so faculty who choose the high deductible HSA-eligible medical plan will receive college contributions to the HSA account but may not have a Section 125 account. Only faculty members comfortable with paying high deductibles should consider Moda 6 or Kaiser 3 with the HSA option.

While HSA plan options will be of benefit to some faculty comfortable with paying high deductibles or with other double insurance coverage, we anticipate that the vast majority of faculty will continue to choose the regular options for insurance (i.e., Moda 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Kaiser 1). Section 125 accounts will continue to be available for these regular plans with the same College contributions as last year.

Information on insurance can be found on the OEBB website, including a benefits comparison for all OEBB plans. Thank you to Tawnya Gillespie and Rick Riordan for Co-Chairing the LCCEA Insurance committee!

In-service Schedule 

Please see the In-service schedule below. LCCEA will host a welcome back event after work on Thursday, September 17. In addition, we will host a lunch for all faculty on Thursday, September 24, and the LCCEA union meeting will be in the afternoon on Thursday, September 24 as well. You are most cordially invited!

Monday, 9/14Faculty Connections (Contact Wendy Rose Aaron)
Tuesday, 9/15Class prep only, no other activities for faculty required
Wednesday, 9/16Class prep only, no other activities for faculty required
Thursday, 9/17Sabbatical presentations, FPD, LCCEA Fall Welcome Event after work
Friday, 9/18Class prep only, no other activities for faculty required
Monday, 9/21College In-Service Activities
Tuesday, 9/22College In-Service Activities
Wednesday, 9/23College In-Service Activities
Thursday, 9/24 College In-Service Activities in A.M.; LCCEA lunch and LCCEA meeting in the afternoon
Friday, 9/25 Class prep only, no other activities for faculty required
Monday, 9/28First day of Fall term classes
Note: 12 hours of Inservice will be dedicated to paid Canvas workshops or class prep in Fall 2026; part-time faculty may use 12 hours of inservice pay for these workshops and/or for class prep time

Updates on Program & Service Reductions

As reported in April, the Administration’s “budget mitigation plan” called for reductions of the following: 

  • One full-time library faculty position
  • Eliminating the Criminal Justice program (one full-time faculty position) and the Health Information Management program (two full-time faculty positions)
  • Reductions of non-instructional faculty coordination time, including three faculty in the Multicultural Center, one faculty member in the Gender Equity Center, one faculty member in ABSE, one faculty member in Course-Embedded Tutoring, and the Employee Wellness coordination time.

While all of the above have been reduced through Board of Education vote, some of the cuts have been reduced from the Administration’s initial plans, and eleven of the twelve contracted faculty who were impacted will retain 1.0 full-time faculty positions next year, with the twelfth still to be determined based on available class offerings. Thank you to Rosa Lopez, April Myler, and Gerry Meenaghan who have served on this team helping to ensure faculty rights are honored and to advocate for maintaining essential programs and services for our students.

There will be minimal impacts to sections available to part-time faculty in some departments and programs, which will be mitigated by an overall substantial increase in the part-time budget at LCC of $1.6 Million more for next year, which should result in expanded offerings and reduce the likelihood of mass class cuts like all the ones that occurred this year and whose effects are well documented by the Faculty Council Class Cuts Taskforce’s Report.

Lane County Education Workers – Save Our Schools TOMORROW, June 10

Lane County Education Workers, a coalition of local unions representing K12 through university educators of all types, will host a Town Hall to publicize cuts affecting our public education institutions and call on legislators to take action to amply fund education at all levels. Several local legislators will be in attendance. Please join colleagues from LCCEA, LCCEF, EEA, OSEA, GTFF, SEIU, UAUO and more to advocate for investment in public ed for the common good. See flyer here. 

Statewide News

As we wrap up this academic year, work begins tomorrow at the HECC to assess the higher education system in Oregon and produce a report as required by HB 4124. The bill specifically requires the following.  

