CSU Dispute With Faculty

Re “Underappreciated and Unrepresented, With Nowhere to Turn,” by Craig Smith, Commentary, April 12: In his 13 months with the system, Chancellor Charles Reed has been a tremendous advocate for the California State University. And, whether the faculty acknowledge it, Reed has been their champion in Sacramento.

All of us with responsibility for running the CSU appreciate the outside service and academic responsibilities of our faculty. That does not mean there isn’t room for improvement--be it the more efficient use of facilities through year-round operations and more evening and weekend classes, or more flexible structure within some related institutions such as the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

The chancellor and the trustees care about faculty pay and want to ensure that CSU salaries are on a par with comparable institutions. The trustees are equally committed to pay for performance. The trustees, Reed, the faculty and union representatives will never agree on all things. But I can say without equivocation, we are all champions of the system, the faculty and the students.

MARTHA C. FALLGATTER

Trustee, CSU

Long Beach

* Smith may have the right to scapegoat the California Faculty Assn., but he ought to at least be truthful. In particular, teaching associates never taught enough to qualify for benefits before they were separated out of the bargaining unit; compensation for department chairs has always been determined on a systemwide basis and has never been different on different campuses; and the vast majority of union members are tenured/tenure-track faculty.

GEORGE M. LEWIS

Professor of Mathematics

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo