The FA's New Deal for Students website explains how multipronged efforts in collaboration with administration will benefit students, faculty and the college and community.

I need to start with an apology. I sent an email to the membership on February 5 to notify our members about the New Deal for Students and I had a typo in the subject heading. Ugh! Shame on me!

Funny how a tiny thing like a typo sent to colleagues can make us stress out, when there are obviously so many bigger concerns before us.

Speaking of emails, one email I think is worth paying attention to came from President Bonahue on February 7. In that College Brief, President Bonahue outlined three ways in which the college will achieve financial sustainability including review of all programs, services and cost; managing vacancies; and schedule management. The college is facing a $12 million-plus structural deficit heading into next academic year, and so far $4.4 million in cost savings has been achieved. Not all vacancies will necessarily go unfilled, and thus we are advocating strategic replacement of full-time faculty lines in our New Deal for Students campaign.

The FA is paying attention to these developments and engaging President Bonahue and other administrators on the current financial situation the college is facing. More importantly, I want reassure the membership that we are doing everything within our power to help prevent furloughs and layoffs of members. I know concerns about such personnel decisions have circulated around our campuses and have created an uneasiness among our members.

We have listened to a number of concerns from faculty about program status and the ability to make teaching load as well as other concerns related to job security. I want to be clear that we have contractual language on program curtailment. While a few programs may be in question due to low enrollment, the contract is clear in that the college needs to take certain measures, including retraining, that will take place prior to any other extreme measure takes place.

I am also aware that changes in management of the class schedule for the fall semester will continue to reduce opportunities for adjunct and overload assignments. The FA will keep a close eye on scheduling to make sure our students have choices and opportunities for a balanced, compact schedule. We will advocate for a careful approach towards academic programs that are struggling with enrollment.

We know these are stressful times and when resources are in question members often feel a sense of insecurity and uncertainty. Our goal is to assuage that uncertainty as much as possible.This is a top priority within the FA leadership, and we will continue to engage the college administration on decisions affecting our members and job security.

I want to thank the over 100 members who signed onto our New Deal for Students campaign as we will advocate for more full-time faculty lines in high-need areas. Please be sure to read all about the campaign in the article by Joan Cook, our Local Action Project coordinator, and Cynthia Eaton, our FA secretary—and sign up as a supporter if you have not yet done so.

In addition, you can see one of our many union-administration collaborations in Cynthia’s article about our 2nd annual Distance Education Workshop to be held on Friday, March 8, in the new STEM Center on the Grant Campus. With free Brightspace modules given to each participant, you won’t want to miss this event! It is just one more way the FA continues our hard work to help advance student success at the college.

While I could not attend Professional Development Day to be with you on February 6 when the New Deal for Students campaign was launched, I was in Albany telling our New York State elected officials about SCCC and the great work our members and students are doing here. I will continue doing so because people need to understand the tremendous value our members bring to the college and county.