The CCA Fall Conference was proudly attended by over 100 participants, and for many it was their first time attending a CCA conference.

For Dulce Garcia, who teaches at College of the Desert and Chaffey College, it was her first time ever attending a CCA conference. “I was really excited when I told Beverly (who is also a first- timer and featured below), ‘let’s go,’ we are going to learn new things about bargaining and all the issues pertaining to adjunct faculty.” When asked what encouraged her to become involved, she said the Advocate, because she was inspired by the stories she read and saw the news that the conference was free for all members. She told Beverly, “Let’s make this an annual conference so we can participate and be active.”

For Beverly Garcia, who has been teaching at College of the Desert for five years, this conference was very enlightening for her. “Hopefully, maybe one day, I’ll come back and be a delegate.” She wanted to learn more about the ins and outs of bargaining, what it takes to run the union, and what it means to be part of a union. “I’m really glad Dulce invited me,” said Garcia.

Vienna Sa, San Joaquin Delta College Teachers Association

This conference featured panels from enhancing bargaining to challenges and rewards of a career in educational and union leadership, which focused on women’s issues and specifically women’s issues within this union and within the career of being a community college professor. Vienna Sa, who was a panelist in that session and teaches psychology with a specialization on social justice and equity issues at San Joaquin Delta College, is a participant in the year’s Ethnic Minority Early Identification and Development Program (EMEID). EMEID’s goal is to increase the number of CTA leaders of color in roles such as: president, bargaining chair, state council rep, service center council chair and officers and any other respected leadership role/position.

“In the session we talked about women’s experiences because of society’s gender roles. A lot of people when they look at me as an Asian American person and as someone who looks young, they don’t assume that I am somebody who’s educated, or I am somebody who is an actual professor. It’s important to raise these issues because a lot of the decisions we make when I say we, I mean society makes, are based on a structure of white supremacy. The higher you go in leadership, there are not many folks of color. Within my union I want to contribute more toward the social justice issues and equity issues that are apparent not only within our community colleges, but are also apparent in the union itself.”

Sa’s motivation to get involved with her union is to push toward gender and racial equity. Her message to all women aspiring to be leaders in their union is:

“Even if you know the risks that we may encounter when we step outside the box or do something that might go against societal gender roles, I encourage you to pause and think, can I be that person that I needed when I was younger? Can I be that role model that I needed when I was younger or when I was not feeling empowered?”

–Vienna Sa, San Joaquin Delta College Teachers Association

Members also voted on critical changes to CCA’s mission statement and director title, renewing the promise to make a more equitable and inclusive association.

CCA’s New Mission Statement Highlights Equity and Inclusion

“The Community College Association, with CTA and NEA as our partners, advocates for California’s public higher education faculty, empowers locals, builds strong and effective coalitions, promotes equity and inclusion, and strives to preserve quality public education.”

CCA’s New Director Title Highlights Equity and Justice

Racial/Ethnic Minority Director is now Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Equity and Justice Director

Melissa Matteson, Barstow College Faculty Association

Melissa Matteson is a full-time access counselor at Barstow Community College and new CCA delegate. Advocating on behalf of everyone is important to her. When asked who inspired her to become a new delegate, Matteson said, “Our amazing chapter president, Dr. Beverly Ranney, who goes above and beyond continuously for our union. Since becoming vice president for our union, I’m trying to absorb as much knowledge not only from CCA, but also Dr. Ranney.”

Patty Peoples, Chaffey College Faculty Association

Patty Peoples, who has been teaching at Chaffey College for 30 years, is also a new delegate. For Peoples, she wanted to bring her experience as a part-time faculty member to help other part-time faculty members at her college. When asked who inspired her to take on this leadership role, she said her union president Jonathan Ausubel. “I would like to bridge part-time and full-time faculty so we’re all working together for the students. We must remember we are in this profession to teach the future generations. And to be able to do that efficiently, we need to work together and not be separated,” said Peoples.

CCA California Leadership Academy

At the conference, the CCA California Leadership Academy (CLA) also had its final session and graduated its class of 2022. The CLA is designed to train faculty interested in leadership positions beyond their local chapters (such as CCA Board members). The CLA meets over the course of three CCA conferences. Approximately a dozen strong union advocates are chosen to participate. CLA members learn how to debunk negative stereotypes of unions, about the various leadership groups in California, brush up on public speaking skills, learn about recruitment of members from various generations, discuss stewardship, get pointers on how to run effective meetings, and discuss threats and opportunities facing community colleges.

Congratulations to all the graduates: Sam Abbas (Saddleback College), Heidi Ahders (Mendocino Community College), Suzanne Engelhardt (Long Beach City College), Mary Lawler (San Bernardino Valley College), Tracy Redden (College of the Sequoias), and Emily Woolery (Mt. San Antonio College).

Back row from left to right: Frank Oppedisano (CTA staff), Ed Gomez (CLA co-facilitator), and Eric Kaljumägi (CCA president); Front row from left to right: Sam Abbas, Heidi Ahders, Suzanne Engelhardt, Mary Lawler, Tracy Redden, Emily Woolery, and Kristie Iwamoto (CLA co-facilitator)

“In the last session, it was interesting to see what the change in demographics is going to be for the generations. I have a millennial and a Gen Z, so it’s interesting to see how they are the same, but they are not. I’m excited to just learn all about where I could fit it in as part-time faculty and make the most difference in part-time faculty advocacy,” said Heidi Ahders, one of the graduates, right after the last session “Three Generations One Future,” led by CTA staff Ed Sibby and Gabriella Landeros.

“I think it’s important to have women in leadership because we have a different perspective on social justice and having a say in what happens.”

–Heidi Ahders, Mendocino College Part-Time Faculty Association

“I really think this last session was incredible cause it talks a lot about what happens when we have younger people coming behind us who have different values, different understandings, basically different historical perspectives,” said Ed Gomez, who is in his 25^th year of teaching at San Bernardino Valley College. “

The presentation today speaks to how we have to adjust our union so that we can become a union of who we are going to be representing, not one from one past.”

–Ed Gomez, San Bernardino Community College District Teachers Association