If you have a specific question or comment about negotiations, send an email directly to our current chief negotiator(s) at negotiations@aft1828.org. We will do our best to get back to you in 48-72 hours.
November 25, 2024
Good Afternoon Faculty,
AFT 1828’s various negotiating teams were extremely busy over the past few weeks. Please forgive the long update, but there is quite a bit to share with our membership on three different negotiations.
ARTICLE THREE REOPENER - SALARY
SEIU Local 99 settled their salary reopener with VCCCD on October 22, 2024 and announced ratification of the agreement on November 14, 2024. SEIU members agreed to the following:
a 2% wage increase
a one-time payout of $2,214 for full-time employees (prorated for part-time employees). In their agreement, it states “this amount represents the equivalent of 2% of the covered bargaining unit’s annual salary divided by the number of FTEs”, meaning the number of full-time employees.
This makes it difficult for AFT to get the district to move. On Monday, November 18, VCCCD’s chief emailed the district’s counter to our last proposal. It included:
a 2% wage increase, rejecting AFT’s proposed 7%
a one-time off-schedule payment equal to 2% of the employee’s annual salary
2% of contract faculty’s 2024-2025 base salary, to be calculated prior to the application of the 2% on-schedule increase
2% of the total pay for non-contract faculty’s Fall 2024 non-contract load, to be calculated prior to the application of the 2% on-schedule increase
2% of the total pay for non-contract faculty’s Spring 2025 non-contract load, to be calculated prior to the application of the 2% on schedule increase
language to clarify the second salary chart in 3.3 (years of service steps)
the district rejected the service increments that would start sooner for part-time faculty members and increase more frequently
In our counter on Friday, November 22, AFT used the results and your feedback from our last survey to counter with the following:
a 7% wage increase, rejecting the district’s 2%
a one-time off-schedule payment
$5000 for contract faculty
a prorated amount of $2500 based on the contract load indicated in all Fall 2024 non-contract assignments to all faculty with .67 or less FTE., including all contract faculty loads that exceed beyond 1.00 FTE
a prorated amount of $2500 based on the contract load indicated in all Spring 2025 non-contract assignments to all faculty with .67 or less FTE., including all contract faculty loads that exceed beyond 1.00 FTE
additional clarifying language and a new title for the second salary chart in 3.3 (years of service steps)
varying percentages for the first four steps of the Faculty Hourly Assignment Schedule to reflect more equitable and even increment changes
service increments that would start sooner for part-time faculty members and increase more frequently
The district stated the district and the board are not comfortable with offering more than the 2% raise and one-time payout, even after AFT repeatedly mentioned their large reserve. We pointed out that over the past five years, the district continues to over budget and underspend. We reminded them of the high cost of housing, the high cost of living, and where our pay ranks in the state, but nothing seems to influence them to move the needle. Most important, we learned the district is very aware of how low our salaries rank when compared to other community college districts in the state.
2025/28 CBA REOPENER
I am excited to announce that AFT 1828 recently finalized the new negotiations team for the Major CBA Reopener. The team I will lead includes:
Lee Ballestero - FT Moorpark College (Political Science)
America Barroso – FT Oxnard College (Veterans/DSPS Counselor)
Russell Gardner – FT Ventura College (Auto)
Lilia Ruvacalba – FT Oxnard (Math)
Joe Selzler – FT Ventura College (Chemistry)
Angela Wilkins – PT Moorpark College (Math)
This team diligently worked over the past few weeks to create a survey that will gather feedback from our members about the upcoming CBA Reopener. The invitation to the survey will be sent to all union members’ VCCCD outlook emails this afternoon. If you do not see it, please check your spam folder. If you still have not found it, please email me as soon as possible. The survey will close promptly on Tuesday, December 3 at midnight.
The Major CBA Reopener Survey will allow AFT to capture faculty perspectives on current issues we could address during the upcoming negotiations. We will take what we learn from your feedback to generate proposals and design more focused surveys throughout negotiations. Most important, it will allow AFT to collect and verify member contact information for future surveys, ratification votes, and organizing. With this stated, it is imperative that all members fill out the survey and provide accurate contact information. Please encourage your colleagues who are members to complete it ASAP.
COMPRESSED CALENDAR
The Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team met with the district on Friday, November 15. Both sides engaged in productive and robust conversations throughout the afternoon.
