A Letter From Wendy Brill-Wynkoop
COCFA Political Action Commitee Chair

Dear faculty,

In 2014 I joined COCFA Leadership. I had been a member of COCFA for 17 years, but never a union leader. What changed? It was what HADN’T changed - our salaries. Full-time faculty had not received a raise in seven years, even though the administration received several. I joined union leadership out of frustration with the administration. I also desired to improve working conditions and compensation for our members. Working together with a fantastic team of faculty leaders over the past five years, COCFA has dram- atically increased our compensation, increased release time for department chairs, maintained excellent healthcare benefits for all members, and won lecture/lab parity. I am proud of the work we have accomplished as a union as I step down as the COCFA President.

However, as I step down as the COCFA President, I am stepping up and welcoming new challenges as the COCFA Political Action Committee Chair. You may wonder why I wouldn’t want to take a break from being part of COCFA leadership? Because during the past few years, I have watched higher education, and our district leadership, follow the national trend of the corporatization of public education, where everything is monetized. Our students have become clients, and our goals are measured in revenue. Even the language of education at COC has been replaced with the corporate language - Chief Executive Officer, Chief Business Officer, and Chief Instructional Officer. We have more Vice Presidents than most banks and one administrator for every two full-time faculty. As a result, our campus culture has suffered and has in some instances become toxic.

Our district leaders have not made instruction nor student needs a priority in the budget. The administration has swollen in size and salaries. There is a repetitive and blatant disregard for faculty, staff, and student participation in shared governance. Faculty processes and policies granted authority by law and our governing board have been repeatedly ignored. There is little transparency in decision making - mainly as applied to budgetary decisions. The Executive Cabinet makes decisions without rationale or explanation. Several climate surveys with dismal outcomes have been ignored. And precious resources are spent to celebrate our district leaders over our students and faculty.

It is time for us to not only change our working conditions and compensation but to demand equal partnership making changes to the institution. Is it possible? Yes, if we continue to stand together and demand better leadership through changing our Board of Trustees. Our publicly elected Board of Trustees is responsible for employing the CEO, ensuring a climate for student success, defining parameters for operations including monitor adherence to legislative mandates and policy standards, establishing and maintaining high standards for good personnel relations, and ensuring fiscal health and stability of the district. etc, given this responsibility, several members of the board do not prioritize student success in the budget nor acknowledge the climate concerns of the campus. In addition even in the face of repeated warnings from three accreditation visits, the board has not followed and regularly reviewed its own policies.

To start the change at the college, we have to change the Board of Trustees, as some trustees are complicit in the current direction of the college. The only check on the administration is the Board of Trustees. To change the administration, the board composition must be changed. In November 2020, three of the five trustees’ seats are open for reelection. In 2016, we helped retired COCFA member Edel Alonso get elected to the board. And in 2018, COCFA supported Joan MacGregor, who along with Edel, has continued to ask fiscally prudent questions that other board members seem uninterested in asking. Changing the board in 2020 means protecting one seat and flipping two more.

However, we can’t change the board without the help of all faculty. During this election cycle, your support is welcome in any form: handing out flyers in neighborhoods, writing letters, hosting candidate meet & greets, sharing the need for change with our greater community, and of course, giving a donation. If we are going to change the board, more than anything, we need monetary donations to the COCFA Political Action Committee. So please join me in making a change for the future of our institution and our student’s success.

Your help is greatly appreciated,

Wendy Brill-Wynkoop Chair,
COCFA Political Action Committee