Welcome to Foothill and De Anza Colleges! You are all working in an outstanding community college district, a pioneer and pacesetter in all many educational programs and student services. The Foothill-De Anza District employs about 1,700 people, among them more than 400 full-time faculty and over 700 part-time faculty. Our superb faculty is one very good reason why this district enjoys a national reputation for academic excellence.
Officially, the name of the faculty bargaining group is the “Foothill-De Anza Faculty Association,” but most people simply use the initials “FA” when speaking of the organization. FA and the district Board of Trustees collectively bargain decisions on salary, hours of work, academic calendar, hiring practices, class size/load, leaves and other terms and conditions of employment. FA is a locally governed, independent association, incorporated in 1977 by the non-management professional educators here in this college district to represent themselves pursuant to the California Public Employment Relations Act of 1976. FA has no affiliation with any state/national collective bargaining agent, but contracts with the statewide Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges (FACCC) for services that support its collective bargaining efforts. We at FA sincerely hope that your work at Foothill-De Anza is both rewarding and joyful.
While nearly all faculty are members of FA, no one is required to be a member. Membership provides faculty the opportunity to vote when ratifying a salary agreement or three-year contract, vote in FA Executive Council elections, or hold a seat on the Executive Council. By virtue of the FA contract with FACCC, all members will be eligible for the benefits of membership in FACCC at no additional cost. FACCC membership provides faculty with information throughout the year that is vital to their understanding of public policy and its role in their professional lives.
FA dues for full-time faculty are six-tenths of one percent (0.006) of total gross District salary. Part-time faculty are four and a half tenths of one percent (0.0045) of total gross salary.
Part-time faculty issues have always been a central concern of FA. The Agreement provides them with a salary schedule ranked among the highest statewide and a unique seniority system. In addition, part-time faculty are entitled to personal necessity leave, parental leave, and sick leave in addition to other types of leave. Eligible part-time faculty are also able to apply for reimbursement for professional conference expenses and, depending upon their annual load, to apply for district-paid medical benefits.
Contractual provisions negotiated by local faculty members and representatives of the Board of Trustees govern the terms and conditions of faculty employment. The current contract, or Agreement, includes 39 articles with such titles as Load and Class Size, Personnel Files, Class Cancellation, Part-time Faculty, Summer Sessions, and Leaves. The entire Agreement is available online within this FA website.
FA maintains 10 standing committees, largely staffed by faculty volunteers, and appoints representatives to nearly all of the major college and District committees, including the budget and curriculum committees, college councils, and the Chancellor’s Advisory Council. FA also has a conciliation and grievance team that performs an especially valuable service. FA’s trained conciliators answer questions from faculty regarding contractual language as it relates to salary and working conditions (the Agreement). When, as sometimes happens, faculty members have differences with administrators who represent the Board of Trustees, FA’s conciliators lend their communication skills in helping to resolve these differences swiftly and to the mutual satisfaction of the parties involved. Those few disputes that are not resolved through conciliation are eligible for more formal action through the contractual grievance process (see Article 5 of the Agreement).
The FA Executive Council is the organization’s governing board. There are seventeen seats on the Council. Council members are elected to two-year terms by their colleagues. Seats are apportioned to a college according to its number of faculty. Four at-large seats are always reserved for District part-time faculty. FA’s chief executive officer is the president of the Executive Council, who is elected each year by the Council itself. Other key officers are the Council vice-president, the FA chief negotiator and the group’s executive secretary.
The FA office is located on the top story of the building next to the ETS offices in the lower Foothill campus (Building D-140 on the campus map). The door to the upstairs FA office is on the back side of the building. The office hours are typically 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday. For general information, interpretation of contract articles, or resolution of problems, contact office manager Susanne Elwell (650) 949-7544. All calls are confidential.