Celebrating Successes, Facing Challenges—and Giving Thanks
Fall 2024 has been a busy semester here at WCC, filled with both fresh accomplishments and new challenges.
A few weeks into the academic year, we received the good news that the County Executive had approved our most recent Memo of Agreement with the College. That resulted in fair pay increases that have been a long time coming, as well as retroactive pay and bonuses, for all faculty: teaching and non-teaching, full-time and adjunct. Many other non-economic gains were secured as well, and important faculty rights protected, with few significant givebacks. (You can find the 2024 MOA in its entirety, as well as the new pay scales, at our Union website, under the “Contract” tab.)
Many of you have expressed your gratitude for the work of our Negotiating Team; I want to tell you personally how much I appreciate those sentiments, and how deeply I share them: our Team was simply phenomenal, and I cannot thank them enough (especially our lead negotiator and NYS United Teachers Labor Relations Specialist Amanda Velazquez and our Vice President Deirdre Verne). Their collective efforts, and the strong support and unity with which you’ve backed us throughout the bargaining process, paid off in a contract well worth celebrating. That’s the power of Union, in tangible form.
Still, our work goes on at the College, and we continue to face new challenges on a number of fronts. Many of our faculty are working hard to ensure compliance with our Middle States accreditation standards, and the College is engaged in a campus-wide strategic planning effort. Department and curriculum chairs and assistant chairs are, as always, negotiating the obstacles involved in keeping our College running day-to-day. And of course, each of us continues to bring all our skill, expertise and dedication to our roles in educating and serving our students, grappling with new developments on a daily basis (like the present realities and future implications of artificial intelligence).
What new challenges will await us in the next few years?
All of this is happening under a cloud of uncertainty, of course; with a new incoming administration in federal government, many of us are wondering what this transition will mean for our students, and for public higher education generally. What new challenges will await us in the next few years? I attended NYSUT’s annual Community College Conference at the beginning of November, and heard from a number of union leaders from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), from labor experts and leadership at NYSUT, and from our colleagues in locals at two-year colleges across SUNY.
The accounts provided by our national labor leaders (see my article “AFT President Randi Weingarten on Education, Labor, and the Election”) are bracing– both in that we are advised to “brace” ourselves for potentially significant policy changes, and in their calls for a renewed vigor and refreshed focus on our values and priorities as an institution of public higher education. The role of the federal Department of Education, academic freedom, student loans and loan forgiveness, DEI initiatives, and other issues may come to the fore.
Of particular concern is the current discussion around immigration and how our students might be impacted by the threat of increased deportations. The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration has published a guide for ways campuses can support non-citizen students and employees, available at https://www.presidentsalliance.org/5-ways-campuses-can-support-non-citizen-students-and-employees-post-election/ ; the AFT has suggestions as well, at https://sharemylesson.com/blog/after-election-answering-immigrant-students-questions?link_id=8&can_id=7d92d02c033f525103b7488ce3fcfd9a&source=email-your-vote-is-your-power-3&email_referrer=email_2523189&email_subject=we-continue-the-work
You can rest assured that your Union will remain vigilant and watchful on developments in these areas, and take an active role in keeping our membership informed and prepared. And, as I say, our work goes on: even in the midst of celebrating our new contract, we are preparing for a return to negotiations in August 2025. As always, our goal is to protect your rights, ensure a positive and healthy workplace, and be responsive to your needs. We will be sending out a survey to find out what you want us to prioritize in bargaining; please keep an eye out for it, and please let us hear from you!
In the meantime, and in the midst of challenges and an uncertain future, it’s never been more important to be mindful of the good things we have and do; to express our gratitude; to practice love, humanity, and care, for others and for ourselves. I’m thankful for each and every one of you, and all that you do on behalf of our students and our colleagues, and I wish you a holiday season full of comfort and joy.