AFT provided the district with a counter to the actual two-year calendar and counters to all remaining articles (Three and Five).
The district countered with their proposal for the calendar. All that’s left before a tentative agreement to the two-year compressed calendar is for both sides to proof and correct listed dates.
Unfortunately, our team received mixed messages from the district about finalizing these negotiations before the end of the semester. It’s important to understand that the majority of what AFT proposed was previously presented and/or discussed in prior meetings. In our counter, there were only three new items; two were also discussed in the prior meeting. None of the three involve a monetary obligation by the district.
On November 20, a small work group composed of AFT and district team members met to discuss and hash out the details to a part of AFT's Article Five proposal that centers on standardizing class lengths for full term face-to-face courses in a compressed calendar. Using the guidance recently provided by the State Chancellor’s Office and Title 5, the two sides looked at other districts with the same term length multiplier to identify different alternatives. This meeting ended more amicably.
UPCOMING NEGOTIATIONS MEETINGS
Compressed Calendar -
Friday, December 6
Wednesday, December 11
Article Three Reopener - Friday, December 13
AFT hopes to finalize negotiations before the end of the semester so we may focus on the CBA Reopener in the spring. Meetings will occur up to the very last day of the semester and I will update the membership once they conclude. If the Compressed Calendar and the Article Three Reopener are settled, union members will need to ratify both agreements when we return from Winter Break. Please keep a close watch on the email you provide in the survey.
If you have questions or wish to comment, please feel free to email me.
In unity,
Nathan Cole
Acting Chief Negotiator
November 13, 2024
Good Morning Faculty,
We hope you and your loved ones remain safe. AFT 1828 has been closely monitoring the
Mountain Fire and all campus activities over the past week to ensure the safety of our
members and our students. This update will be brief since the fire interrupted quite a bit of the
negotiating process. We will follow up once AFT and the district conducts the upcoming
negotiations in the next few weeks.
ARTICLE THREE REOPENER
Once AFT’s survey about the district’s proposal for the reopener of Article Three closed on
Monday, October 28, our team used the data to create our counter for the district. According
to the results, the majority of members rejected the 2% increase in salaries offered by the
district but wished to move many of the additional items we proposed to the Major CBA
Reopener this coming spring. With this, the team countered with a 7% increase to faculty
salaries for 2024/25.
Also, in our meeting on October 14, the district stated they were interested in discussing the
annual service increments for non-contract faculty in 3.9.C. In our counter, AFT proposed
service increments that would start much sooner in a part-time faculty member’s service to the
district and increase more frequently. In addition, AFT is seeking clarifying language for our
members to better understand the second salary chart in 3.3 (years of service steps).
The district agreed to provide their counter to this proposal by Friday, November 8, but the
Mountain Fire delayed their progress. Their team stated their new target date for a counter is
this coming Friday, November 15. The next negotiation meeting for the Article Three Reopener
is scheduled for November 22.
COMPRESSED CALENDAR
The team was scheduled to meet with the district on Wednesday, November 6, but this
meeting was canceled due to the Mountain Fire. Our next negotiations meeting with the
district is planned for November 15.
MAJOR CBA REOPENER
AFT 1828 interviewed potential candidates for the team this past Friday. We have additional
interviews scheduled for this week. We will update our members once the new team is
finalized.
In unity,
Nathan Cole
Acting Chief Negotiator/Secretary
October 22, 2024
Greetings Faculty.
Below is our progress on three different areas we are currently negotiating or preparing to negotiate.
COMPRESSED CALENDAR
AFT’s Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team met with the district on October 9 and October 11.
AFT and the district are seeking guidance from the State Chancellor’s Office about how a week is defined for districts with a compressed calendar now that they are using the new Standardized Attendance Accounting Method. This information will allow both sides to accurately negotiate where to place flex days within the academic year.
The district explained a new more simplified formula for calculating the length of class in a compressed academic calendar for full semester courses. AFT will verify it for accuracy and its relationship to the guidance put forth by the state in relationship to the term length multiplier.
AFT presented the district with the many tasks associated with converting courses from a 17.5-week semester to a 16-week semester.
ARTICLE THREE REOPENER
AFT’s Article Three Reopener team met with the district on October 14 to hear their counter offer to our initial proposal.
The district insists that we only negotiate salary for 2024/25 as written in the current CBA.
Their team stated the district is very interested in negotiating many of the other items we placed in our initial proposal, but want to wait until we are in the major CBA reopener to hash out the details for those many items.
