On Tuesday March 31, CCA staff and faculty received an email from President David Howse
addressed to the college community. CCA administration has a terrible track record when it
comes to transparency, yet this communication does not even meet the low bar of clarity.
The Board of Trustees, President Howse, and Mayor Lurie continue to hide behind an insistence
that the deal with Vanderbilt is private and confidential. The email proposes additional layers of
management committees while acknowledging that Vanderbilt could simply disregard any
recommendations. For what little impact these committees may have, even the members of the
committees and the process for choosing them are not disclosed.
This is just an email saying there will be another email forthcoming. And to add insult, CCA
workers and students who made it to the end of this email found euphemisms for the impending
loss of their livelihoods and interruption of their education.
So, since we are educators at heart, we decided to read through with our teacher hats on and
red pens in hand. President Howse, you might want to reach out to us before hitting send next
time.
#ccastaffunion
#ccaadjunctunion
#ccastudentunion
#thepeoplearethelegacy
#californiacollegeofthearts
CCA faculty letting their voices be heard!
Last month, in a stunning move, the President of the California College of the Arts and the San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced that CCA would close in the spring of 2027 and the campus and building sold to Vanderbilt University. The announcement stunned the students, faculty, and staff of CCA and the broader art and design community in San Francisco and beyond.
In 2024 the full-time faculty at CCA organized and voted to join CFT, as CCA Ranked Faculty United, AFT Local 6642, winning their first contract last year. Now, despite a $20 million bailout from the state of California, and with questionable real estate deals involving several trustees, the college is set to close.
But faculty and students are fighting back. They rallied this week in front of the school and are exploring every option to ensure the students and faculty are not left empty handed. “CCA’s agreement with Vanderbilt is an act of surrender,” says professor of Architecture and CCA Ranked Faculty United bargaining team member, Peter Anderson. “It is the result of a decision to abandon CCA’s mission to educate students in the arts and design field. It is a complete failure of our administration that we should all reject.”
CCA’s living legacy of staff, faculty, and students rallied together on Tuesday to demand better a better solution for the community. With 120 years of arts education, institutional knowledge, and a wellspring of creative innovation for SF at stake the community showed UP. What we are asking for is the retention of staff and faculty who are devoted to their students, a recognition of our unions and commitment from @vanderbiltu to maintain a robust arts and design program on this campus. @danielluriesf has touted the sale of CCA as a win for SF. We’re here to let him know he got it wrong. Email his office directly with a template of our demands via the link in our bio.
Congratulations CCA Faculty!
After 16 months of negotiations, we reached an agreement for our first union contract - one that provides an average salary increase of 19.7% over three years, protects health benefits, restores 403(b) matching contributions, expands sabbaticals to include all ranked faculty, and protects us against unfair terminations and layoffs.
Thanks to everyone involved in making this historic first contract a reality.
#designeducation
#arteducation
#ArtFacultyForFairPay
#DesignFacultyUnited
#ArtistsNeedUnions
#CreativeLaborMatters
#ArtSchoolsNeedJustice
#FairPayForCreatives
#CaliforniaFederationOfTeachers
#CFTUnion
#CAFacultyUnion
#CaliforniaEducatorsUnited
#FairPayCalifornia
#UnionStrong
#EqualPayForEqualWork
#HigherEdLabor
#WeAreTheUnion
#FacultyForward
#PayEquityNow
Every year we lose more and more faculty to other institutions, destabilizing our programs and denying our students the quality education they deserve.
32 faculty have left CCA over the last two years.
We are not just fighting for ourselves; we are fighting for the college that our students deserve.
CCA faculty love CCA!
Support CCA faculty!
#designeducation
#arteducation
#ArtFacultyForFairPay
#DesignFacultyUnited
#ArtistsNeedUnions
#CreativeLaborMatters
#ArtSchoolsNeedJustice
#FairPayForCreatives
#CaliforniaFederationOfTeachers
#CFTUnion
#CAFacultyUnion
#CaliforniaEducatorsUnited #FairPayCalifornia
#UnionStrong
#EqualPayForEqualWork
#HigherEdLabor
#WeAreTheUnion
#FacultyForward
#PayEquityNow
The California College of the Arts recently received $65 million dollars in donations and public funds but STILL refuses to pay faculty competitive salaries and benefits.
CCA faculty love CCA!
But we deserve a competitive wage.
#designeducation
#arteducation
#ArtFacultyForFairPay
#DesignFacultyUnited
#ArtistsNeedUnions
#CreativeLaborMatters #ArtSchoolsNeedJustice
#FairPayForCreatives
#CaliforniaFederationOfTeachers
#CFTUnion
#CAFacultyUnion
#CaliforniaEducatorsUnited
#FairPayCalifornia
#UnionStrong
#EqualPayForEqualWork #HigherEdLabor
#WeAreTheUnion
#FacultyForward
#PayEquityNow
