We must be doing something right

TMCC-NFA officers Cheryl Cardoza, Lars Jensen, and Amy Cavanaugh

On August 11, during the Fall 2023 Kickoff event, TMCC-NFA officers set up a booth on the Dandini Campus Plaza to distribute t-shirts to members, sign up new members, and answer any questions from curious coworkers. The effort led to more than a dozen new members. The following week, on August 18, we staffed a table outside of the meeting for new tenure-track faculty and their tenure committee members, for the same reasons. Exactly a week after that, August 25, we held the first TMCC-NFA chapter meeting of the new academic year in VSTA B-206 and on Zoom, attracting the largest crowd to a meeting in recent memory. 

It was a very good couple of weeks.

Campus executives, apparently, didn't share our enthusiasm. 

The Kickoff Problem

The first sign of administrative animus appeared on August 21, when an email from a Kickoff organizer who is a direct report to the President asked to discuss the placement of our NFA "tent" during the activities. The message implied that we disrupted other "approved" activities on the plaza that were intentionally positioned to ensure they had a quiet location. 

Admittedly, we were playing music at our location and were genuinely enjoying the company of our coworkers with conversation and laughter, aligning with a stated purpose of the activities on the Plaza to allow colleagues to reconnect after the summer when most of us were off contract Nonetheless, we intentionally chose a space for our booth that was the furthest away from all the others activities, but still visible to faculty as they left the student center following the administrative welcome speeches. At the south end of the Plaza, we were no closer to the booths that required quiet locations than the multitude of other booths positioned at the north end. Nonetheless, we would have been happy to tone down our sound levels had anyone simply informed us that they needed the quiet. 

We never heard from the faculty members who operated those booths, only the individual who reports to the President told us of the problem. If we truly disrupted the faculty members' plans, we are sincerely sorry. Please let us know how we can make it up to you. We subsequently responded to the original message by confirming that TMCC-NFA will be happy to meet with organizers before the next Kickoff event to look at options, but we will also defend our first amendment rights no matter how uncomfortable they make senior administrators.

The Setup Problem

Since last year, TMCC-NFA has held its chapter meetings in VSTA B-206 and RDMT 333, depending on anticipated attendance. Upon reserving VSTA B-206, we are asked by the Maintenance staff how we would like the room set up and, just like last year, we asked for a simple auditorium style - rows of chairs to accommodate about 35 people. 

Since Article 3, Section 3.2.2 of the TMCC-NFA Contract states "The college will provide a space (without charge) for TMCC-NFA members to conduct business or in which to stage contract negotiations," we were a little surprised by an email on August 29 email informing us that we would be charged a setup fee of $200 for the use of rooms like VSTA B-206. When we responded by citing the contract language, we were informed that we were not being charged for the room, just the setup. We assume the same would hold  true for activities like setting up the table outside the tenure meeting since the Maintenance staff set up the one table and two chairs we used.

The Listserv Problem

About a week later, a heads-up came our way that the administration was looking into shutting down TMCC-NFA's unauthorized listserv. Although nothing more seems to have come of this, it is curious that we would be tagged as operating an unauthorized listserv. We do not have a listserv. We have manually created two Google Groups, one for members and another for all individuals in the collective bargaining group (members and non-members). Returning to Article 3 of the TMCC-NFA contract, section 3.2.4 states, "TMCC shall provide a full list of all faculty who are members of the bargaining unit each semester (Fall and Spring)." We use these lists to build and maintain our Google Groups.

It was interesting to hear, however, that the administration had, apparently, received complaints from rank-and-file employees about TMCC-NFA's communications, specifically the calendar invitation to our August 25 chapter meeting that was sent to all members of the bargaining unit. While the most controversial thing contained in the invitation was the phrase "free pizza," we certainly understand any individual's desire to be free of our messaging. Over the last year, a few individuals have asked us to stop sending them messages and we've been happy to comply. Just let us know. 

The most curious thing about this specific issue, however, is the source of the "complaint." Based on the information we've received, the person whose name was given to the administration as being frustrated over receiving our emails is an individual who has been a friend to TMCC-NFA for years, leading us to seriously question the veracity of the "complaint."

Nonetheless, if you are an individual who does not wish to receive our messages, just let one of us know. No worries. Our email addresses are listed at the bottom of this post.

The rent-free life

When we asked each of the individuals who communicated these "problems" to us, they confirmed what we already knew. The directives to influence when and where we set up our outreach booths, to charge us setup fees, and to limit our ability to communicate with the campus are coming directly from Leadership. We don't hold anything against the individuals who sent the messages, they were just carrying out the directives from their superiors.

There will always be an oppositional relationship between organized labor and management. That's just nature. Recent administrative reactions to TMCC-NFA activities, however, have been more than oppositional. It appears we are living rent-free in the minds of at least one or more of the senior administrators at TMCC. These on-going micro-aggressions, as petty as they are, will certainly not deter us. In fact, they only strengthen our resolve and serve to confirm that we are succeeding in our defense of faculty rights, academic freedom, shared governance, and due process. 

We must be doing something right.

Please contact any TMCC-NFA officer if you wish to be removed from our lines of communication:

Jim New, President: jim.new@nevadafacultyalliance.org
Amy Cavanaugh, Vice President: acavanaugh@tmcc.edu
Julia Hammett, Secretary: jhammett@tmcc.edu
Lars Jensen, Treasurer: ljensen@tmcc.edu
Cheryl Cardoza, Past President: ccardoza@tmcc.edu