The district stated they looked at their current general budget and only feel comfortable offering a 2% raise across the board to all salary schedules.
AFT reiterated the many facts and statistics used to support our initial proposal, but the district stated they can only offer 2% for the current 2024/2025 academic year.
AFT will be sending a survey to AFT members Tuesday evening to gather member responses about the district’s offer. Once we receive guidance from the membership, we will know the best way to proceed with negotiating this item. The survey will be completely anonymous and will take less than two minutes. Please note the survey will close at midnight, Monday, October 28.
MAJOR CBA REOPENER (SPRING 2025)
AFT 1828 is still finalizing our team for the major CBA reopener. The current team members will be meeting later this week to discuss strategies and plan for the upcoming negotiations. We are still looking for non-contract and non-classroom faculty from both Moorpark and Oxnard Colleges to serve on the team. If you are interested in joining, please contact the chief negotiator, Nathan Cole and AFT 1828 president, Teresa Bonham. Negotiations with the district are scheduled to begin in Spring 2025.
October 7, 2024
Good Morning Faculty,
AFT 1828 has been extremely busy this semester advocating for faculty interests with the VCCCD. Currently we are in the process of negotiating (or preparing to negotiate) three different items. Allow me to share our progress on each.
COMPRESSED CALENDAR
September 20: AFT’s Compressed Calendar Negotiations team met with the district to plan the move forward with the new timeline for converting to a sixteen-week semester. We scheduled five meetings and mutually agreed that our goal target date for finishing negotiations on the compressed calendar would be November 15.
September 26: Four of AFT’s team members attended the virtual webinar offered by the State Chancellor’s Office explaining the guidance for the Standard Attendance Accounting Method.
September 27:
The district forwarded the memo by the State Chancellor’s Office explaining the new regulations that will alter how districts calculate Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) for credit courses. It explains the updates to Title 5, Section 58003.1, and the addition of Section 58003.2, which introduces the new Standardized Attendance Accounting Method. Note the section on page four titled “College Term Length Multipliers (TLM)”.
In our meeting with the district’s negotiations team that same afternoon, AFT continued to negotiate the Nonconforming Courses, Disciplines and Programs Pilot from Article Nine. We are close to finishing and are awaiting district acceptance of one minor detail. The new academic calendar for 2024/2025 must be negotiated with the district before we may address the 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 compressed academic calendars. Once this is complete, we will TA on Article Nine.
For Article Three, the district once again rejected our proposal for stipend for faculty to convert to the compressed calendar. AFT continued to advocate and proposed various options that might bring the two sides closer to an agreement.
Future Meetings: There are two compressed calendar negotiations meetings scheduled for the month of October (October 9 and October 11).
Team Members: As a reminder, the members of the AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team include:
Nathan Cole (chief), Theatre Arts, Ventura College, ncole.aft1828@gmail.com
Angelica Gonzales, Counseling, Ventura College
Christina Lee, Nursing Coordinator, Moorpark College
Dr. Letty Mojica, Transfer Counselor, Oxnard College
Angela Wilkins, Math, Moorpark College
ARTICLE THREE REOPENER (SALARY)
October 2: AFT’s Article Three Reopener Negotiations Team conducted our first meeting with the district to present our proposal. The team members for these specific negotiations include:
Nathan Cole (chief), Theatre Arts, Ventura College, ncole.aft1828@gmail.com
Kammy Algiers - Biology, Ventura College
Lilia Rubacalva, Math, Oxnard College
Angela Wilson, Math, Moorpark College
Future Meetings: We have additional meetings planned with the district for October 14 and November 1.
Highlights from AFT’s proposal: Faculty are encouraged to review AFT’s rationale for proposing the following items:
Salary Increases: Increase all faculty salary schedules by funded COLA and 13% effective July 1, 2024, 7% effective July 1, 2025, and 7% effective July 1, 2026.
COLA Passthrough: If the district receives an approved and funded COLA, the District will allocate 100% of faculty’s share towards all salary schedules.
Increase “Years of Service” Increments: Service increments based on years of service to the Ventura County Community College District shall be added to the base salaries of contract faculty at a higher percentage.
Increase Steps in Non-Contract Salary Schedules by Five: Starting Fall 2024, faculty at Step 7 on non-contract salary schedules shall be assigned to one of the new five steps based on the process outlined in 3.13 of Article Three.
