by Mary Ann Mason (UCB) President, Council of UC Faculty Associations
When I first took over as President of the Council last summer, one of my colleagues stopped me in the hall. “Congratulations,” he said, “but tell me, What is the Council doing for me?” Here is my response to him:
You may be familiar with the activities of the Faculty Association on your campus, but unaware of what goes on at the Council level. One of our most important activities is constant lobbying for faculty interests in Sacramento. As the only organization dedicated solely to the legislative interests of the UC faculty, we support a professional lobbyist, Ralph Ochoa, and our own staff and volunteer faculty members also constantly monitor relevant bills, sitting through long committee hearings and sometimes waiting up to influence late night votes.
These are some highlights of legislation that the Council has been actively engaged in promoting this past year.
· A minimum 5 percent raise for all faculty (closer to seven percent if you received a merit). This is the third year of a hard won compact with the governor to bring faculty salaries up to parity with our comparison eight institutions. Next year this goal should be achieved.
· Long-term stable funding for the university. The Council labored long and hard to promote AB 1415 to guarantee the university a stable portion of the state budget for at least the next several years. We cannot recruit or retain top faculty without long-term stability. Despite everyone’s efforts and success in persuading both houses of the Legislature to approve it, the Governor did not sign the bill but promised instead to work out a second compact with UC.
· Funding for medical education. In our current volatile climate of health provision, UC medical schools face increasing cutbacks in fees for patient services with serious consequences for faculty support. We actively supported two bills which could alleviate this crisis by attracting matching federal funds to UC’s academic medical centers in the near future and by requiring the California Health And Welfare Agency, the California Medical Assistance Commission, and UC to meet to discuss the long-term funding of medical education.
The Council also promotes faculty benefits and advocates for faculty rights and privelges within UC. The Council is actively pursuing on-going issues such as budget allocations for faculty salaries and benefits; domestic partner benefits; choices in benefits plans; definitions of salary parity; the development of the tenth campus; and proposed changes to the APM regarding the medical compensation plan, faculty disciplinary procedures, and standards regarding incompetence.
As I finished my litany of activities, my colleague said, “Okay, you win. It’s time to become a member. Sign me up.”
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