We’re in the home stretch, union members!

Sorry I missed a couple of newsletters! I was counting down to spring break and then it was spring break and then I was behind after spring break, and you know how it goes. Anyway, we are back with big news! 

Elections, and Negotiations, and Events, oh my!

Union elections are happening now! Hopefully, you received an email from Allyn Leon, Elections Committee Chair, regarding the upcoming CTA election. Spoiler alert: it’s a big one! All positions are up for re-election, and we have some totally vacant positions in which the current incumbent is not planning to run again (rude, I know). If you are interested in getting more involved in the union, running for an officer position is a great way to do so! You can read more about the positions here: IVC CTA Bylaws (check pages 4-5 for officer duties)

Negotiations are also happening now! Preliminary meetings have been held, offers have been proposed, and discussions have begun. If you’re interested, we’ll be discussing negotiations at our upcoming general faculty meeting. Stay tuned! 

Events are happening soon! With the semester ending soon (7 weeks to go, but who’s counting), we hope everyone’s schedule isn’t too jam-packed to come hang out with us a couple more times before summer. We’ll be hosting both a luncheon for teacher appreciation week and a general faculty meeting. Keep an eye on your Outlook invites so you don’t miss them. 

On Our Radar

The Governor’s January Budget was released with some proposed increases to community college funding. While the May revise may change things, you can read about some of the proposed funding for community colleges, specifically, in CTA’s recent article about the 24-25 budget proposal

Hello, fellow faculty,

I just wanted to take a little bit of time before we start the spring semester to remind you just how awesome our faculty association is. As part of our IVC faculty association, you are part of three different organizations, the National Educators Association (NEA), the California Teacher’s Association (CTA), and the Community College Association (CCA). All of these unions come with their own great benefits. Hopefully, you already know about the CTA Member Benefits and are taking advantage of some of them; my personal favorite is the Enterprise car rental rate! Another benefit is access to conferences and continued learning. CTA and CCA both offer scholarships and grants to help you attend those conferences, too! 

If you haven’t checked out your union benefits yet, definitely do it, and if you are interested in conferences or learning opportunities like this awesome one below, go ahead and sign up. You are part of a statewide and even national organization. Take advantage. If you’re feeling generous, let me know your favorite CTA member benefit or union benefit and I can put a list together for all of us. We can learn from each other and stay union strong.

Attachments and Links: 

• Events and Training through CTA 
• Community College Association Website
• more information about your union benefits
• CTA Member Benefits page

New month, new-sletter. Welcome to November, unit members!

I want to start by thanking you for updating your contact information and being patient with me while I tried to figure out the intricacies of mass emailing through Gmail. Ugh. If you still didn’t get a message from the CTA in your personal inbox, please let me know. Our sunshine letter is drafted and being finalized, and more negotiations information will be heading to your personal inbox as things progress. I really don’t want anyone to miss it! Your voice is so important. Speaking of negotiations and union updates…

Union News

There is power in numbers. Leverage the power of your union’s reach by networking and taking advantage of our connections to NEA, CTA, and CCA. These benefits range from CTA membership benefits that can save you money on rental cars, theme park tickets, and even special loan interest rates, to CCA and CTA conferences and grants, to educator benefits from NEA. This month, our EBoard met with our CCA Regional Rep, Dr. Jackie Bobeye, who encouraged us to encourage our members to apply for grants and attend some conferences. You can even apply for grant funding to attend said conferences. Find more information here: California Community College Association (CCA) Grants

Coming Up

Sunshine season – keep an eye on upcoming board meeting agendas for sunshine letters from the District and our union.