Lane Community College Education Association

LCC Faculty Colleagues,

Your LCCEA Bargaining Team met with the College again today to continue negotiation over impacts of Common Course Numbering* (i.e., CCN) and to present a new proposal on Working Conditions to take effect after our current MOA expires at the end of Spring. 

We also discussed ground rules and reached an agreement that any faculty member may attend bargaining sessions as an observer. Other ground rules are yet to be agreed. Meetings are on Thursdays at 4:15pm in CEN 402 and on Zoom. 

The updated CCN proposal (below) meets the College interest in ensuring that faculty members participating on statewide committees share information with department/discipline colleagues. In addition, we moved toward the College in removing the curriculum development funding pool from the proposal but maintaining CD funding for impacted courses. We repeated our position that faculty should be fairly compensated for the work required to implement changes to courses impacted by CCN.

In addition, your LCCEA Bargaining Team presented a new proposal (also below) on working conditions that provides:

• Safety measures at LCC will align with public health requirements whenever such requirements are in effect;
• Remote options will be offered for required meetings;
• Instructional testing services (ITS) will provide sufficient in-person proctoring services; 
• Flexible workplace accommodations will be provided, as applicable based on public health conditions or requirements;
• Faculty members who are ill or required to isolate but feel well enough to teach by Zoom may elect to do so for synchronous instruction; and
• Continuing to provide KN95 masks to employees and students upon request; among others.

Overall, the working conditions proposal seeks to ensure that provisions will be triggered in the event of a COVID resurgence or other public health emergency.

The College stated that they will need time to review the proposals.

Your LCCEA Bargaining Team

Cynthia Campos, OEA consultant

Sarah Erickson

Adrienne Mitchell

April Myler

Peggy Oberstaller

*CCN assigns the same course number to comparable courses across all community colleges and universities to streamline transfer from two- to four-year post-secondary educational institutions. The changes once determined by statewide committees must be implemented by each institution, including LCC.

LCC Faculty Colleagues,

Your LCCEA Bargaining Team met with the College again today to continue negotiation over impacts of Common Course Numbering* (i.e. CCN). 

The College proposed the following (See below for details):

1. Stipends of $1000 for faculty serving on statewide CCN committees and stipends of $1500 for faculty serving as chairs/co-chairs of statewide CCN committees, paid one time at the end of the academic year;
2. No compensation or release time for curriculum development for course revisions required by CCN changes; and
3. An agreement that would be in effect for one year only, starting Summer 2023, providing no workload relief for faculty engaged in this work this academic year and requiring the parties to renegotiate over the same issues again next year.

The College again expressed that they believe that all curriculum work required by changes to credits and outcomes for courses that go through CCN is part of normal faculty work. We reiterated that faculty workloads are actually significantly impacted by the changes required by CCN, and we informed the College that faculty at other institutions are receiving hourly pay or course releases for such curriculum work.

In addition, we were surprised to see that the College’s proposal appears to restrict the views that faculty members may articulate when serving on statewide committees. Any such restriction would not only contravene our contract but also our Constitutional speech rights.

In addition to discussing Common Course Numbering, we discussed but have not finalized ground rules for bargaining sessions. (See College proposal below.)

Your LCCEA Bargaining Team

Sarah Erickson

Adrienne Mitchell

April Myler

Peggy Oberstaller

Cynthia Campos, OEA consultant

*CCN assigns the same course number to comparable courses across all community colleges and universities to streamline transfer from two- to four-year post-secondary educational institutions. The changes once determined by statewide committees must be implemented by each institution, including LCC.

LCC Faculty Colleagues —

Thank you for all the feedback provided about the February 22 lockdown on campus and for your recommendations for better preparation for such events in the future.

Your LCCEA officers have agreed with the College on a one-time, non-precedent setting basis, to waive the requirement that remote options be provided for Spring Conference for the one day only this year (i.e. May 5, 2023). This will allow time for an in-person workshop on lockdown procedures. The workshop will not include any type of drill (e.g. violent actor drill). Faculty who have an approved accommodation for remote work will not be required to attend in person. Part-time faculty will be able to use inservice hours to attend per the normal practice for Spring Conference.

LCCEF has made a similar waiver for the one day of Spring Conference.

More details will be forthcoming, and a joint letter from College administration, LCCEA, and LCCEF will be sent to the campus community, likely next week.

Your Association

LCCEA sponsored a Community College Funding Pop-Up Event at the LCC cafeteria this morning from 10:30-12:00. LCCEA President Adrienne Mitchell, Membership Committee Co-Chair Wendy Simmons, LCCEA Treasurer Marge Helzer, and others were on hand to answer questions about funding for the Oregon Opportunity Grant, which provides needs-based funding for students.

Refreshments were served to passersby, and students, faculty, and staff were encouraged to send a quick message to legislators using the QR code above about three House Bills making their way through the legislative process:

*HB 2611, which would require dental and vision to be included in health benefits of part-time faculty;

*SB 416, which would require pay equity and expansion of PERS and healthcare access for part-time faculty at public universities and community colleges;

*HB 2740, which provides a uniform system for calculating part-time faculty work hours.

Other issues LCCEA supports include the OCCA request to provide a BSN option for community college and changes to the CAN licensure exam to make it more accessible to English Language Learners.

If you missed the popup but support equity in community colleges, please use the QR or website http://bit.ly/ccfunding2023

LCC Faculty Colleagues,

Your LCCEA Bargaining Team met with the College today to begin negotiation over impacts of Common Course Numbering (i.e. CCN). CCN assigns the same course number to comparable courses across all community colleges and universities to streamline transfer from two- to four-year post-secondary educational institutions. The changes once determined by statewide committees must be implemented by each institution, including LCC.

Your Team proposed:

1. Release time for faculty serving as chairs of statewide committees on Common Course Numbering;
2. Compensation for meeting time outside the work year at the rate of two hours of pay for every one hour of meeting time to account for meeting preparation;
3. Curriculum development funding for course revisions and any new course development necessitated by common course numbering up to 70 hours for revision and up to 100 hours for new courses; and
4. A curriculum development funding pool to which faculty members may apply if the curriculum development funding does not suffice.

While the College did not provide any official response, we were surprised to hear that managers suggested that all the work required by CCN should be included in regular contracted faculty workloads without curriculum development funding. We provided examples and arguments of the extent to which faculty workloads are indeed impacted.

Please see complete proposal below.

Your LCCEA Bargaining Team

Sarah Erickson

Adrienne Mitchell

April Myler

Peggy Oberstaller

Brett Nair, OEA consultant