Dear AFT Guild GCCCD Faculty Members,
We have finally reached the point where this proposal is ready to go! We do appreciate all of the feedback we have received to date. Now the time has come to start the negotiation process with the District!
Attached please find our final draft, in addition to updated salary schedule and department chair reassigned time matrices.
Please keep your eye out on your inbox tomorrow afternoon for a poll from: AFT Guild Local 1931 <invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com>. This poll is set to send out tomorrow afternoon to all GCCCD AFT Guild members where you will be asked to cast your vote in support or opposition to this initial proposal. Your AFT Guild Executive Council Members are clearly urging a “YES” vote when you receive this poll.
In Solidarity,
Augusto Sandroni, James Canady, Jessica Stanfield, Joshua Eggleton, Judd Curran, Julio Soto, June Yang, Karen Marrujo, Kim Lenox, Rachelle Panganiban, Ray Funk, Robert Anness, Robin Sepulveda, Seth Greenwood-Slater, Sharon Sampson, Victoria Curran
AFT Guild, Local 1931 GCCCD Faculty Executive Council Members
On May 11, 2026, at 2:28 PM, Jim Mahler <aftjim@mac.com> wrote:
Dear AFT Guild GCCCD Faculty Members,
We truly appreciate all of the feedback we have received both in-person and via email over the past two weeks regarding our draft initial proposal on our contractual economic items as described in our email below from April 27th.
Since that date, we have made many revisions to the proposals based on the feedback we have received. Here is a summary of the most substantive changes:
Article VII – Working Conditions
§7.8.3 – FTEF Banking Cap Raised the cap on how much FTEF a unit member may bank from 1.0 to 2.0 FTEF total.
Large Class Enrollment Threshold Lowered the enrollment trigger for the 10% additive for large overall course loads: the threshold for tenure-track/tenured faculty was reduced from 220 to 175 students, and for adjunct faculty from 130 to 105 students.
§7.10.4.3.1 – Course Enrollment Maximums
- English/composition course maximums were reduced from 35 to 25 students.
- Exercise Science course maximums revised to 35 students for all courses.
- Two new caps were added: ART lab courses at 25 students (new §12), and ANTH C1001L at 28 students (new §13).
§7.14.1 – Voluntary Professional Development Compensation Faculty may now be compensated at their non-classroom hourly rate for voluntary professional development beyond their required obligation, up to 20 additional hours per academic year.
§7.16.5 – Distance Education Load Limit Hybrid courses counted as only 50% distance education toward the 0.70 FTEF limit.
Article IX – Compensation and Benefits
§9.1.3 – Coordinator Reassigned Time. Consolidates and increases several coordinator positions. CVT, OTA, NURS (Clinical Coordinator), NURS Assistant Director, RESP, and Mental Health Counseling Coordinator all receive a uniform 0.50 FTEF per semester plus 30 hours of additional summer compensation at the non-classroom rate. Also adds a provision making any “Discretionary Reassigned Time” that has been granted for three or more consecutive years permanent at no less than its current level.
§9.1.6 – Earth Sciences Field Course Stipend A new $2,000 per unit stipend is added for each session an Earth Sciences Field course is offered, to be shared among participating department members.
§9.3.1 – Step Placement / Salary Schedule Transition. All faculty who have been stuck on Step 15 are given accelerated advancement based on years at that step, moving to Steps 17–25 depending on how long they’ve been capped there.
§9.3.1.1 – Initial Step Placement Phase-In. Revises the phase-in schedule for new hire step placement based on prior experience by creating a detailed year-by-year matrix mapping specific years of prior experience to specific steps, starting in the second year after ratification.
§9.3.2 – Salary Class Transition (Initial Transition Rules). Updates the column mapping for the transition to the new salary schedule: Classes I–IV move to Column A, Classes V–VI move to Column B, Class VI moves to Column C.
§9.3.2 – Salary Column B/C Qualifications. Juris Doctorate is moved from Column B to Column C (with other listed doctorates), and D.N.P. is added to the list of qualifying doctoral degrees in Column C. A new provision commits the parties to forming a study committee to determine appropriate salary placement rules for CTE faculty in disciplines where advanced degrees are not generally available.