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission shall conduct a study of the condition of Oregon’s post-secondary education system and develop detailed recommendations for the design, implementation and operation of a viable and superior institutional framework that: 

(a) Supports access to post-secondary education institutions for students across geographic location, including rural communities and other underserved populations; 

(b) Fuels regional and statewide economic development and employment opportunities; and 

(c) Improves the financial viability of each post-secondary education institution in Oregon and the post-secondary education system as a whole, including by addressing projected enrollment, increased personnel costs, changes in federal law or priorities, sectorspecific inflationary costs or other related factors.

A third party consultant conducted initial focus groups, resulting in this process document about the initial steps the HECC will follow in order to conduct this comprehensive study.  Another third party consultant will be hired by the HECC to convene an Advisory Group which will lead this work at the state level. I am honored to have been appointed to serve on this committee representing OEA and all education unions in the state and, together with the Executive Director of OCCA, will be one of two members with any affiliation with community colleges. While this work may ultimately lead to change for higher education in Oregon in the future, the initial bill is solely focused on a report to the legislature rather than determinations. The scope of the study is exceedingly broad while the scope of future change is unknown and could vary widely as ultimately determined in subsequent (post-2027) legislative sessions.

Union Updates & Opportunities

Please join me in thanking Joseph Colton for his service as LCCEA Grievance Chair. As Joseph goes on sabbatical beginning in Fall, we welcome our incoming Chair, Gerry Meenaghan. Under Gerry’s leadership, the team plans “Know Your Contract” information sessions for next year to help ensure faculty are informed about new rights and benefits under the contract. Stay tuned for more in Fall.

In addition, I hope you will extend a warm and robust thank you to Wendy Simmons, who after many years of unwavering service as the Action Team Chair and former union officer and Membership Chair, will be retiring from LCC but continuing to volunteer as an OEA Retired member serving on the OEA Community College Council. Thank you, Wendy, for your incredible dedication and unending team spirit!

LCCEA is a democratic, member-led organization that works through the dedication and volunteer efforts of our amazing members. Please share your interest in LCCEA committees and opportunities here.

LCCEA will be sponsoring a small group of member leaders to attend the UO Labor Education and Research Center “Summer School” conference August 14-16. Please complete this form for LCCEA members if you are interested in attending one of these events. 

Dates for Your Calendar

LCEW Town Hall, June 10, 4:30 p.m. Roosevelt Middle School Auditorium 

LCCEA Welcome Back Event. Thursday, September 17, 2026 after work

LCCEA Lunch for All Faculty,  Thursday, September 24 at 30th Ave. campus

Faculty Union Meeting, Thursday, September 24, afternoon

In solidarity,

Adrienne

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LCCEA President’s Update — April 13, 2026

Posted on April 13, 2026 by LCCEA

LCC Faculty Colleagues –

I’m writing with a few updates for all faculty on our new contract, salaries, Board governance, the Administration’s “budget mitigation plan,” and more.

New Contract, Implementation, and Retro Pay

After faculty ratified our new TA in early March by a 97.5% vote, the Board of Education also voted to ratify our new contract on March 18 at a special meeting, so it is now in effect. The Administration is working on a draft document to incorporate all changes, which LCCEA will review in full once available. Once finalized and agreed to by both parties, the complete new contract will be provided to all faculty. In the meantime, please consult this folder of agreements for precise contract language. 

The new salary schedules (see below) for this 25-26 year will be used beginning with the April 16 – April 30 pay period and will appear on the May 10 paycheck. [Update: HR has completed this work ahead of schedule and new salary schedules will be reflected in April 25 paycheck.] Retro pay from July 1, 2025 through April 15 will be processed by payroll and will be paid no later than the June 25 paycheck. We greatly appreciate the HR payroll staff who are working hard to implement both our new contract and the LCCEF contract for classified employees, which was ratified shortly before ours. In addition, LCCEA and the College are finalizing details of implementation to changes to Art. 35 (workload), which will be implemented beginning in Summer. As a result of this brief delay, all faculty working in Spring will receive a small lump sum payment, likely together with the retro pay on June 25.

