POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN
The following is the text of a resolution adopted by the steering committee of the California Conference of the AAUP. For more on this issue see the November 2017 resolution of the Academic Senate of the California State University (ASCSU), “On the Development and Implementation of Executive Orders 1100 (Revised) and 1110,” and “To Hell in a Hand Basket: GE and Other Fiascos,” by Harry Hellenbrand on this blog.
Resolution of the California Conference of the American Association of University Professors regarding California State University Executive Orders 1100 (Revised) and 1110
The California Conference of the American Association of University Professors (CA-AAUP) met with members of the California State University (CSU) Academic Senate and California Faculty Association at the CA-AAUP’s February 10, 2018, Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California. Following that meeting, the undersigned members of the CA-AAUP issue this condemnation of the process by which CSU Chancellor Timothy White produced Executive Orders 1100 (Revised) and 1110.
We quote from CFA’s October 29, 2017, Resolution in Support of Rescinding California State University Executive Order 1100 (Revised). With the CFA, we conclude that the orders were, in fact, “issued without appropriate and statutorily required consultation or consideration of faculty governance protocols,” thereby
committing an egregious violation of faculty governance and academic freedom and un-dermining faculty control over academic preparation and standards as well as faculty purview over the curriculum.
Referring to the November 2, 2017, Open Letter to Chancellor White from the Chairs of the CSU Campus Senates, we conclude that Executive Orders 1100 (Revised) and 1110
were developed and presented to faculty without adequate consultation or true shared governance. All curricular decisions affect students directly, and therefore all curricular decisions must, by nature, lie with the teaching faculty and students; General Education criteria are not exempted from [Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act] principles.
The CA-AAUP views Chancellor White’s procedures in issuing Executive Orders 1100 (Revised) and 1110 as a direct assault on the principles of shared governance, principles that form the very core of AAUP values. We call upon Chancellor White to read the AAUP’s Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities. We also call upon the Chancellor to refrain from taking further actions that undermine the principles of academic freedom and shared governance enshrined in that document, which values are reified in California statute and in case law.
Passing from process to substance, CA-AAUP supports CFA’s October 29, 2017, Resolution in Support of Rescinding … Executive Order 1100 (Revised). We agree that the order
eviscerates Section F “Comparative Cultural Studies / Gender Race, Class and Ethnicity Studies,” as well as foreign languages, denying our students a culturally responsive edu-cation and failing to demonstrate an understanding of or respect for California’s increasing diversity.
Further quoting CFA’s October 29, 2017, Resolution, CA-AAUP notes that Chancellor White is out-of-step with “other systems of public education in California” which are, in fact,
adopting “diversity requirements” [AB 2016 Ethnic Studies, FAIR Education Act], and requiring that students take courses in race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, deaf and disabil-ity studies as criteria for graduation.
CA-AAUP joins with the Academic Senate of the California State University and eighteen of the CSU campus senates in calling for immediate rescission or, barring that, delay in implementing Executive Order 1100 (Revised), so that our colleges “may continue to provide the breadth and quality of education that our students deserve.”
Turning to Executive Order 1110, CA-AAUP supports CFA’s October 29, 2017, Resolution in Support of Rescinding California State University Executive Order 1110. CA-AAUP condemns that order’s attempt to eliminate the English Placement Test and the Entry Level Mathematics Test. Elimination of these examinations will dramatically disadvantage poor students, students of color, students for whom English is a second language, and students entering college with educa-tional deficits. We agree that these examinations are “the baseline for providing our students the academically responsible quality education our faculty seek to provide and our students deserve.”
Quoting CFA’s October 29, 2017, Resolution in Support of Rescinding California State University Executive Order 1110, we ask that
Chancellor White immediately rescind Executive Order 1110, which will allow develop-mental, first year, and General Education courses to continue improving the skills and competencies of our students.
Quoting that same document, CA-AAUP also calls upon Chancellor White to
refrain from reissuing Executive Order 1110 until such time as appropriate and meaningful consultation has taken place and campus faculty have had sufficient time to ensure that the curriculum we require our students to complete continues to provide the quality education our students expect and deserve.
The California Conference of the American Association of University Professors
Alex Zukas, National University (2016-2018), President
Mary Ann Irwin, Diablo Valley College (2016-2018), Secretary/Treasurer
Claudio Fogu, University of California, Santa Barbara (2017-2018), Acting Vice President for University of California
Rosalinda Quintanar, San Jose State University (2016-2018), Vice President for California State University
Katie Graham, Diablo Valley College (2016-2018), Vice President for California Community Colleges
George Beckwith, National University (2016-2018), Vice President for Private Colleges and Universities
Antonio Gallo, Representing California Faculty Association (South)
Steven Filling, Representing California Faculty Association (North)
