President's Update

By Mary Gross, FA President

As we move into the halfway point of the fall semester, I am pleased to share with you all the on-going work happening in the Faculty Assembly Council. 

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While the major contract negotiations concluded last spring with a solid 2025-2028 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the FA Council continues to provide counsel to the negotiating team which is continuing with the work on several agreed upon reopeners this year including addressing the Academic Freedom and Intellectual Property articles. We have solicited and received support from MCC Academic Associate Faculty union leadership as we work side-by-side to develop language that would support both full and part time faculty in these areas. Additionally, a workgroup to develop new Online Certification and Recertification content has assembled and begun its work in earnest.

In addition to these negotiation matters, FAC continues work in its various sub-committees to which council members are assigned based on their interest and skillset to contribute. In this newsletter, you will read about the ongoing work of our Education/Contract group, the Operations team, and the Professional Relations crew. I think you will be impressed by the work conducted on these subcommittees that ensure that the Faculty Assembly Council is well positioned to develop, respond to, and make recommendations of all working condition matters. 

Here is a snapshot of this year’s committee membership:

Education/contract	Operations	Professional Relations
Annie Ngo (TREC-Fall)	Billy Bunn	Luke Lara
Mary Gross	dara	Jim Sullivan (AS)
Jose Sanchez	Paul Clarke	Jeanine Sepulveda
Casey McFarland	Michelle Farnam	Michelle Odom
Min Choi	Sinar Lomeli	Rich Dicker (TREC-Spring)
Markus Berrien	Mark Laurel	Jake Strona
Katherine Steelman	Richard Ma	Abby Burd
Kristi Wish	Steve Isachsen	Kent McCorkle (BPC)

Finally, please mark your calendars for Friday, November 14 from 1:00-3:00 for the FA Education luncheon. The focus of this semester’s event is a collaboration between the FA and Academic Senate leadership where we will dive into three critical areas impacting academic/professional as well as working condition matters. Come learn and let your voice be heard on FLEX/Professional Development; Intellectual Property and Academic Freedom; and the Condensed Calendar and Winter Intersession. A more formal invitation will be coming in early November but please set aside this day and time on your calendar for this important and what will prove to be an impactful event.

Mary