FACCC - Faculty Association of California Community Colleges -

The History of FACCC: A long, hard journey

The following is a version of Cyril Gulassa's presentation to the FACCC Board of Governors
retreat on Aug. 23, 1996.

By Cyril Gulassa

FACCC's Genesis
FACCC had a humble beginning. All it took was one person's courage to speak up. John McFarland said in a 1980s FACCC Bulletin that somebody at a California Junior College Association (CJCA) meeting in 1953 said "enough with this!" and persuaded the group to pursue nothing more than faculty interests.
At the time, administrators dominated membership in CJCA, FACCC's predecessor. When it reinvented itself as a faculty organization, it became the California Junior College Faculty Council. Pres Dawson was its first president. The mission was to create a "direct, uninhibited, uncensored organization to advocate the specialized case of the junior college instructor."

In exploring the FACCC archives, I was impressed with the incredible vigor and vision FACCC had in those early years. It was a remarkable group, as small as it was, that achieved significant accomplishments. Looking back, you can only be proud of being involved with an organization like this. I'm amazed at how thoughtful the faculty were, how persuasive they were in their Bulletin articles and editorials. It's a remarkable history.

FACCC Defines Goals
From 1953 through 1959, the faculty council, operating on $3 annual dues, met in Southern California. It established the following goals.

Separation of California Community Colleges from K-12. (The two used to be in the same districts.)

Create a separate credential for CCC instructors.

Develop a separate section for CCCs in the Education Code.

Establish college standards on teacher workload.

Establish an adequate salary schedule for faculty.

Faculty members made a clean break and formed the state California Junior College Faculty Association (CJCFA) on May 16, 1958 with 500 membership pledges. It was the only association at the time to mail a newsletter to all faculty.

The 1960s were a time of growth and advocacy which produced new goals to create:

Independent CCC districts.

Inclusion of instructors on accreditation visits.

A district junior college credential.

A faculty voice in the master plan.

End of Average Daily Attendance as an apportionment mechanism.

The state Department of Education created a central coordination committee to draft a new junior college credential on Nov. 12, 1960. It's clear the department respected the faculty association because it invited three faculty association members to represent a standard teaching credential, and three to represent a designated subjects teaching credential.

In a suspenseful moment at an association meeting on April 22, 1961, members received a telegram that Assembly Bill 2804, the association's sponsored bill for separate college districts, had been introduced in the legislature. This effort to separate from K-12 districts symbolized the association's fledgling political power.

The association led the charge for creating a state board of governors (local boards existed) in 1968. It looks like its efforts would meet defeat. But FACCC advocate Bill Smith saved the bill to create a CCC Board of Governors. The faculty association was growing rapidly and was a powerhouse in Southern California.

Considering Collective Bargaining & Affiliation
The CJCFA moved to Sacramento from Long Beach in 1969, and changed its name to the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges.It had 3,500 members, and Max Rafferty, the state superintendent of public instruction, accused FACCC of being a leftist organization.
The 1970s were a decade of developing collective bargaining. FACCC was instrumental in creating the local Academic Senates, which have academic responsibility. The unions presided over health and welfare. FACCC members did a lot of soul-searching about its role. The Bulletin went through a major change, displaying more photos, eye-catching design, and powerful writing.

FACCC formed a special committee in 1973 to explore collective bargaining. Sierra College history professor John McFarland recommended the formation of collective bargaining units, but also the protection of the local Academic Senates. William Smith share it.

In the past decade, FACCC fought with unions and called for administrators to be excluded from unions.

State legislators approved the passage of AB 1770 in 1973-74, to create the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC), which advises the governor.

FACCC, still uncertain about its identity, considered affiliation with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. FACCC President V. Dean Close, Jr., sent a letter to all members telling them the FACCC Board of Governors recommended affiliating with that union. The board felt FACCC needed the union affiliation in the new era of collective bargaining.

John McFarland wrote a persuasive Bulletin editorial in favor of the proposal, but members surprisingly defeated the proposal in a special statewide, secret ballot in March 1975. The vote: 894 to 710.

FACCC's internal turmoil erupted. The president, who endorsed affiliating with AFSCME, resigned. The executive secretary resigned. Members were disappointed.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 160 into law, creating collective bargaining for K-14 in 1975. FACCC tried to affiliate with the California Federation of Teachers. The president-elect strongly opposed it, and members turned down the CFT affiliation in a 1976 vote.
A Reason To Believe

Proposition 13 passed in 1978, giving FACCC a cause to fight for.

