Dear Davis Faculty Association members,
Well, we made it through another tough and trying year. We started back to campus with a combination of in-person masked instruction, remote instruction, and other hybrid combinations. Getting our vaccinations, maybe dealing with anti-vaxxers and anti-masking elements, lining up in the ARC for Covid-19 testing, filling out the daily symptom survey. We all tried to balance what our own knowledge of Covid-19 directed us to do, which was sometimes at odds with what the university was telling us to do. I think it’s fair to say we are all hoping for a continuing transition to more normal times in the classroom, perhaps with a better understanding of the benefits and the drawbacks of on-line educational practices. On top of all these challenges, we still had to deal with a myriad of faculty concerns involving supporting our university lecturers, resisting the erosion of ethnic studies, keeping an eye on our salaries and benefits, and other faculty concerns. It’s been a difficult year.
I hope you agree though that we as faculty of the University of California, one of the most powerful educational institutions in the world, can make a difference. That difference relies upon our success at organizing a collective response as UC faculty. It is this very reason why the Davis Faculty Association (DFA) exists and why we are pleased to have you as members. On the national scene, professors are under attack in many states, with numerous attempts at abolishing tenure and limiting the free-speech rights of faculty, including direct attacks on how history and science are taught. Only a powerful collective and united response from professors and educators will be able to defeat these attacks on knowledge.
The Davis Faculty Association is the ONLY independent organization that exists solely to represent and fight for faculty here at UC Davis. Together, we pool our resources and talents to ensure that our views are heard, loud and clear. Because we faculty are very busy, it is even more imperative to strengthen the DFA. While we are in the classroom, in the lab or in the field, the Davis Faculty Association is looking out for our interests: analyzing administrative proposals and documents, protecting our salaries and benefits, developing a community of faculty, meeting with our political representatives in Sacramento and Washington, DC, and doing many other tasks.
In addition to the day-to-day activities of the DFA, we are a member of the Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA), which means we are organizationally connected with faculty associations at all University of California locations. Nationally, we are in partnership with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), which connects us with university professors in hundreds of other universities across the United States. Together, we form a powerful body in a strong position to ensure the survival and success of higher education.
Here are some things the DFA and CUCFA were involved in this past academic year:
* Helped create the national Higher Ed Labor United (HELU). Through two summits this past year, the unions and organizations that have joined represent over 550,000 student workers, postdocs, staff, and adjunct, contingent, and tenured faculty across the country. HELU’s goal is to influence national higher ed legislation.
* Petitioned the systemwide BOARS in support of the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council-authored UC A-G ethnic studies requirement.
* Supported the Academic Senate memorial to the UC Regents that UC reduce on-campus fossil fuel combustion.
* Opposed the proposal for a broad change to the College of Letters and Science upper division writing requirement. At its June meeting, the College Assembly adopted a narrower modification that is acceptable to more stakeholders.
* Surveyed our members about concerns regarding the reopening of campus.
* Supported UC-AFT lecturers as they bargained a new contract with UC, including by collecting signatures from nearly 1,000 tenured faculty who pledged to honor the picket. In the end, no strike was needed.
* Lobbied the Governor and legislature for more base funding to UC.
* Supported legislation that would provide funding to build student, staff, and faculty housing (AB-1602, which is now half-way through the legislative process).
* Called on UC to expand health plan fertility benefits
* Supported AB-295, which proposes tuition-free public higher education in California, but warned that per-student funding should not be reduced in this process.
It is important to understand that the DFA is not a “service” organization, it is a representative organization. We need you to step up and get involved. If you think the DFA should take a stand on something, get involved! If you think the DFA board made a wrong call on an issue, get involved! We are always looking for new members to join our board, and thus make us a more representative body of faculty. We on the DFA board understand all-too-well that we faculty find it difficult to juggle our teaching, research and service responsibilities and still keep an eye on administrative actions and political developments. Nevertheless, this work is essential to maintain the rights of faculty.
It is up to you, our members, to strengthen the DFA. Pass on this newsletter to a colleague and ask them to join us in the DFA. It is easy to sign up, just go to this link: https://ucdfa.org/join/
Congratulations on making it through the year, and we hope you are able to have a peaceful and rejuvenating summer! See you in the Fall!
Jesse Drew (co-chair)
Cinema and Digital Media
Richard Scalettar (co-chair)
Physics
Glenda Drew
Design
Joe Kiskis
Physics
Valeria La Saponara
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Susette Min
Asian American Studies
Donald Palmer
Graduate School of Management
Seth Sanders
Religious Studies
If you want to speak with a DFA board member, just reach out. We would all be glad to speak with you!