Article XI – Part-Time Faculty
§11.4 – Shared Governance Compensation Part-time faculty approved to serve on shared participatory governance committees are to be compensated at their current non-classroom rate of pay.
Article XII – Summer and Intersession
§12.3. Requires that adjunct faculty be compensated at their non-classroom hourly rate (or as part of their professional development requirement) for attendance at required department, division, or college meetings.
Appendix I – FTEF Load Determination / Composition Bonus
Expands the Composition Bonus beyond the named courses (PHIL 125 and C1000-level courses) to any future course whose primary instructional focus is the development of academic writing skills, subject to mutual agreement between the District and AFT for additions or removals.
Non-Classroom Salary Schedule was updated to correct a calculation error. (attached)
Department Chair Listing and Reassigned Times were updated. (attached)
The foregoing is just a summary of changes. Please take the time to read through the attached Word document and let us know if there is anything we missed or that needs to be updated. (Most of the document is strike-out language, so it’s not as much of a daunting challenge as it might seem.)
Our hope is to finalize this document within the next week or so and then put it out for a vote for our members to approve before we actually begin the negotiation process with the District. Speaking of which, at tomorrow’s Board meeting we will be carrying out the first legally required step in that process by providing the Board of Trustees with an outline of these negotiation topics we intend to pursue. We hope to see you there in support!
In Solidarity,
Augusto Sandroni, James Canady, Jessica Stanfield, Joshua Eggleton, Judd Curran, Julio Soto, June Yang, Karen Marrujo, Kim Lenox, Rachelle Panganiban, Ray Funk, Robert Anness, Robin Sepulveda, Seth Greenwood-Slater, Sharon Sampson, Victoria Curran
AFT Guild, Local 1931 GCCCD Faculty Executive Council Members
Begin forwarded message:
From: Jim Mahler <aftjim@mac.com>
Subject: AFT Guild Draft Initial Proposal on Economic Re-Openers
Date: April 27, 2026 at 1:14:40 PM PDT
To: Cuyamaca Faculty <CuyamacaFaculty@gcccd.edu>, Grossmont Faculty <GrossmontFaculty@gcccd.edu>
Cc: June Yang <June.Yang@gcccd.edu>, Jessica Stanfield <Jessica.Stanfield@gcccd.edu>, Victoria Curran <Victoria.Curran@gcccd.edu>, Augusto Sandroni <augusto.sandroni@gcccd.edu>, Judd Curran <Judd.Curran@gcccd.edu>, Julio Soto <julio.soto.aft@gmail.com>, Sharon Sampson <sharon.sampson@gcccd.edu>, James Canady <jcc007mom1@yahoo.com>, Seth Greenwood-Slater <sethslateraft@gmail.com>, Joshua Eggleton <Joshua.Eggleton@gcccd.edu>, Kim Lenox <kim.bailey@gcccd.edu>, Rachelle Panganiban <Rachelle.Panganiban@gcccd.edu>, Robert Anness <Robert.Anness@gcccd.edu>, Karen Marrujo <karen.marrujo@gcccd.edu>, Ray Funk <raymond.funk@gcccd.edu>, Robin Sepulveda <robin.sepulveda@gcccd.edu>, Larissa <aftlarissa@gmail.com>, Ian Duckles <imduckles@gmail.com>, Yvonne <aftyvonne@gmail.com>, Jessica Thompson <aftrep.jessica@gmail.com>
Dear AFT Guild GCCCD Faculty Members,
You will hopefully recall that when we settled our contract last October we agreed to set all economic items aside pending the District hitting a threshold of $147,145,125 in revenue from the state. I’m happy to report that threshold has been met, so we are now planning on commencing these economic negotiations as soon as possible.
We’re excited to share the first draft of what will become our initial proposal to begin negotiations with the District on these items. We realize this is a long email, we hope you will read it all the way to the end and review the attachments.
It is clear that salaries and modifications to the existing salary schedule remain among the top priorities expressed by our members, so let us start with describing what we are now proposing with respect to those items.