MAJOR CBA REOPENER (SPRING 2025)
AFT 1828 is still working to finalize our team for the major CBA reopener. We are currently look for non-contract and non-classroom faculty from both Moorpark and Oxnard Colleges to serve on the team. If you are interested in joining, please contact the chief negotiator, Nathan Cole and AFT 1828 president, Teresa Bonham. Negotiations with the district are scheduled to begin in Spring 2025.
If you have questions or comments about any of the negotiations, please feel free to email me. Both teams encourage feedback from our members, which continues to serve as an invaluable resource for negotiations.
In unity,
Nathan Cole
Acting Chief Negotiator
September 4, 2024
Dear Faculty,
The negotiations team met with the district last night, September 3 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Unfortunately, there was not much movement with the District on the issues we raised in the AFT What’s Up held August 28.
The compressed calendar changes the nature of our working conditions. We continue to request specifics in regards to how the hours of faculty work schedules will be calculated and converted in a compressed calendar. In turn, we must understand how this will affect wages. Faculty hours, wages, and working conditions are mandatory subjects that dictate the terms and conditions of our employment and they must be negotiated.
We did not receive the specifics we continue to request this past Monday evening.
The Board of Trustees must first vote yes on the newly negotiated CBA for the district to transition to a compressed calendar. Next week is the September board meeting. Then the district must submit our materials to the State Chancellor’s Office for 2025-2026.
If negotiations cannot conclude before Tuesday, the District will not be able to transition to a compressed academic calendar in 2025-2026.
For details on negotiations progress up through to this point, please refer to the AFT What’s Up held on August 28 and the video you may view here.
In unity,
AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team
Nathan Cole (Chief Negotiator), Theatre Arts, Ventura College, ncole.aft1828@gmail.com
Teresa Bonham (President of AFT Local 1828), English, Oxnard College, tbonham@aft1828.org
Angelica Gonzales, Counseling, Ventura College
Christina Lee, Nursing Coordinator, Moorpark College
Dr. Letty Mojica, Transfer Counselor, Oxnard College
Angela Wilkins, Math, Moorpark College
August 29, 2024
Dear Members,
Last night the negotiations team hosted an emergency virtual AFT Know What’s Up to receive your feedback about our progress and to explain some concerning issues we’ve encountered negotiating the Compressed Calendar with the district. In addition, we shared AFT's proposal for the Article Three Reopener.
Below is the video (and transcript) from the event.
To review important documents covered in the video, please review the following:
To offer feedback or share your comments, please reach out to one of the team members or your campus VP.
In unity,
AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team
Nathan Cole (Chief Negotiator), Theatre Arts, Ventura College, ncole.aft1828@gmail.com
Teresa Bonham (President of AFT Local 1828), English, Oxnard College, tbonham@aft1828.org
Angelica Gonzales, Counseling, Ventura College
Christina Lee, Nursing Coordinator, Moorpark College
Dr. Letty Mojica, Transfer Counselor, Oxnard College
Angela Wilkins, Math, Moorpark College
August 12, 2024
Greeting Faculty,
The AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team would like to welcome you back to what looks to be an eventful semester. Over the summer, the team engaged in numerous negotiations meetings with the district.
WHERE WE ARE
AFT presented a negotiation update at the AFT Know What’s Up event held this past Thursday during flex at the three campuses. For those who could not attend, AFT reached a tentative agreement with the district on Article Six at our last negotiation meeting held on July 12. Highlights of that agreement include:
If a non-contract faculty member’s class is canceled, they shall be paid for one week of an assigned class whenever that class is canceled less than two (2) weeks before the beginning of a primary semester in which the class was to be offered, and they are not offered a different section of the same course. For short-term or intersession class canceled less than two weeks before, non-contract faculty will be paid for 1/16 of the course.
If a non-contract faculty’s class is reassigned less than two (2) weeks before the beginning of the primary semester in which the class was to be offered, and they are not offered a different section of the same course, the non-contract faculty member shall be paid for one week of an assigned class. For a short-term class or intersession, non-contract faculty will be paid for 1/16 of the course.
WHAT’S LEFT
The only articles left on the table to negotiate for Compressed Calendar are Article Three (Salary), Five (Workload), and Nine (Academic Calendar). We are very close on Article Three and Article Nine.
