July 30, 2020

Good morning and happy Eid-al-Adha to our Muslim community. In this moment of a global pandemic, economic recession, and antiracist uprising, we must safeguard the future leaders of our society by ensuring that students at Cal State LA can access the courses they need to successfully complete their education and be prepared for the challenges ahead. The Cal State LA chapter of the California Faculty Association calls upon President William Covino and Provost Jose Luis Alvarado to support the core mission of the CSU, which is providing high-quality public education to California’s diverse students. Administrative cuts to courses will have a disastrous effect on many of our students’ ability to excel and graduate with timeliness and ease.

In addition to a moratorium on further course cancellations, we also call for the establishment of pedagogically appropriate class sizes that directly support student learning. Supporting Cal State LA students, who are overwhelmingly first-generation, low-income students of color is exceedingly critical during the COVID-19 pandemic; because teaching and learning remotely are more laborious than face-to-face instruction. At the same time, prioritizing support for the core mission of Cal State LA necessitates that our faculty and staff are also protected in their work and their access to health care and safety. We say faculty working conditions are student learning conditions.

Over 700 Cal State LA faculty members are signatories to our demand that administration cut no courses and establish smaller class sizes. Spring 2020 was an especially challenging semester for students and faculty alike with the abrupt transition from in-person to remote instruction due to COVID-19. One thing faculty immediately learned was just how difficult it was to maintain connections with our students in a virtual context. The larger the class size, the more difficult that experience was. While we’re currently preparing for the continuation of remote instruction in Fall 2020, now is the time to institute smaller class sizes for community-building and pedagogical purposes.

Instead of reducing class sizes, campus administrators are cutting entire sections citing a slight decline in student enrollment and COVID-19-initiated budget cuts from the CA legislature. However, having stashed away reserves for a “rainy day,” the CSU has more than $1.5 billion in discretionary funds that should be used to offset any cuts to state funding, declines in enrollment, or pandemic-related cost increases.

President Covino needs to vigorously advocate for his own campus by insisting that the Chancellor’s Office use those reserves, before imposing any cuts on the system. We are living through the “rainy day” that the CSU and campus reserves were designed to mitigate. They must prioritize student access, quality education, and faculty and staff employment in the current crisis. It is irresponsible for the CSU to hoard reserves in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic while deciding to cancel classes.

Rather than cutting from faculty who work directly with students via instruction, counseling, coaching, and libraries, we advocate that any cuts begin with bloated administrative salaries and by defunding university police who have decreased workloads with nearly vacant campuses.\

Across the country, university presidents have publicly announced that they are taking 20% salary reductions, and upper-administrators are taking 15% salary reductions, to ensure that students are supported, and their academic and emotional needs are met.

Faculty and students of Cal State LA insist that if there are going to be any cuts, President Covino should lead the way by reducing his own salary and the salaries of the top-paid administrators on campus. Chopping from the top will protect students’ access to the classes they need and prevent the loss of work for Staff and Lecturers who comprise two-thirds of the faculty at the University.

For example, if each of the 16 top paid administrators voluntarily accepted 10% pay cuts, we could fund up-to-63 classes. And, if the 36 top paid administrators voluntarily accepted a 10% pay reduction, we could fund up-to-117 classes!

The CSU is the “People’s University.” President Covino must move beyond rhetoric and materially demonstrate his support for the aims and mission of this institution: to offer the students – who are the future leaders of our city – the best education, skills, and preparation so that they may successfully confront the challenges of our times and innovate new solutions towards building a more equitable, healthy, and socially just society.

Thank you and Solidarity!

Anthony Ratcliff

CFA-LA Chapter President

Chop from the Top Toolkit

https://bit.ly/CFAChopFromTopToolkit