We first started with the current 10-month tenured/tenure-track faculty salary schedule (this will all tie into the 11-month tenured/tenure-track schedule and adjunct/overload salary schedules in a moment, please keep reading…):
Then we considered several factors: 1) Our salaries are among the lowest in the County and the State (largely due to enrollment drops in addition to how our District is funded under the current statewide funding formula); 2) Faculty who have been on the highest step of their Salary Class have not received a step increase in years; 3) We have not had an on-schedule salary increase since May 2024 (two years ago); 4) We have not been able to keep up with inflation; 5) We wanted to do away with the “counting units” methodology to move across the salary schedule going forward, while crediting and recognizing prior units earned; 6) We want to continue to acknowledge advanced degrees earned.
Keeping those points in mind, we are proposing a new three Column salary schedule, where we have dramatically increased the values from what we currently have in place:
Faculty would be transitioned to these new columns as follows for Step placement:
• Current Step 6 moves to New Step 1
• Current Step 7 moves to New Step 2
• Current Step 8 moves to New Step 3
…
• Current Step 28 moves to New Step 23
• Current Step 29 moves to New Step 24
• Current Step 30 moves to New Step 25
And for new Column placement, current faculty would be transitioned to these new columns as follows:
• Faculty on Current Salary Classes I, II, III would move to New Column A
• Faculty on Current Salary Classes IV, V, VI would move to New Column B
• Faculty on Current Salary Classes VII or who currently hold a Master’s in Fine Arts would move to New Column C.
Thereafter, these new rules would take effect for initial placement of new hires, and subsequent advancement of current faculty:
Salary Column A:
i) Non-credit faculty must meet statewide minimum qualifications as per Title 5, §53412 for non-credit programs.
ii) Credit faculty must meet Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges as published by the State Chancellor’s Office.
Salary Column B:
i) Allied Health faculty in the disciplines enumerated in Section 9.1.3 above, who hold a Bachelor’s Degree and two years of work experience directly related to the faculty member’s assignment.
ii) All faculty who hold a second Master’s Degree, if a Master’s Degree was required to meet the minimum qualifications of Salary Class A.
iii) All faculty who hold a Master’s Degree, if a Master’s Degree was not required to meet the minimum qualifications of Salary Class A.
iv) All faculty who hold a Juris Doctorate, or a required professionally accredited clinical licensure.
Salary Column C:
i) All faculty who hold a Master’s in Fine Arts, or who hold an earned doctorate (Ph.D., Ed.D., Psy.D., D.B.A, M.D., or equivalent doctoral degree which requires original research, and the completion and defense of a doctoral dissertation).
If faculty currently hold a degree which would place them in a higher Salary Column, then they would move to that higher salary column.
Lastly, in order to recognize previous related work or teaching experience, we are proposing a phase-in process such that any newly hired faculty can be placed up to Step 10, reflecting a maximum credit of ten years of previous work or teaching experience. This would be phased in to ensure no current faculty are disadvantaged by a new faculty member coming in on a higher step than a current faculty member with the same experience.
The 11-month Tenured/tenure-Track Salary schedule would be the same as the 10-month schedule, just an additional month of pay:
Moving on now to the adjunct/overload salary schedules…
**Same rules for Salary Column and Step Placement, in addition to credit for prior related work or teaching experience, would apply for adjunct faculty as stated above for tenured/tenure-track faculty.**
In addition, we developed a 100% pro-rata salary schedule for all adjunct/overload assignments such that adjunct faculty will be paid exactly the same rate of pay, on a proportionate basis, as their equally qualified tenured/tenure-track counterparts who are doing the same work. That means 100% equal pay for equal work.
Following those principles, the adjunct/overload salary schedules for classroom assignments we are proposing would look like this:
Overload faculty would be placed on the same step/column as they would be placed on the new Tenured/Tenure-Track salary schedule. Adjunct faculty would be placed on the same step as they are currently on.
Current adjunct faculty would be transitioned to these new Salary Columns as follows:
• Faculty on Current Salary Classes I, II, III would move to New Column A
• Faculty on Current Salary Classes IV, V, VI would move to New Column B
• Faculty who hold a Master’s in Fine Arts, or who hold an earned doctorate (Ph.D., Ed.D., Psy.D., D.B.A, M.D., or equivalent doctoral degree which requires original research, and the completion and defense of a doctoral dissertation) would move to New Column C.
If faculty currently hold a degree which would place them in a higher Salary Column, then they would move to that higher salary column.
