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.
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.