It makes such a difference when we have multiple meetings in a row! At today’s meeting, we discussed final details of the 25-26 Academic Calendar and the 26-27 Academic Calendar, the District’s counter to Article 20, and a few other important discussions. Here is a summary of those conversations:
➡️2025-26 & 2026-27 Academic Calendar
For 25-26, the big question was to overlap or not to overlap. We got a lot of feedback, but in the end, the majority preferred to keep the overlap. We realize this isn’t ideal, but the alternatives were less ideal. For 26-27, the big question was whether we should start Fall earlier in August or start on the 25th. Again, the feedback was split on this issue, but there were more compelling reasons to start on the 25th. This will keep the Fall 2026 semester consistent with Fall 2025, and all for a later August start. This works for CCE as well. The District is adjusting calendars now, and they should be ready to sign soon!
Spring Break - There was some discussion around adding a Cesár Chavez “observance” during Spring Break. The District clarified that using the term "holiday" isn’t allowed, but they will use legally approved language. They aim to get the language finalized and approved by the March Board.
All College Days - Fall All College Day and Spring All College Day will be listed on the calendars as such. Plenary will still be included in parentheses after “Fall All College Day” in order to identify which is considered the contractual obligation until “plenary” is changed to “Fall All College Day” throughout the contract.
Other Calendar Updates - we shared notes with the District about making an accessible calendar, ensuring flexibility for programs that require special sessions (e.g. Welding), including all semester start dates, and removing a specific deadline for Fall grade rosters (using the note ‘five business days’ instead). We also expressed interest in having the District gather student feedback on future calendars.
➡️Article 20 Counter (District)
The District presented their counter to Article 20. For context, our major focus in reopening Article 20 was to adjust 20.10 (part-time faculty prioritization). We focused on streamlining the baseload calculations to make it easier for all faculty. For the most part, the District agreed with our adjustments. Here are some of the specific points of discussion:
The District maintains that a split between instructional and non-instructional faculty is important in calculating baseload. There was also some discussion about protecting part-time faculty priority numbers during leaves, as well as upon retirement.
PN calculations in more complicated departments like Athletics and Kinesiology were also discussed. The District is working on improving the programming logic for these departments.
➡️Other Discussions
Based on feedback from part-time faculty, we agreed to have just one deadline for office hours submission, specifically the later deadline to allow for flexibility and to avoid issues with payroll timing. We also discussed concerns regarding changes to the Math Center and tutoring, the importance of our TERB proposals, and new class maximum adjustment requests.
Because of the momentum gained from having two meetings in a row as well as the number of outstanding MOUs and proposals we have open, we asked the District again for more meetings to be scheduled this semester.
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Our next Negotiations meeting is on Thursday, March 20th. We will also meet with the District and CCE for a joint budget discussion on Monday, March 10th.