And lastly, but certainly not least, following all the same rules as above, calculating a pro-rata hourly amount for non-classroom tenured/tenure-track faculty, here is what our proposed non-classroom adjunct faculty salary schedule would look like:
And if your head’s not spinning by now, here’s more on salary…
Considering this round of contract negotiations will likely take a considerable amount of time until we reach agreement, and then once we do reach agreement it will take some time for the District to place everyone appropriately on our proposed new salary schedules, we want to get some money in everyone’s pockets as soon as possible so we are also proposing a one-time payment equal to five percent (5%) of your total gross earnings which were earned during the previous 12 calendar months.
And then for future years, so we don’t go so long without a pay increase, we are proposing built-in increases:
• Effective the first July 1st following ratification by the parties, all salary schedules to be increased across the board by the value of the Statewide COLA + 2%.
• Effective the following July 1st, all salary schedules to be increased across the board by the value of the Statewide COLA + 2%.
Moving on to other compensation related items. We are also proposing the following:
• Lecture/Lab equivalency at 15 hours/1.0 FTEF.
• Sets default class size at 35, unless instructor opts for a class size of 50. (ESL and Communications remain at 25 and 30, respectively.)
• Reduction from 25 to 20 direct student contact hours for tenured/tenure-track counselors, with a concomitant increase in related duty hours from 5 to 10. Total assigned hours remain at 30.
• Lowers the threshold number of students needed to qualify for TA hours to 35.
• Additional compensation when faculty complete more than three evaluations per year.
• Tenured/tenure-track counseling faculty may elect up to two remote days per week. Adjunct faculty may elect up to one remote day per week.
• 10% salary additive for tenured/tenure-track faculty who have greater than 220 students enrolled in 1.0 FTEF of assignments, and 10% additive for adjunct faculty who have greater than 130 students enrolled in all assignments combined.
• Expedites the hiring process for TAs.
• Allows faculty to renew their DE certification every three years, with pay.
• Makes permanent reassigned time for directors in CVT, OTA, NURS, RESP, Mental Health Counseling, and CA Naturalist programs.
• Increases Head Coach stipend to $16,000 annually, Assistant Coach stipend increases to $8,000 annually.
• Increases Speech and Debate Team coaching stipend to $16,000 annually.
• Provides two weeks of pay to adjunct faculty who have their teaching assignments canceled within two weeks of class start date.
• Adjunct faculty who hold counseling assignments to receive thirty minutes of Related Duty (RD) compensation built into their schedule for each assigned hour of counseling time.
• All faculty assignments during the summer or intersession, such as serving on hiring committees, to be compensated at the faculty member’s non-classroom hourly rate of pay.
• Increases to Department Chair reassigned time and stipends. (See attached table.)
• Adds PHIL 125 and all Common Course Numbering “C1000” level courses that have a writing component to courses which qualify for the 0.05 FTEF Composition Course load factor additive.
• Deletes remote day “blackout periods” for counselors.
• Clarification that adjunct faculty do not lose their POA rights if they choose to retire from CalSTRS but continue to work in the District.
• Allows Adjunct faculty to also participate in pre-tax healthcare and dependent care premium payments.
What happens next?
Keep in mind this is just the first draft of our initial proposal. We have made our best effort to address all of the compensation related needs that have been brought forward. We are now sending it out to all faculty to invite your feedback. Feel free to email us any suggested changes or other ideas for improvements. In addition we are in the process of setting up on-site meetings at each college to provide more opportunity for face-to-face interaction and feedback. Those details will be forthcoming as soon as we can confirm rooms.
Attached please find the full proposal in Word. Contract language to be deleted is shown with strikeout text, new language to be added is underlined. The new proposed salary schedules and the proposed department chair reassigned time matrix in Excel are both attached as well.
In Solidarity,
Augusto Sandroni, James Canady, Jessica Stanfield, Joshua Eggleton, Judd Curran, Julio Soto, June Yang, Karen Marrujo, Kim Lenox, Rachelle Panganiban, Ray Funk, Robert Anness, Robin Sepulveda, Seth Greenwood-Slater, Sharon Sampson, Victoria Curran
AFT Guild, Local 1931 GCCCD Faculty Executive Council Members