The team has the following meetings scheduled for the month of August:
August 14
August 21
August 23
August 26
AFT NON-INSTRUCTIONAL SURVEY
In order to aid with our proposal for Article Five, union members who are non-instructional faculty (both full and part-time) will receive an email from Survey Monkey focusing on their specific concerns and needs. This anonymous survey will take approximately five minutes to complete and will close Saturday, August 17 at midnight.
HOW WILL THE SURVEY BE SENT?
Non-instructional union members received a link through email directly from Survey Monkey earlier this morning (Monday, August 12). It was emailed to the address provided by the union member to AFT specifically for communication purposes. If for any reason you did not receive the last survey link or this current one, please check your spam folder. If you do not find it there, please contact Nathan Cole as soon as possible with the email address where you would like the survey sent. Please do not wait until the last minute or there may not be time to resolve problems.
If you are not a member, please consider joining the union to participate in the process.
It continues to be an honor to advocate for our faculty. We look forward to your future participation.
In unity,
Your AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team
Nathan Cole (chief), Theatre Arts, Ventura College, ncole.aft1828@gmail.com
Teresa Bonham, English, Oxnard College, tbonham@aft1828.org
Angelica Gonzales, Counseling, Ventura College
Christina Lee, Nursing Coordinator, Moorpark College
Dr. Letty Mojica, Transfer Counselor, Oxnard College
Angela Wilkins, Math, Moorpark College
June 16, 2024
Greetings faculty!
The AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team continues our fight for your faculty rights. Although the spring semester ended and we are off contract, the team is committed to completing our due diligence and advocating in the best interest of our union brothers and sisters. We cannot thank those members who participated in our past few surveys enough. Your feedback and responses continue to serve as invaluable resources to support our proposals and arguments as we meet with the district and negotiate the conversion to a compressed calendar.
THE PAST FEW WEEKS
Since our last update on May 13, AFT met with the district three times (May 29, May 31, and June 10). Through these negotiations, we reached tentative agreements with minor changes on the following articles:
Article 8 - Leaves
Article 13 – Department Chairs
Article 17 – Federation Rights
In addition, the negotiations team was able to reach tentative agreements on more impactful articles that support our union goals:
ARTICLE 4 – Health Benefits
FASTER/EASIER ELIGIBILITY FOR HEALTH BENEFITS FOR PART-TIME FACULTY. A non‐contract faculty member who has been employed by the District for four or more semesters and/or intersessions, and who has taught an average load of 0.40 or greater for the preceding fall and spring semester and/or intersessions within a two-year period will now be eligible for coverage. This means part-time faculty may now use classes they teach during the intersession to qualify for eligibility for health benefits to cover them and their families.
ARTICLE 11 – Tenure
BETTER TIMELINE FOR TENURE. Although not what we originally proposed, AFT negotiated a new timetable for the tenure process that will benefit faculty more than what was proposed by the district. This includes an extra week for first year tenure- candidates before student appraisals begin.
PAY FOR OFF-CONTRACT TENURE COMMITTEE MEETINGS. With the inclusion of a new winter intersession, the new calendar will add a month between semesters as we finalize decisions for tenure candidates. Now, if a president calls a committee meeting while committee members are off contract, faculty serving on the committee will be paid their hourly rate to attend and participate in said meeting for up to two hours.
ARTICLE 12 - Evaluation
MAINTAIN 40% THRESHOLD FOR SHORT-TERM COURSES. We were able to maintain the proportional adjustment period of 40% in the duration of the course calendar so that student appraisals and observations would not begin before this point in the class.
MORE TIME FOR NEW PART-TIME FACULTY. For new non-contract faculty members, student appraisals will not begin before the fifth (5) week in their first semester of assignment of full semester courses, and proportionally adjusted for short semester assignments.
WHAT’S NEXT
There is a negotiations meeting scheduled with the district on Friday, July 12. There are four articles left on the table to negotiate:
Article 3 – Salary
Article 5 – Work Load
Article 6 – Class Size
Article 9 – Academic Calendar
We have been assured by the district there is no intent to lower pay as we convert to a compressed
calendar, but scheduling remains unclear. We are waiting for the district to complete some research in order to clarify how scheduling will be converted in a compressed calendar and how equity and fairness will be reflected in the new block schedule. Once we receive this information, we will complete our proposal for Article Five and should be able wrap up our work with the remaining articles.
