United Faculty used Fall 2026 Flex to deliver two coordinated training sessions at NOCE, Cypress, and Fullerton: a UF Structure and Grievance Essentials training, and a New Faculty Development session for members joining the bargaining unit.

UF Structure, Training, and Grievance Essentials

This session laid out how United Faculty functions as the exclusive representative across Fullerton College, Cypress College, and North Orange Continuing Education — one bargaining unit with site-specific experiences, not three separate faculty unions. Faculty walked through how a concern moves through UF's structure: members build contract literacy, Rep Council carries knowledge and verified concerns across all three campuses, grievance representatives investigate and represent, and the Executive Board directs strategy, resources, and escalation.

The training also covered the legal framework behind faculty rights — how California's Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA) creates the rights, how the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) enforces the statute, and how Article 24 enforces the contract — along with contract literacy fundamentals, the duty of fair representation, Weingarten and representation rights, and a detailed walkthrough of Article 12 class-cancellation protections using a real scheduling scenario. The session closed by reinforcing that early consultation with UF is not escalation — it is how faculty protect their choices and build the record for action when action is needed.

New Faculty Development: Member Essentials

This one-hour session welcomed new faculty from Fullerton and Cypress with a practical first-day guide to the union: what United Faculty is, what membership adds beyond the contract, and when to call. Topics included the distinction between UF's scope (pay, workload, leaves, evaluation procedures, grievances) and Academic Senate purview (curriculum, degrees, grading, program review); UF's member-led structure from members through Division Reps, Rep Council, officers, and the bargaining and grievance teams; and six negotiated benefits new faculty should know — overload, load banking, leaves, sabbaticals, salary advancement, and tenure and due process.

The session gave particular attention to the tenure review process and Article 17 timeline, sabbatical and salary-column deadlines, and how to invoke representation rights before answering questions in a meeting that could lead to discipline.

Attendance

Nearly 50 faculty attended the new-faculty sessions, and more than 90 participated in the grievance and structure trainings. Slides from both sessions will be posted to the UF website in the near future.

Faculty interested in getting involved — filling a vacant Division Rep seat, joining the organizing or PAC committees, or serving as a grievance representative — are encouraged to reach out. Training comes with the role.

Have a question or concern? Bring it through your Rep Council member — that is the formal channel for accurate, timely response. See Leadership & Reps for your campus and division contacts.

Official UF updates are distributed only by email from UF role-based accounts and posted to UnitedFacultyNOCCCD.org.