5/11 email

Dear CSI Chapter,

I hope this finds you all safe and healthy! We are nearly two months into this pandemic lifestyle and all our lives have dramatically changed. Everyone at this college has met drastic challenges and we have managed to take care of our students as best we can. We now encounter grave new challenges that our college is confronting as we face the proposed cuts of the New York State budget. Here we go.

First, the chapter EC held its third labor-management meeting with President Fritz last Friday. We passed along the PSC's bargaining demands to CUNY that you can see here (https://www.psc-cuny.org/psc-impact-bargaining-proposals). Once you read them over you will note it is a comprehensive list of demands that speak to the numerous issues and concerns all our members have been living with and working under. In addition to these demands, we reiterated our request to have the college post a daily update regarding the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 cases. We are not looking for names (it is prohibited to list names), but rather like the city and state provide on a daily basis, an updated tally of the number of reported COVID cases. Up to now the administration has refused to provide this basic information for all to see. You will notice that one of the PSC demands is to create a protocol for all the colleges on how to properly, and responsibly report this information to all our members.

Second, President Fritz reported that he is asking the department chairs to cut their adjuncts by 35%. All CUNY colleges have been asked by the Chancellor to cut their campus budgets by 10%. But President Fritz is asking the chairs to cut their adjuncts by 35%. In my communications with the other chapters, CSI is the only college that is asking chairs to cut the number of their adjuncts by 35%. We are asking the chairs not to comply with this demand, and instead, to ask the Provost and President to form an emergency budget committee by which to review the entire college budget before agreeing to comply to such a draconian demand. In addition, we discussed many of the PSC demands, especially in relation to the HEO title, and we hope to have another meeting before the end of the semester to see how much progress we've made in moving towards an equitable and safe workplace.

The Board of Trustees is accepting written testimony until 11:30 pm tonight regarding the N.Y. State budget. The PSC is asking all our members to submit written testimony to the BOT by 11:30 tonight asking the BOT to oppose the cuts to CUNY. You can send your statements to: hearings@cuny.edu

This Thursday the chapter will be hosting a Zoom Town Hall from 2:30-4:30PM. We will be sending out a Zoom link tomorrow, no later than Wednesday. We hope to have as many of our members participating as we face a dire situation here at CSI. At our chapter meeting, we requested to have union representation at any and all committees the college forms, and we asked for another meeting before the end of the semester. So, one of our wishes to result from our Town Hall this Thursday is a list of our demands going forward. There are many decisions that need to be made in regards to providing our students with the quality education they deserve. But there are so many questions we all have about summer and fall classes, when will we return to the campus, who will be returning and when, if we go to online teaching, what training and preparation will be provided, how will the college insure a safe and healthy campus and workplace for all the HEOs and staff, and we are continually asking for more communication and transparency regarding the state of affairs at CSI.

Please stay tuned as things are moving fast and furious. We need everyone's participation and engagement as we struggle for equity and justice for ALL our members, staff, faculty and students!

george emilio sanchez chapter chair

P.S. We are also attaching a letter from the faculty senate adjuncts representative that was sent out this morning. ​