VIRTUAL AFT WHAT’S UP
Please be on the lookout for the most up-to-date information over the next month. Our work is not complete. We still need your guidance and support. Your previous feedback truly empowered us to negotiate these past few months. To provide updates, answer questions, and solicit additional feedback from the membership, the team will host a virtual AFT What’s Up on July 19th at 1:30 PM. We encourage all faculty to attend.
AFT is extremely interested in faculty perceptions on how the compressed calendar will affect the
scheduling of labs and their hours. In addition, we are eager to hear from non-classroom about their concerns with the compressed calendar beyond what the team has already identified. If for any reason you cannot attend, we will post a recording of the event on the AFT website for our membership. If you have questions or comments that you would like addressed, do not hesitate to contact the chief or one of our team members.
It has been an honor to serve our faculty in this important initiative and we look forward to your future participation.
In unity,
Your AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team
Nathan Cole (chief), Theatre Arts, Ventura College, ncole.aft1828@gmail.com
Teresa Bonham, English, Oxnard College, tbonham@aft1828.org
Angelica Gonzales, Counseling, Ventura College
Christina Lee, Nursing Coordinator, Moorpark College
Dr. Letty Mojica, Transfer Counselor, Oxnard College
Angela Wilkins, Math, Moorpark College
May 13, 2024
Hello Faculty,
We want to thank you all for your patience and all those who attended our “AFT What’s Up” gatherings to learn of our progress on the compressed calendar. We would also like to thank the faculty senates for allowing us to present in senate meetings to keep faculty informed about the negotiations process. We apologize in advance, but this is a long email and we urge you to read, and re-read it.
AFT’S WORK ON COMPRESSED CALENDAR TO DATE
The AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team has been busy working hard this entire semester fulfilling our due diligence to represent faculty in this important initiative.
The team meets approximately three and a half hours each week (with standing meetings on Wednesdays and some Fridays) when not in negotiations with the district
The co-chiefs meet an average of four or more additional hours weekly to organize the team, research key issues, and to create/revise surveys, proposals, and communications.
Collectively, we have met with the district’s negotiations team only five times this entire semester. Finals week started this past Friday and we go off contract this coming Thursday. In our last meeting this Friday, they said they are “willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work,” so we can make more progress; more progress in mid-May, when faculty are off contract.
As stated in previous negotiations updates, the district’s team makes it extremely difficult to schedule meetings due to their busy schedules, even after AFT consistently informs them that our team blocked out our schedules to reserve Wednesdays and Fridays for negotiations meetings each week. This continued obstacle stands in the way of progress towards an agreement, although we’ve been ready to negotiate all semester. We cannot do this without both sides at the table.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
On April 21, 2024 we presented the district with our full proposals to the following articles:
Article Three
Article Six
Article Eight
Article Nine
Article Thirteen
Article Seventeen
the compressed academic calendar for AY 2025/26 and AY 2026/27
At this same meeting, the district presented their counter proposals to the following articles:
Article One
Article Four
Article Eleven
Article Twelve
A sample block schedule
On Friday, May 10, the District started with the implication that AFT was holding up the negotiations process. Their chief negotiator stated the district was already behind with the implementation of many support systems needed to successfully launch an academic year within a compressed calendar, and they weren’t sure if they were going to be able to make the Fall 2025 deadlines. In addition, the District gave us a compressed calendar history lesson, failing to remember they provided our team members with all previous documents from their two work groups.
In this same meeting, the district presented their counters to the following articles:
Article Three
Article Six
Article Eight
Article Nine
Article Thirteen
Article Seventeen
the compressed academic calendar for AY 2025/26 and AY 2026/27
Through each counter, the district continues to reject the areas of our proposals focused on the specifics of the compressed calendar, reverting to their original proposals. (Click the link for more details.) This means there is little to no movement on major issues that will affect faculty, offering only one perspective to the transition.
THEIR ASK
The District wants AFT to agree to enter into a compressed calendar starting Fall 2025
The District wants AFT to agree to start and end dates for the compressed academic calendar so managers and classified employees can do their jobs, related to the calendar for years 25/26.
They also suggested that we agree to the entire academic calendar for 2025/26.
After our meeting, AFT learned that one of the key administrators on the district's team stated in a meeting with faculty that the district was not certain we will have a compressed calendar by 2025/2026. This came as a surprise to AFT’s team and demystified the monologue we heard at the top of the meeting. All of this comes directly following our near finish with presenting the district with more robust proposals.
