LCC Faculty Colleagues,
I hope this email finds you well at this very busy time of the Fall term!
I’m writing with important updates for all faculty from LCCEA, our faculty union.
Class Cuts – Another Unfair Labor Practice
After the sudden suspension of the LPN program left student applicants without a place to turn, the Administration suddenly cut 100 class sections from the offerings for students this year, which amounts to 3.7% of all course offerings. This could result in a loss of net revenue up to $1M based on tuition alone after excluding all salary and OPE costs. The Administration is still doing “research” to provide a list of which classes they cancelled, impacting students in programs throughout the college. Cuts of this magnitude are not aligned with the Board’s approved budget, nor the information presented to the Board regarding a minimal reduction of the part-time budget on September 3.
The Administration did not provide notice of these cuts and claims they have no duty to bargain over the impacts of these sudden reductions. Unfortunately, this constitutes another unfair labor practice, a violation of state labor law. LCCEA leaders continue to advocate for restoration of class sections and a reasonable approach to the budget and will seek remedies to make faculty whole by filing an unfair labor practice complaint with the Employment Relations Board.
LCC Budget & Legislative Advocacy
Administration reports about the LCC budget continue to change. First, the Administration announced at the Fall Inservice to all campus that the Board had approved a plan to cut $3M each year for three years. Then, Board of Education members clarified on September 30 that they had not approved such a plan. Instead, the Board did vote on September 30 to remove a reference to $3M budget reductions each year for the next three years. However, the Administration then cut 100 sections from this year’s budget, citing a 7% part-time budget reduction that had not been approved by the Board. After that, the Administration reported on November 7 in an all campus budget message that part-time budgets were not reduced and that they were actually increased … while 100 course sections impacting students and faculty alike had just been cut from the course schedules. If you find the mixed messaging dizzying, you are not alone.
For more information please review this background on budget forecasts, that shows how misleading assumptions built into the forecasts such as 7.5% salary increases this year and 6% salary increases every year thereafter contribute to an inaccurate, unrealistic forecast.
Please also note that the budget development process for next year is only just beginning, yet the Administration has published a detailed schedule for their Cabinet to plan budget cuts in December and announce them to the community as soon as January. This timeline does not conform to the shared governance budget development process or allow for stakeholder involvement, nor does it appear to align with Board of Education timelines.
In addition, please note that there has been no reduction to state funding for community colleges; that would require a vote of the Oregon legislature. In fact, all three revenue sources (property taxes, tuition revenue, and state funding) all are up.
Finally, there is a statewide coalition, including our union the OEA, dedicated to supporting public funding in Oregon and taking action to preserve funding and to minimize any changes to the State of Oregon budget during the 2026 short legislative session. Read more about Protecting Working Families in Oregon here.
Crisis of Democracy at the LCC Board of Education
The crisis of democracy at the LCC Board of Education has reached a breaking point. As outlined in my Open Letter to the LCC Board (and as documented by public records linked to the same letter), multiple Board members sought to add a motion to their own agenda to reaffirm the Board’s role and their own policy in making important decisions on program and service reductions, yet the LCC President did not add their item and instead added only a memo supporting Administration decision making without a Board vote. In addition, the LCC President invited Board members to attend meetings in August about budget reductions– the meetings were held without public notice and despite Chair Folnagy’s and Vice Chair Rust’s concerns about the need for compliance with open meeting law. Only the Board members themselves, not college employees, can violate open meeting law; however, it is important that all members of the Administration take every possible measure to ensure the Board is in compliance with the law. The Administration does have a responsibility to address Board member opposition to closed meetings, rather than dismiss them as an “unnecessary distraction” as Administration did by email to the Board Chair. There is now a pending investigation about the August meetings with the Oregon Governmental Ethics Commission. On top of this, divisively, an unknown individual not affiliated with LCC is now spreading disinformation in a letter that appears to be a product of AI about LCCEA faculty and targeting the four Board members who have sought to reaffirm the role of the Board. From my perspective, this has the look and feel of retaliation.
Also, accreditation officials presented at the November 5 Board meeting affirming that the Board has a role in agenda setting, stressing the importance of the Board following its own policies, and confirming the role of the Board in determining what their own policies mean.
If the Board of Education does not take action to reaffirm their own role, the campus, students, and community will continue to suffer under chaotic conditions, losing trust in our beloved LCC and jeopardizing our accreditation. The community voted the Board members into public office and support their role as the governing body for LCC. Read on…
Democracy Petition & Community Support
We are grateful for an outpouring of community support to restore democracy to the LCC Board of Education, supporting the role of the Board to set agendas and vote on important decisions, with more than 420 signatures, including Lane County Central Labor Chapter of the AFL-CIO, United Academics at UO, 350 Eugene, Eugene Education Association, Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 757 — unionized workers at LTD, United for Immigrant Justice and Former State Representative Paul Holvey, Former State Senator Pete Sorensen, and Lane County Commissioners Heather Buch and Laurie Trieger. You can sign it here and share with community members: https://bit.ly/LCCDemocracy
Bargaining – Stakes High, Time Running Out
372 faculty cast ballots about the Administration’s bargaining proposal. More than 96% of full-time faculty and 80% of part-time faculty voted.
The results are resoundingly clear. 99% voted “No” to reject the Administration’s proposal.
However, after nearly a month away from the table, the Administration made virtually no substantive movement in bargaining last week. See full comparisons of the proposals on our lccea website here and a brief comparison here.
The Administration’s non-economic proposals would still: allow layoffs of contracted faculty at any time of year with only 60 days’ notice, and remove contract language that protects part-time faculty from being removed for exercising their rights to non-discrimination or First Amendment rights to express divergent views, express criticism of LCC, or speak as a member of the community free from institutional censorship. Taken together, these Administration proposals seek to carve away faculty job security and curtail Constitutional rights.
In addition, the Administration’s economic proposals in bargaining still represent a net reduction in total LCC expenditures for compensation and benefits paid to faculty through substantial decreases in healthcare benefits coupled with workload increases, including mandatory (yet only partially compensated) overloads and removal of contractual class size maximums, both of which would result in significant job loss for part-time faculty. Read the latest update from the Bargaining Team here.
It is a critical time for faculty to stand in solidarity and take action.
Solidarity
Dozens of campus and community members spoke at the last Board meeting about their experiences as students, faculty, alumni, and community supporters about the need to restore democracy at the Board and reach a fair contract that supports faculty and students. While it is understandable that some vocal expression may inadvertently occur in response to public comment, such as when numerous audience members spontaneously burst into applause with an outpouring of support after a student gave a heartfelt statement, faculty, students, and community members are encouraged to participate silently as audience members in accordance with Board of Education decorum standards.
At our LCCEA rally on November 5, more than 150 faculty, students, and community supporters attended to share a meal; hear student, faculty and labor speakers; participate in chants and even a song with the Willamette Solidarity singers. Labor unions from across the region, including the Lane County Chapter of the AFL-CIO, Oregon Nurses Association, United Academics, GTFF, OSEA and many more stood together with faculty and students in our rally for democracy in the Boardroom and at the Bargaining Table.
And faculty and community supporters are stepping up to advocate in new and creative ways. For example, see Paula Thonney’s guest viewpoint in the Eugene Weekly about A Day in the Life as an LCC Math faculty member.
Together we are stronger.
We must remain steadfast together to promote transparency over disinformation, justice over corruption, fairness over inequity, democracy over autocracy — for our students, our future, and our community’s college.
In solidarity,
Adrienne
Lane Community College Education Association 