Candidates on Your May 19 Primary Ballot

While LCCEA has not made any endorsements for the current primary races, I do wish to draw your attention to two important labor candidates on the May 19 Primary ballot. Jennifer Smith, the classified president of SEIU 085 at UO, is a well respected colleague running for Eugene City Council in Ward 3. Amit Kapoor, former LCCEA Vice-President for Part-Time faculty and instructor, is running for re-election as a Lane County Circuit Court judge for District 6. Amit taught in the Social Science division part-time while working as a public defender before initially becoming appointed as a Lane County Circuit Court judge by former Governor Kate Brown. I hope you will give these highly qualified candidates your consideration in the upcoming election.

Budget Mitigation Plan and April 22 Special Board Meeting

As you are likely aware the LCC Administration has put forward several iterations of a “Budget Mitigation Plan” to the Board of Education. For the Board’s March 18 work session, the Administration released more substantive information about the actual contents of the plan. In terms of programs and services with faculty impacts, the plan calls for reductions of the following: 

  • One full-time library faculty position
  • Eliminating the Criminal Justice program (one full-time faculty position) and the Health Information Management program (two full-time faculty positions)
  • Reductions of non-instructional faculty coordination time, including three faculty in the Multicultural Center, one faculty member in the Gender Equity Center, one faculty member in ABSE, one faculty member in Course-Embedded Tutoring, and the Employee Wellness coordination time.

Thank you to the dozens of faculty members who gave compelling public comment testimony, signed petitions, wrote letters, etc. on March 31 in support of these critical programs and services. While the Board of Education did ultimately vote to move forward with the plan, they have at least temporarily removed the Criminal Justice and HIM programs from the plan. In doing so, the Board affirmed their essential function in public oversight and support for a transparent, democratic process that involves the broader community, calling for a special meeting with time for public comment about the programs before they vote on their disposition. This Board of Education Special Meeting will be at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22, shortly before the first meeting of the Board’s Budget Committee scheduled for 5 p.m. the first day.

In the meantime, LCCEA has provided this Cease and Desist letter to the LCC Administration because they are not adhering to our contract, nor state law, in moving forward with cuts that impact faculty. Unfortunately, the LCC Administration continues implementing the program cuts by, for instance, informing students and the accreditors (i.e. NWCCU) that the Criminal Justice and Health Information Management programs have already been suspended, despite the fact that the Board has postponed voting on these programs until April 22. These unilateral actions demonstrate a blatant disregard for the role of our publicly-elected Board of Education, further jeopardize LCC’s accreditation, and likely amount to more unfair labor practices under the law.

False Austerity and Faulty Assumptions

An examination of the premise on which the Administration’s budget plan is based reveals exaggerated expenses and underestimated revenues that contribute to an impression of scarcity and a false need for austerity. For example, the Administration’s most recent budget forecasting model calls for salary increases of 7% for each of the next two years, far exceeding the COLAs provided to faculty and classified employees. At the same time they estimate tuition revenue and enrollment growth at only 1% when enrollment growth was on a 7% positive trajectory last summer – until the Administration began cancelling more than 100 sections this year leaving hundreds of tuition-paying students on waiting lists for Winter and Spring terms this year. The decision to dramatically cut course offerings, like the one to increase management staffing levels by 10% this year, reflects the real causes of a tight budget. In addition, proposals to cut programs that generate net revenue will only exacerbate budget concerns. The HIM program generates $35,000 in net revenue annually while Criminal Justice generates nearly $100,000 each year. In short, eliminating these programs would not save money; instead cutting HIM and Criminal Justice would negatively impact the LCC budget.

Please plan to attend the Board of Education Special Meeting at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22 and look for more information from your LCCEA Action Team soon.

Solidarity and Organizing

Like our LCCEA Bargaining and Action Teams, I am heartened by the extraordinary efforts of support of union members. 96+% signed strike pledges, and hundreds of faculty, students, and community members participated in organizing activities during the bargaining campaign, which absolutely made a huge impact on our success in achieving a new contract with exceedingly strong ratification support. Our solidarity and our resolve through the campaign are an incredibly solid foundation for the future of our faculty, our union, our community, and our broader democracy.

