Faculty Union at Cal State Slams Hiring

Four temporary history professors share a bare office made for two in the King building at Cal State L.A. They split time on a single computer that gives them access to research and student grades. And rather than stock high-minded texts on wall shelves, these “freeway fliers” cart their class materials in rollaway luggage.

The university’s faculty union says increased reliance on these vagabond instructors, more arduous workloads for all faculty and unsatisfying pay are eroding the quality of teaching throughout the California State University system. The professors will air their gripes today during teach-ins on all 23 campuses.

Susan Meisenhelder, president of the California Faculty Assn., said an impasse in union negotiations has embittered a faculty that has not grown as enrollments have skyrocketed.

“We see the CSU degenerating before our very eyes,” Meisenhelder said. “It’s depressing to the faculty and a terrible mistake for the state’s future.”

Administrators, whose ranks have grown 20% in five years, say the budget is too tight to hire more full-time, tenure-track instructors, as the union wants. The faculty request for a 6.3% pay hike is “unrealistic in this budget climate,” said Colleen Bentley-Adler, a spokeswoman for the chancellor’s office.

Many students are caught in the middle. They have waited for academic advice outside crowded faculty offices and sat elbow-to-elbow in packed classrooms, but some say they are reluctant to get involved in a labor dispute.

“It’s a hard task because the faculty are people we work with on daily basis,” said Natoya Blaylock, president of Associated Students at Cal State L.A. “The administration gives us our support and helps different departments we work with. If we choose sides, somebody’s going to be mad.”

All involved agree that an influx of new students statewide has put a strain on people and budgets. The chancellor’s office has long known that the 370,000-student system would grow by 130,000 in the next 10 years but failed to prepare by hiring additional permanent faculty, said Lillian Taiz, a Cal State L.A. history professor and state vice president of the CSU faculty association. Since 1994, the number of instructors has grown by 1% while the number of students has expanded 10%, the chancellor’s numbers show.

Since 1995, the percentage of part-time faculty has grown from 39% to 48%. During the same period, the percentage of tenured professors has fallen from 47% to 35%. Professors on track for tenure make up the difference.

A Cal State L.A. junior faculty member who asked that her name be withheld for fear of jeopardizing her permanent job prospects said those waiting to have their contracts renewed from one semester to the next have less time to meet with students outside class. They also feel they have less academic freedom in class.

“It’s a very intimidating, depressing climate to work in,” she said.

Taiz said students still get an education comparable to when more tenured professors roamed campus.

“But it’s getting a gazillion times harder for us to try and match that education,” she said.

Diana Guerin, a professor of child and adolescent studies who will speak at today’s teach-in at Cal State Fullerton, said the school has the highest number of part-time faculty of any CSU campus, more than 60%.

She said that while Fullerton’s student body increased 29% from 1994 to 2000, the number of tenure-track faculty rose just 3%.

“We’re turning to part-time lecturers who have less experience and less knowledge about how the campus works,” said Guerin, who recently stepped down as chair of her department.

During the teach-ins, professors will detail their grievances to colleagues and students.

After months of failed negotiations and an equally unsuccessful first round of arbitration, the faculty sought student support. Professors have asked student organizations to sign resolutions supporting the faculty association. The Fullerton chapter offered $250 for the best student-written essay outlining the faculty crisis.

In response, Assistant Vice Chancellor Samuel Strafaci threatened disciplinary action against union members.

“Immediately cease and desist from continuing to engage in this unprofessional and prohibited activity,” Strafaci wrote to the faculty union in August. He also requested it cancel the teach-ins.

Spokeswoman Bentley-Adler said the chancellor’s office probably will not pursue any charges, though the office still frowns on the professors’ campaign.

“It really kind of goes against the university professors’ creed,” Bentley-Adler said. “It’s not what students come to the university for.”

At Cal State L.A., the Associated Students group has met with the faculty union and chancellor’s representatives and has not decided whom to support. The California State Students Assn. also is considering sides, although the students have no formal voice at the bargaining table.

“We have not received enough [convincing arguments] from either side to justify a decision. That’s why we’ll go to the teach-ins,” Blaylock said.

The groups are weighing whether it is logical to push the issue of increased staffing at a time when budgets are being cut throughout state government.

Meanwhile, students cope with inconvenience. Minh Vu, a Cal State L.A. sophomore, left a King Hall corridor disappointed when his part-time history professor was not in her office.

“I’ll wait,” he said. “That’s part of going to college. But if the university can give something to the professors so I don’t have to wait so much, I say, ‘Give it to them.’ ”

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Times staff writer Jeff Gottlieb contributed to this report.