IN SUMMATION
In reference to their “ask”, AFT holds serious concerns with agreeing to enter into a compressed calendar without specific details negotiated in each of the affected articles. We strongly believe the details are the most important aspect of the calendar. AFT is very aware of faculty perceptions on the compressed calendar from our recent surveys, which is why we are working hard completing our due diligence. AFT’s Negotiations Team is determined to avoid any unintended consequences by rushing into an agreement and harming faculty rights.
Their “ask” appears like a request for a blank check from faculty without agreeing to any of the crucial details. The compressed calendar touches numerous areas of the CBA, which the district work group acknowledged in the documents they created prior to negotiations. If we agree to accept a compressed calendar without negotiating these significant details, faculty rights will be lost. We vow to continue with our due diligence by carefully analyzing the CBA, as well as the CBAs of other community colleges, to successfully transition to a compressed calendar that maintains equity for all faculty.
FOR UPDATES ON REJECTED AFT LANGUAGE IN ARTICLES BY THE DISTRICT, please visit the AFT Compressed Calendar Updates webpage.
TO OFFER SPECIFIC FEEDBACK ABOUT THE ARTICLE PROPOSALS, AFT members will receive a third survey this coming Tuesday; please look for it in your email and participate. We want to include your voice in our work.
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR COMPRESSED CALENDAR SURVEY THREE. A link through email directly from Survey Monkey on Tuesday, May 14. The survey will close on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at midnight. Please confirm receipt of the email from Survey Monkey within the first few days so AFT may quickly solve any issues.
OVER THE SUMMER, we will continue to share updates both via email and via the web page. Please continue to check both to stay informed.
In unity,
Your AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team
Teresa Bonham (co-chief), English, Oxnard College, tbonham@aft1828.org
Nathan Cole (co-chief), Theatre Arts, Ventura College, ncole.aft1828@gmail.com
Angelica Gonzales, Counseling, Ventura College
Christina Lee, Nursing Coordinator, Moorpark College
Dr. Letty Mojica, Transfer Counselor, Oxnard College
Angela Wilkins, Math, Moorpark College
March 22, 2024
With the close of the second survey, the team identified requests for further information, and aspects of the compressed calendar negotiations where members seemed to be confused. Below is a presentation based on those findings that we presented March 21 at the AFT Know What's Up (hosted at Moorpark College) and also presented to the Ventura College Academic Senate.
March 18, 2024
Dear Members,
Now that you’ve received the second survey and offered your feedback, the AFT Compressed Calendar Negotiations Team wanted to brief you on the progress of negotiations. Below is a timeline and update to this point:
February 23/Third Meeting - The district reviewed some guiding principles that shape the creation of a compressed calendar:
The calendar must contain a minimum total of 175 instructional days in the primary semesters in the academic year (fall + spring). In a compressed calendar, this may be achieved by counting Saturdays.
There must be at least three (3) instructional days in a week for it to count as one week in the academic calendar
Student Contact Hours are critical for students earning unit-credits
Weekly Student Contact Hours (WSCH) and Daily Student Contact Hours are critical for funding formulas (used for calculating Full-Time Equivalent Students – FTES)
The district provided AFT with their initial proposal of a two-year compressed calendar. AFT asked clarifying questions about the district’s presentation and numerous ones based on issues that were not addressed in the district’s initial proposals.
February 29 - Compressed Calendar update to members during AFT Know What’s Up hosted at Oxnard College.
March 11 - Second AFT Compressed Calendar survey emailed to members
March 13/Fourth Meeting - The district answered AFT’s follow up questions based on unanswered questions in our prior meeting. AFT negotiations team presented our proposals for Article 1, 4, 11, & 12.
WHERE WE’VE BEEN
The infrequency of meetings with VCCCD due to the busy schedules of the district’s team means information is coming from their side slowly. On January 9, AFT’s team informed the district that we each arranged our teaching/work schedules to meet in the early afternoons on Wednesdays and all day on Fridays, yet it was difficult to schedule more. Over the past several weeks, our team discussed materials and legislation related to the compressed calendar, built and analyzed proposals, and created and analyzed the results of our member surveys. In addition, we presented at our first AFT campus meeting (AFT Know What’s Up) at Oxnard College on February 29.