In solidarity,

Adrienne

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Update for All Faculty on Potential Retrenchments

Posted on March 13, 2026 by LCCEA

LCC Faculty Colleagues —

I’m writing to provide an update on potential retrenchments. On Tuesday evening, the Administration provided notice to LCCEA about potential retrenchments. (See email from Shane Turner pasted below.) We, in turn, shared this information with faculty in potentially affected areas. Scant information has been available, and since March 1, the Administration has repeatedly declined to respond to several LCCEA information requests about potential reductions even though they are required to do so by both our contract and state law. 

Over the past two days, LCCEA officers held informational meetings with all the contracted faculty (22 in total, plus numerous part-time faculty) in the broad areas identified for potential retrenchment by the LCC Administration. This evening the LCC Administration clarified that they plan to suspend the Criminal Justice and HIM programs. In addition, they have announced yet another version of the mitigation plan. Unfortunately, beyond Criminal Justice and HIM, they have yet to provide any information about the scope of planned reductions or the specific areas of planned reductions within the list provided in Shane Turner’s email pasted below.

We will provide more information as it becomes available. In the meantime, let us stand together with care and resolve.

My best,

Adrienne

From Shane Turner:

“I’m writing to provide you notice consistent with Article 10.2 of the faculty contract that the College is contemplating one or more contracted faculty retrenchments in the following departments:

Tutoring

HIM

Criminal Justice

Library

Additionally, we are contemplating one or more partial retrenchments in the following departments:

Health & PE

MCC

GEC

ABSE

Adrienne Mitchell, M.A., M.Ed.

Faculty Member, Academic Learning Skills Department

President, Lane Community College Education Association

Vice President, Oregon Education Association Community College Council

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Important Update for All Faculty, March 5, 2026

Posted on March 5, 2026 by LCCEA

LCC Faculty Colleagues –

I’m writing with an update from last night’s Board of Education meeting.

The Board voted to approve “the FY2027 Mitigation Plan Summary and support the President proceeding with necessary implementation actions, returning to update the Board in April with additional information and plan progress.”  The Administration’s $4.4 Million in cuts presented in the “Mitigation Plan” make no mention of which programs, services, and operational functions the Administration intends to reduce or eliminate. The plan does list a total reduction of 22.5 FTE (i.e. full-time jobs) with 14.5 classified positions (two of which are vacant), 11.5 faculty positions (one of which is vacant and 5.5 of which will potentially be “repurposed”), and 3 management positions. (Administrators explained that their use of the term, “repurposed,” in the plan means layoffs and reassignment.) The plan lists only high level categories – $2M of the proposed cuts from college operations, $1.4M from support services, and $983K from academic programs. Furthermore, it includes no reference to the $1.5+ Million dollars in new expenditures/ investments the Administration proposed in January and included in their mitigation plan at that time for a Board vote, which the Board did pass – these are budget additions that create the need for unknown budget reductions. 

No other details are available beyond the publicly posted documents about what the Administration plans to reduce or eliminate.

In approving the motion, the Board effectively blindly rubber-stamped unknown, unspecified cuts. As we know, this is inconsistent with their own policies on program and service cuts as well as documented, longstanding precedent, not to mention their duty to the public and voters who elected them.

In addition, the Board approved the motion with the “Mitigation Plan,” which includes a full $1 Million in “potential” state funding cuts despite knowing that cuts to community college funding will not take place. As the 2026 Oregon legislative session comes to a close, thanks to OEA and many partner organizations, the Community College Support Fund, which provides the state funding to all community colleges, will remain intact. See, for instance, Administrator Brett Rowlett’s email documenting this news.

Three Board members – Chair Austin Folnagy, Vice Chair Rust, and Zach Mulholland – expressed concerns about the lack of transparency and opportunity for community input and voted against the plan. The remaining four Board members voted to support the motion without any public discussion or information about what will be cut or for what reason, and without any consideration of the impacts of the specific cuts. 

You may wish to contact the Board members to share appreciation with Folnagy, Rust, and Mulholland, who remained true to their obligation as elected officials in our democracy by insisting on transparency and decision making in public meetings. 

As for the rest of the Board members, it is difficult to imagine how they will explain a vote for unknown cuts to the people of Lane County.

More information will be provided once available as well as next steps for advocacy.

