‘24 Election News

TEACHERS’ CHOICE CANDIDATES

endorsed by CTA, COCFA & CSEA

Stay tuned for COCFA's 24 Board of Trustees Candidate endorsements!
The 2024 election will decide Trustee areas 2, 3, and 4.
Check the map below to see what area you live in.

ENDORSEMENT UPDATES

Endorsement Process

2021-22 Political Action Committee

Political Action Committee Chair
Wendy Brill-Wynkoop

Political Action Committee Treasurer
Christine Iskander

Political Action Committee Members
Jason Burgdorfer, member
Dilek Sanver-Wang, member
Rober Wonser, member
Rebecca Eikey, member

WHAT AREA
DO I LIVE IN?

Click map to identify your area.

Donate & support labor-friendly leadership!

We know that our collective strength and solidarity can make a difference in the outcome of the 2024 elections.
Please help us continue the work we have accomplished. Your support is essential to our success and the success of our students. The College of the Canyons Political Action Committee (COCFA PAC) # 1321863 is gearing up for a critical election season in the next 12 months. As 2024 approaches, we will work hard to preserve the labor-friendly Board of Trustees that has helped strengthen our advocacy efforts for members like you.
There are so many ways for College of the Canyons Faculty Association Members to to donate, online by check, and through payroll deductions.

Any donations submitted by non-COCFA members will be returned.

Get Involved

The Faculty Association welcomes the involvement of its members.

Join Our Mailing list

Email us from you personal email address at info@cocfaculty.org to receive communications from COCFA

Attend COCFA Events

Learn about events via your COCFA email contact, and on our calendar.

Wear your COCFA T-SHirt,
Display Buttons & Signs

If you need a COCFA T-shirt, button or stickers send your name and shirt size to info@cocfaculty.org

Attend Board of
Trustees meetings

Scheduled BOT meetings can be found here. Attend in-person or remotely by Confer—either way you receive flex credit.

Volunteer to address
the Board on behalf of faculty and COCFA

In order to speak to the Board, you will need to fill out a speaker’s slip. The time limit is 5 minutes per person and a total of 20 minutes per agenda item. We recommend that you keep your speech respectful, personal, and informational. Share a personal story so that when the Board considers our contract, you have helped personalize it for them.

Share COCFA ContENT
with HAshtags

Share COCFA’s social posts, infographics and web content on social media - use these hashtags when posting:
#COCFA #UnionStrong #BetterLeadership #CollegeoftheCanyons

COCFA leadership has been working to support safe working conditions, protecting academic freedom, and attempting to ameliorate the stressors complicating the process for its members during the COVID-19 crisis. When it became clear that the campus would likely need to close, COCFA issued a demand to bargain the effects of the crisis on teaching, our faculty’s working conditions, and their health and safety, as well as the safety of the students and staff.  Faculty working conditions are students’ learning conditions. 

As we continue negotiations with the District our primary objective is to ensure the safety of our faculty and students.  To that end, we have insisted on the District's responsibility to follow the CDC and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting instructional spaces and common-use areas as well as the return to work protocols.

COC HVAC inspection, Healthy Air & Covid-19: 

How faculty member, Holly Hitt-Zuniga, used her career expertise to ensure a safe and healthy breathing environment for all of us.

We want the faculty to have confidence that their environment for the return to in-person teaching is safe. One of the ways we ensured a safe return was through a ventilation study advocated by the COCFA Vice President, Holly Hitt-Zuniga.

Holly has over 20 years working in commercial interior design & architecture firms. She is a LEED Accredited Professional and a WELL AP (both sustainable building rating systems) and teaches the Indoor Air Quality LEED prep course at COC. Her profession as an interior designer requires her to have a basic knowledge of mechanical systems so she can ensure the health and wellness of the occupants for the spaces she designs. 

In late spring, the District contracted to have the ventilation system examined. This first report had unqualified inspectors and was only a visual inspection of some of the air handling units on the Valencia campus. Holly was able to leverage her knowledge of HVAC systems to push the college to have the all the buildings on both campuses professionally reviewed, including the ventilation and filtration. The District agreed to hire a qualified professional firm to provide a more thorough review. 

Through this new review we were able to ensure that all the HVAC systems complied with the CDC recommended minimums for outside air rate, the air exchange rate, and the required minimum filtration. Those ventilation units that did not meet those minimums were since fixed or corrected to comply. 

We will do everything we can to make sure that the systems are ready for you and your students.  We want you to feel comfortable and be safe when you start teaching on campus.  

Download and examine HVAC reports here.

COVID-19
RESPONSE
TIMELINE

The following timeline is a record of communications from COCFA to College Faculty detailing meetings, concerns and outlining actions to protect faculty and students. Click headlines to view the full Email as it was sent to faculty.

Memo to Board of Trustees

We are in unprecedented times. These actions are essential for the protection of the health and safety not only of unit members and students but the broader community. In addition to a health crisis, this is a global economic crisis.  All citizens of the world are working towards ending this pandemic as quickly as possible to avert protracted economic instability.  

03
09
20

Dean’s Meeting Summary

Demand to Bargain – due to the myriad of issues related to the closure and conversion to online or other instruction, COCFA sent the District a demand to bargain the working conditions, effects and impact that may occur.  COCFA and the District are meeting Friday, March 13th to start this process.  We anticipate that the issues won’t be completely resolved for some time because so much of what is occurring will have unknown consequences.  

Read the Demand to Bargain here.

03
06
20

LEADERS MEETING

On Friday, faculty leadership and several faculty met with District leaders to continue to discuss a plan of action related to Covid-19.  Because of the increase in attendance and those who weren't at the meeting on Monday, Wilding summarized the first meeting and explained that he took the list of issues, mostly presented by the faculty, and created a pre-planning document separating all the issues into 5 areas: Instruction, HR, Facilities, Liaison, and Communication.  The list noted what had been completed and what was most urgent to be completed next.

03
02
20

First COVID-19 Meeting

After getting a summary of the virus to date by Student Health director Mary Manuel, the faculty list of issues and questions was discussed as well as other issues and questions raised by all attendees. We will continue to work with the District and staff to create a plan and get answers to our questions. It is clear that everyone sincerely wants to do the right thing and is eager to work together to create the best plan going forward.