Prop 13 shifted control of the state's money to Sacramento, and reduced property tax revenues by 60 percent statewide. The locally-governed institutions became financed by the state. Because lobbying in Sacramento was FACCC's strength, its identity problem ended. It was the only community college faculty lobbying organization not beholden to K-12, and became the primary negotiator in the majority of community college issues.

Reconstruction and Reform
But FACCC had growing pains in the 1980s. Membership was down in 1981 to 1,700 from a high of 3,500 because members were confused about FACCC's role. Course cuts and the tuition crisis (see below) challenged FACCC's existence. Patrick McCallum became executive director. FACCC membership and influence grew.
The CCCs were in a mess in the 1980s because of debates about Average Daily Attendance. Management pursues using ADA for fund apportionment. The colleges had high dropout rates, ridiculously low transfer rates, and an increasing need for remedial classes. Teachers were criticized for being predominantly Anglo and older, and credentials were a joke. Tenure was automatic, evaluation procedures were poor, and governance was in a shambles. The faculty in general hoped unions would dissolve. Sixteen percent of all new hires were part-time faculty. The youngest faculty members were 40 years old. Four colleges went bankrupt.

The colleges were in a great struggle coping with $30 million worth of class cuts in 1982. Then a tuition crisis hit them when Gov. George Deukmejian, in an unprecedented power play, gouged $100 million from the college budget and held it hostage until liberals caved in and imposed tuition fees for the first time, beginning in fall, 1984. As a result of fees and program cuts, enrollment dropped from 1.42 million in 1981 to 1.17 million by 1984. FACCC orchestrated a solution by proposing a fee waiver for poor students. Today, 43 percent of community college students don't pay fees.

The colleges' conditions alarmed both educators and politicians. In 1984, the legislature passed a bill to form a citizens' Commission to Review the Master Plan of Higher Education. The commission was charged with reviewing the community colleges, a process that took two years. The study produced tons of recommendations, which led to two task forces on personnel and finance, headed by Foothill College instructor Cy Gulassa, and Chabot College astronomy instructor Larry Toy, respectively. Working with a Legislative Joint Committee chaired by Assembly member John Vasconcellos, these task forces packaged dozens of college reforms in one, FACCC-sponsored omnibus bill, Assembly Bill 1725, which Gov. Deukmejian signed into law in September 1988.

AB 1725 created, among other things, a state CCC system, delineated functions of state and local boards, promoted access and success, created the strongest affirmative action program in the country, abolished the weak credentials, empowered faculty, established program-based funding, introduced the concept of shared governance, and provided $186 million in funds for program improvement, funding 1,400 new full-time faculty positions, and staff development funding.

The late 1980s and 1990s were a period of budget fights for the community colleges. Due to a recession, less money existed for education. The lack of clarity in how to split the Proposition 98 money between K-12 and community colleges continues to pose a challenge; FACCC has become the primary protector of community colleges funds.

[FACCC added the following two paragraphs in August 1999]

Former Executive Director Patrick McCallum, who left FACCC in fall 1998 to start his own consulting firm, led FACCC last year in achieving its biggest accomplishment to date: sponsoring legislation that funded State Teachers' Retirement System benefit increases by an average of $600 per month (thousands of dollars per year) for individual faculty members who retired after Jan. 1, 1999. The FACCC-sponsored bill AB 2804 (Honda) of 1998 was one of four bills that created the "Teachers Retirement Recruitment and Retention Package," signed into law by then-Gov. Pete Wilson.

FACCC enters a new era with the hiring of Executive Director Jonathan R. Lightman, a former director of government relations and political affairs with the California Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

The Road Ahead
What I've seen in reviewing FACCC's history is a very intelligent and persuasive faculty. We have great benefits on our side, including a strong board of governors and staff. FACCC has a new strategic plan that includes a Washington, D.C. presence and more focus on policy.
The Council of Faculty Organizations formed to protect faculty interests. It is made up of FACCC, the Academic Senate, the collective bargaining units California Teachers Association/CCA, California Federation of Teachers, and the California Community College Independents. COFO divides the responsibilities for achieving its goals.

Organizations like the Bay Faculty Association, a regional communications link between faculty groups which began in 1982, show that faculty continue to work together toward common goals.

If faculty can band together as they have in years past, they will be able to shape their future in a way that benefits higher education for all Californians.

Long-time faculty advocate Cyril Gulassa taught English at Foothill College, and was a key player in the passage of community college reform bill AB 1725 of 1988. A former FACCC governor, he is now retired.