The Faculty Association of California Community College Board of Governors retreat was held in Folsom, CA, on July 7-9. Called to order by FACCC Board President Carolyn Russell (Rio Hondo College) its agenda included a presentation from Lindle G. Hatton on strategic management, an update on the Chancellor's Office Task Forces, a report on STRS , and pending legislation.

Dr. Lindle G. Hatton, CSU-Sacramento was invited by FACCC to present a model on how to prepare for the future growth of the organization, which in his opinion would require a concentrated effort to establish a committee on strategic planning. The Hatton presentation was impressive, focusing on external problems, strategic formulation, implementation, evaluation and control. Specific questions to achieve this end included; "Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How do we get there? And how do we measure our progress?" Goal setting was clearly the emphasis here. The Hatton model for building a strong organization for the future was endorsed, and preparations are well underway to establish a committee to broaden the membership with an emphasis on recruiting and involving new hires. All members of FACCC will be hearing from Strategic Task Force committee this fall.

Two Chancellor's Office Task Forces were discussed, the 50% Law Task Force and the Part-Time Faculty Seniority Task Force. Teri Bernstein submitted a brilliant report on the 50% Law. The report was received with wild enthusiasm. The strong favorable response from attendees and from faculty across the state reflect the growing anticipation of a positive report from the state auditors - in spite of the Chancellor's controlled and discouraging statements. (See article on CCCI). The SMC Faculty Association is clearly seen as breaking new ground in the battle to secure fair funding for instruction - as required by state law. Robert B. Yoshioka (Allan Hancock College) presented the other report on the Part-time Faculty. He painted a dismal picture. The Chancellor's Office, with the apparent input of college administrative representatives, intend to do little or nothing regarding improving the wage and working conditions of part-time faculty in the state of California. Discussions on such wide ranging topics as part-timers office hours, equity in pay and adherence to state regulations regarding the ratio of part-time-full-time instructors on college campuses went nowhere. In Yoshioka's opinion, the discussions have been a waste of time. A much more effective strategy will have to be developed to get some movement on this issue.

The campaign to bring equalization benefits between STRS and PERS continues. John Baley (Cerritos College) stressed the importance of writing the governor. STRS still has lower benefits than other state retirement packages. Increasing benefits, Baley argued, would help in the recruitment of teachers. A STRS retirement coalition lobby day was held on August 8 in Sacramento to press the point on legislators. In response to this and in support of the equalization campaign, all faculty are encouraged to join a letter writing campaign to bring the concern to the general public. All SMC faculty should have received an email requesting that you write or email the Los Angeles Times if you have not please give me a call at x4504. I also encourage all of you to follow the day-to-day changes on the STRS campaign. You can do so by consulting the FACCC Web site at www.faccc.org for exclusive articles, essays, faculty opinions, analysis, legislative alerts, book reviews and special offers to members; or you may email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or write to FACCC, 926 J Street, Suite 211, Sacramento, CA 95814-2790.

This is a political year, and FACCC's political lobbying efforts are plunging ahead. The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (BOG) and FACCC announced their support for a number of Assembly and Senate Bills as well as a list of endorsed political candidates, in spite of an effusive series of objections and qualifiers from Chancellor Nussbaum.

For a complete list of bills and endorsements, please see the Faculty Association website.