Lane Community College Education Association

Contract Facts, brought to you by your Association 

Workplace and Office Privacy & Personal Life

Privacy

In the workplace, faculty members have a right to privacy regarding their mailbox, office, email, phones, computer, and personal items. Except in the event of an emergency, faculty members’ privacy must be respected. 

What is an “emergency”

An emergency is defined as a situation that presents physical threats to people or property or situations that present a substantial legal or financial risk to the College. In such emergencies, a third party must participate when privacy is breached.

Personal Life

Faculty members have a right to privacy independent from the workplace. A faculty member’s personal life “is not an appropriate concern of the College unless it affects the member’s job performance.”

For more details, see:

Articles 16.1 and 16.2 of the Main Agreement 

Contract Facts is a periodic announcement about faculty rights and benefits. If you have contract questions or suggestions for topics, please email lccea@lanecc.edu

Website: lccea.org
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The LCCEA Membership Committee held a Faculty Appreciation event at the Mary Spilde Downtown Center on Thursday April 6. Faculty grabbed a cup of coffee and delicious pastry and some conversation, and students joined in the fun, modeling LCCEA swag.

Thanks to LCCEA Membership Chair Wendy Simmons committee members Aryn Bartley, Gerry Meenaghan, Adrienne Mitchell and Kevin Steeves

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