AFA Executive Council Candidates - CONTRACT FACULTY

Spring 2012 Elections

Fall 2012 thru Summer 2014 Term

VOTING PROCEDURE

     The election will be conducted online. Voting instructions will be sent via email to santarosa.edu accounts beginning Monday, February 13. The deadline for casting a vote will be 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 22. Only current AFA members are eligible to vote in the election. Regular faculty members vote for the regular faculty representatives, and adjunct faculty members vote for the adjunct faculty representatives. Election results will be announced on the AFA website and via email. The Council will elect AFA officers and negotiators for the 2012-13 year at the Council meeting on March 14, 2012.

Alphabetical listing of candidates below.  Random listing will appear on ballots.

Five Open Seats — Six Candidates    

	PAULA BURKS, LIBRARY     I have been a member of AFA since I was employed at SRJC in 1991, and have served on the Council and as Secretary/Treasurer of AFA since Fall 2006. I believe that I have made a contribution to AFA by carefully monitoring the income and expenditures of the organization to ensure that we stay within our adopted budget. Serving on the Council and as an Officer has been a rewarding experience, even in these very difficult budgetary times. My strengths are listening to all points of view and trying to find common ground and areas of agreement as the Council advises the AFA Negotiating Team. I would like the opportunity to continue to serve on AFA, and will do my best to listen to and represent concerns of all faculty related to our working conditions, salary, and benefits. I am especially interested in maintaining quality health benefits for faculty and attracting new, energetic faculty to serve on AFA. It is essential that we have strong leadership by faculty knowledgeable about our Contract and the interest-based bargaining process we follow during negotiations. If elected, I look forward to working for you and to hearing from you about any issues that should be addressed by our union.
	MIKE GRABOWSKI, ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE     The opportunity to belong to an organized employee association is one of the most fundamental of rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. Recently, across the country, we have seen numerous efforts by some to eliminate or diminish the opportunity to associate with those in organized labor. This protracted effort has often included a similar attempt to reduce the rights and gains made by those involved with protecting the ideals of organized labor. More unsettling, is the fact some of these efforts have been directed toward some of society's most important public employees' organized labor groups, education and public safety.     As an educator and former member of the public safety sector, and current President of the California Association of Administration of Justice Educators (CAAJE) I am acutely aware of the importance of maintaining the strength behind the ideals of protecting and promoting AFA members rights. Whether it be management, faculty or staff, all parties must engage in dialogue and actions that are fair and equitable so that we all benefit within the Santa Rosa Junior College setting. These tough economic times will require even tougher decisions to be made by both sides; albeit in a way that minimizes the pain to both sides without sacrificing the excellence that surrounds SRJC's reputation both statewide and nationally.
	ANDRE LARUE, SOCIAL SCIENCES     I am currently chair of the Social Sciences Department. Having taught at Santa Rosa Junior College for over 20 years (both adjunct and regular), having served on various campus committees, having been a long-standing member of AFA, and currently serving as a replacement appointee on the Executive Council, I want to continue to serve my colleagues as an elected representative on the Executive Council. During these particularly challenging times it is imperative that faculty have a strong union voice to maintain just compensation, decent work conditions, and an environment conducive to teaching and learning. As your representative I will do my best to advocate for all faculty. I humbly ask for your vote.
	TERRY MULCAIRE, ENGLISH     All the faculty know that we're in the middle of a prolonged crisis. SRJC is slowly being defunded, shrunk. I respectfully ask for your vote to serve on the Executive Council because I believe that AFA is the faculty's indispensable organization in responding to this crisis. As a member, I will work to vigorously advocate for all of the faculty, adjunct and contract alike, in negotiations with the administration and the board. But our advocacy needs to go beyond that. I believe that our union needs to recognize and actively confront the larger context for the stresses we're all feeling here at SRJC: California's thoughtless abandonment of world-renowned higher education system, and the political assault on the public sector at the state and national levels. Under the current leadership, AFA has begun to be more actively involved in advocacy at the state level. As an appointed member of the council for the spring semester of 2012, I support these efforts. If elected I pledge to put my shoulder to the wheel to make AFA the strongest possible advocate for faculty at SRJC, and for our state's magnificent, and threatened, tradition of open and affordable higher education.
	NIKONA MULKOVICH, BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES-PETALUMA     I currently serve on the AFA Executive Council as an interim basis and want to continue as an elected member. We are dealing with challenging economic and employment issues and AFA has the right to negotiate our salaries, benefits, and working conditions. I want to actively represent faculty's best interests while maintaining positive working relationships.      After seven years as an adjunct teaching Psychology at both campuses, I became a contract faculty member in 2002. My understanding of the issues facing both adjunct and contract faculty helps me to advocate for the best decisions for all. As Petaluma faculty, I understand the experience of AFA members at the Petaluma Campus.     I have served the college through a variety of activities such as the Academic Senate dealing with academic and professional matters. I served two years of my five-year service on the Petaluma Faculty Forum Steering Committee as its chair, enhancing my awareness of campus and college-wide issues. I currently attend PFF meetings and report on AFA activities. I served on committees to enhance college life such as the Petaluma Phase II building project, contract and regular faculty selection, evaluation and scheduling.     I bring my past experience in both the private and public sector in organizational development and training as well as facilitating various groups and organizations to institute programs of change. As a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with 30 years of experience, I am dedicated to supporting individuals and groups to live and work to their full potential.
	JULIE THOMPSON, ENGLISH     I have been a member of the Executive Council since April 2009. In addition to my work as a Councilor, I also serve as AFA's Publications Coordinator (since Fall 2010) and the Conciliation/Grievance Officer (since Fall 2011). I respectfully ask for your vote so that I may continue to serve and support faculty during this challenging time. The State's budget problems are a given. Our response to those budget problems is in our hands, and our response must be one of integrity, respect, and creativity. I support AFA's work this past year to increase its efforts in statewide advocacy: in creating a contract partnership between SRJC faculty and the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC); in joining with other independent bargaining agents in the CCC system to hire a lobbyist to represent us at the State level; and in pursuing political advocacy training to strengthen AFA at home and in Sacramento. The budget crisis has had obvious impacts on faculty compensation. Less obvious but just as important, it also has taken a toll on individuals and on our professional relationships. It is imperative that we use the present challenge as an opportunity. This is a time for building coalitions among ourselves and with other community college bargaining agents, advocacy groups, and legislators who support the community colleges' mission. I believe in the critical role that community colleges play in Californians' personal, economic, and intellectual lives, and I ask for your vote so that I may actively participate in this work.