WHERE WE’RE GOING
Dr. Letty Mojica, a Transfer Counselor at Oxnard College, will be joining the AFT negotiations team as a new member. Together, we will continue to meet weekly as a team to complete our due diligence for our members. Now that we received the district’s initial proposal for a two-year compressed calendar and surveyed our members for feedback, we hope to increase the regularity of negotiations meetings and move at a quicker pace. Our next scheduled negotiations meeting is April 17, where AFT will present our proposal for the two-year compressed calendar and most, if not all, of the articles we intend to open.
CAMPUS MEETINGS
There will be two additional campus meetings this semester where union members may engage the team. We highly encourage each of you to attend these important gatherings to hear about the latest developments in negotiations and to offer us feedback. We hope to see you there!
AFT Know What’s Up - March 21 at Moorpark College from 3:00 -5:00 PM in HSS 121
AFT Know What’s Up- April 23 at Ventura College from 4:00 to 6:00 PM in PAC 119 (Studio Theatre)
For more information about the guiding principles above and other regulations in regards to compressed calendars, please review the addendum to the Student Attendance Accounting Manual.
February 20, 2024
Good Morning Faculty,
The team would like to update you on the process of negotiations on the calendar for AY 2024-2025 and the compressed calendar. First, we have signed a tentative agreement with the district on the next academic calendar. You will find this attached in the email we sent.
In regards to the calendar for AY 2024-2025, please note we fiercely advocated for flex days to be held the two days before Thanksgiving Break, but this means adding another week to the semester. In order to maintain a reasonable break between the fall and spring semesters, we opted for other dates within the fall. We were able to schedule the Friday and Saturday before Easter as non-instructional days.
In regards to the compressed calendar, on January 23, we received the district’s remaining proposal that included Articles 5, 6, 9, and a corrected Article 4. The team is currently working to develop our own proposal based on what the district provided. Our next meeting with the district is scheduled for Friday, February 23.
To best serve our members, we feel it necessary to provide details associated with moving to a sixteen-week semester. On Tuesday, February 20, members will receive an invitation to an introductory survey that will provide us with data on faculty member knowledge and opinions about various aspects of the compressed calendar. Please look for the invitation from Survey Monkey in the personal email you provided to AFT 1828. If you do not receive it before midweek, please check your spam folder. If you do not find it, please reach out to Co-Chief Negotiators Teresa Bonham (tbonham@aft1828.org) or Nathan Cole (ncole.aft1828@gmail.com) so they may work to resolve the issue.
Once we learn about your opinions and concerns, the team will develop materials to present to our members that address any misconceptions, opinions, and other concerns. Members will have until Monday, February 26 at midnight to complete it. From this, we will conduct additional surveys that will allow us to negotiate your rights within the articles affected by a compressed calendar. Moreover, AFT 1828 will develop a series of presentations to update our members on the negotiation’s progress.
January 24, 2024
Greetings Faculty,
Welcome back to another exciting spring at VCCCD. We are excited to announce that negotiations for the compressed calendar began Wednesday, January 10, 2024. AFT worked diligently this past fall to recruit, train, and organize the negotiations team so we could begin promptly at the start of the spring semester. Your team members are as follows:
· Angelica Gonzalez – Full-time Counselor, Ventura College
· Christina Lee – Coordinator of Nursing, Moorpark
· Leo Orange – Coordinator of DSPS (EAC), Oxnard
· Angela Wilkins – Part-time Math, Moorpark
· Teresa Bonham, Full-time English, Oxnard (co-chief)
· Nathan Cole, Full-time Theatre Arts, Ventura College (co-chief)
During the first meeting, the district presented proposals on Articles 3, 4, 8, 11 & 12. On Wednesday, January 24, their team plans to present proposals on Article 5, 6, and 9. Once we receive VCCCD’s entire initial proposal, the team will work to develop our own proposal to the compressed calendar and its effects on faculty rights.
This is where faculty input will becomes crucial. As negotiations progress, the team will send a variety of surveys to our union members. Please be on the lookout for survey announcements from our Acting AFT President, Lillia Ruvalcaba, and complete them respond as soon as possible. Your voice will be instrumental in developing proposals that reflect the will of our union members. In addition, we will conduct campus meetings throughout the next three months to solicit input from our members and present developments in the negotiation process. If you are not a union member, please consider joining to participate in the process. You can access the membership form by clicking here.
We will continue to update this page through the negotiations.
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