Mission Statement

FA Mission Statement

The overarching mission of the Foothill-De Anza Faculty Association (“FA”) is to create an outstanding work environment for all faculty that inspires academic and teaching excellence. To fulfill this mission, FA serves as the exclusive collective bargaining representative for all faculty in matters pertaining to employment and professional relations, pursuant to California State law, the District Agreement, and FA’s sense of professional responsibility.

Specifically, the top priority of FA is to contribute to maintaining high morale through a program of salaries, benefits, work standards, conflict resolution and professional development that is among the best in the nation, one that attracts and rewards highly motivated educators who know how to serve our diverse student population and the complex needs of our community. This is achieved by developing and maintaining an Agreement with the District Board of Trustees that codifies the terms and conditions of employment.

FA is deeply committed to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is reflected in an understanding that these are not simply buzzwords but achieved through an individual and organizational reflection and compassion that manifests itself in the work we do, how we serve our members, and how we hold ourselves out to the District community. We embrace the complexity this presents and the intersectional ways that our diversity expresses itself in our communities.

FA supports equity for all faculty within both colleges and the District, and we believe student equity and faculty equity to be interrelated and interconnected.

FA is committed to being an inclusive and anti-racist organization. As an organization, FA advocates against discrimination based on race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, class, ethnicity, language, indigenous ancestry, place of origin, employment status or any other form of personal or systematic bias that impacts the lives of students and campus employees. To ensure the equal educational opportunity of all students and the creation of a just society, FA embraces the call for the elimination of racism and other forms of systemic bias from all aspects of our community.

FA acknowledges the important contributions of all faculty, part time and full time, instructional and non-instructional and is actively working towards parity, while acknowledging the organization exists in a two-tiered system of employment.

FA champions fairness, democracy and political activism by exercising strong leadership and advocacy for faculty at the state and local level. FA is committed to the fight for social justice and offers opportunities to participate in this fight through civic engagement opportunities with, for example, the FA Political Action Committee.

Socioeconomically, FA recognizes the ever-changing landscape of the realities of living and working in the Bay Area. This includes issues of work-life balance, equity, supporting/protecting working conditions and meeting the needs of faculty to maintain a secure quality of life, especially near campus (i.e. living in the community where they teach).

FA empowers faculty by providing the following:

  1. A thorough and compassionate conciliation/grievance process that resolves personnel problems quickly and fairly;
  2. A strong contract that is continually improved through the collective bargaining process;
  3. Representing all faculty equally and formulating professional policies through a democratically elected Executive Council;
  4. Shared governance representation: FA is integrated into the shared governance system through the district and colleges, and our membership is represented on numerous shared governance groups. Opportunities to participate politically by civic engagement involvement through the FA-Political Action Committee;
  5. FA’s collaborative work with other statewide organizations like the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges and California Community College Independents (CCCI), local unions including Association of Classified Employees (ACE), other local/district bargaining units; and the Bay 10 regional consortium of unions from various affiliations.
  6. Staffing a full-time office that provides prompt, accurate information and professional service;

FA seeks to operate as an inclusive and transparent organization that recognizes and supports all of its members. As a self-reflective organization that strives to internally assess our practices through a Continuous Improvement Model, FA encourages both member feedback and participation in union matters:

  1. All members have a voice, and FA actively listens to its constituents and encourages diverse voices and individual perspectives;
  2. FA strives to keep faculty thoroughly informed through public meetings and regular publication of quality newsletters and bulletins;
  3. Members have avenues to raise issues and concerns and help shape the direction of FA. These include surveys, townhalls, liaison outreach, a website, and annual elections; and
  4. In addition to running for elected positions in the organization members can become involved through various FA committees and task forces.

Revised 10/19/2022