California State University has reached a tentative agreement with the California Faculty Association (CFA), resolving a year-long dispute over faculty salaries and averting planned strike activity next week by the CFA.
Under the tentative agreement, which must be approved by the CFA Board of Directors, ratified by CFA members and approved by the CSU Board of Trustees, all faculty unit employees will receive 10.5 percent in general salary increases over a three-year period (fiscal years 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18). If the tentative agreement is approved and ratified, faculty unit employees will receive a 5 percent general salary increase on June 30, 2016, a 2 percent general salary increase on July 1, 2016, and a 3.5 percent general salary increase on July 1, 2017. The agreement also includes a 2.65 percent service salary increase for all eligible faculty unit employees in fiscal year 2017-18.
The agreement also doubles the vesting period from 5 to 10 years for retiree health benefits for new employees hired after July 1, 2017, and extends the collective bargaining agreement until June 30, 2018.
In addition, the tentative agreement bolsters the salaries for tenure-track faculty promoted into a higher rank. Under the proposed agreement, those granted promotions would receive a minimum 9 percent salary increase vs. the current minimum 7.5 percent.
"The tentative agreement enables all of us to focus our efforts on serving students and spares students the negative impacts of the threatened strikes," said CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White. "The tentative agreement is consistent with our ongoing efforts to increase faculty compensation in a fiscally responsible manner by spreading the cost impact across multiple academic years, while enabling us to fund other priorities that support student success and completion."
University and faculty leadership have agreed to work together to advocate for additional state funding. "The CSU is the backbone of the economy and delivers half of the bachelor's degrees awarded in the state. To fulfill and expand our mission, we need a fully funded budget for 2017-18 and beyond that enables us to recruit and retain top academic talent so we can continue to provide California with high quality graduates," White added.
About the California State University
The California State University is the largest system of senior higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, 47,000 faculty and staff and more than 470,000 students. Half of the CSU's students transfer from California Community Colleges. Created in 1960, the mission of the CSU is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever changing needs of California. With its commitment to quality, opportunity, and student success, the CSU is renowned for superb teaching, innovative research and for producing job-ready graduates. Each year, the CSU awards more than 100,000 degrees. One in every 20 Americans holding a college degree is a graduate of the CSU and our alumni are 3 million strong.