In solidarity,

Adrienne

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LCCEA President’s Update, March 3, 2026

Posted on March 3, 2026 by LCCEA

LCC Faculty Colleagues,

I’m writing with a few brief, yet important updates.

LCCEA Updates

Solidarity

Through the overwhelming solidarity and support of our LCCEA faculty, students, and community, your LCCEA Bargaining Team reached a Tentative Agreement last week as strike pledges reached 96%. This could not have happened without the extraordinary efforts of our Action Team and the support of union members and hundreds of faculty, students, and community members who participated in organizing activities during this campaign, which absolutely made a huge impact on our success! 

We are also grateful for the support and encouragement we received from numerous elected officials, including Representative Lisa Fragala, Congresswoman Val Hoyle, and Senator Merkley.

Together, we have power. Our solidarity and resolve carried us through.

Tentative Agreement Next Steps

Please see the Tentative Agreement summary as well as all of the TA articles if you have not yet reviewed them.

  1. All LCCEA members have the opportunity to vote to ratify the Tentative Agreement (i.e., TA). Voting continues through Tuesday, March 10.
  2. Pending the results of the LCCEA membership vote, we will have a Celebration!
  3. The TA will take effect and become the new contract after both the LCCEA members ratify and the Board of Ed ratifies, which is expected to take place on March 18.
  4. After the ratification by both parties, the Action Team will take down the outdoor signs on campus.
  5. In the meantime, please consider updating your students about the status in anticipation of Spring term.

State Updates

Funding

  1. The state legislature successfully passed the Federal disconnect bill that will ensure that the Community College Support Fund remains intact. There will be no reduction in state funding for community colleges!

ICE Alerts

  1. The state legislature also passed a bill requiring alerts whenever ICE is confirmed at any school or higher education campus in Oregon.

Both of these will go into effect upon signature of Governor Kotek.

LCC Updates

“Budget Mitigation Plan”

The Administration is now asking the Board of Education to vote tomorrow on a newly released “plan” with $4.4 Million in unspecified cuts. The plan includes $1M in cuts related to “potential state cuts” even though the legislature just passed a bill that preserves funding for the State and will keep the Community College Support Fund intact, so there will be no reduction in state funding for community colleges, including LCC. The plan also includes $400,000 in “additional bargaining commitments,” which is not consistent with the LCCEA-LCC Tentative Agreement, nor, from our understanding, the new LCCEF agreement. In addition, the plan provides NO details on which services, college operations, or programs would be reduced or eliminated. It lists only high level categories – $2M of the proposed cuts from college operations, $1.4M from support services, and $983K from academic programs. Furthermore, it includes no reference to the $1.5+ Million dollars in creation and funding of new, unspecified programs and investments the Administration proposed in January and included in their mitigation plan at that time for a Board vote, which the Board did pass – these are unknown budget additions that create the need for unknown budget reductions. 

Finally, asking the Board to vote on cuts without knowing what they are would cause the Board of Education members to disregard their duty to the public, the campus, and community at-large. It would also be inconsistent with their own policies on program and service cuts as well as documented, longstanding precedent. In short, the plan to make $4.4 Million in unknown cuts places the Board in an untenable position to make decisions of significant impact on the college, students, and local community without any clear information on what would be cut, for what reason, and what the tradeoffs and impacts of any such decision would be. 

Please also note that no notice has been provided to LCCEA about potential cuts, nor has the Administration followed the contractually and legally-required negotiation process that they must abide by before implementing any possible reductions that would affect faculty. We made a formal information request about this yesterday and will share more information once it is available. 

The Board will also be voting on tuition, and their full agenda is here on BoardDocs. The meeting is open to the public.

Final Note

As I reflect on our 50th Anniversary of LCCEA celebration and the year since last April, I am deeply proud and grateful to have the opportunity to serve as your union President. The overwhelming support and unity that we achieved together as a faculty over the course of the bargaining campaign is not only heartening, it is a testament to our collective strength and power, cementing the future of LCCEA, in service of our students and community, for the next fifty years.

With appreciation, and in solidarity,

Adrienne

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