In academia, in government, and in the labor movement, acronyms swirl around us. If you are used to navigating the federal government’s patchwork of social benefits, for example, you know that “SSI” refers to supplemental security income for disabled and elderly people.

But in CFAlandia, an “SSI” means a Service Salary Increase. As some of the only California state workers who do not receive automatic “step” increases, we negotiate our SSI increases for each and every year. An SSI is typically a salary increase of 2.65%. Unlike a GSI (a General Salary Increase, which goes to all faculty in our bargaining unit), an SSI is paid only to faculty on the lower end of the salary scale for our range (A, B, C, or D for lecturers) or rank (assistant, associate, or full for tenure-line/tenured faculty).

The goal of the SSI is to raise the salaries of lower paid faculty, and in doing so, minimize the pay inequities (by race, gender, discipline, campus, and/or by dint of a stingy dean) that often originate at the point of hire. This is especially important, given CSU management’s longstanding refusal to lift the salary floors of the lowest paid faculty, until our most recent contract.

In our 2022-25 Collective Bargaining Agreement we won an SSIs for this fiscal year, 2024-25, effective on our anniversary dates. (See Article 31, Salary for details on the GSIs, PPIs (Post-Promotion Increases], and SSIs we have won so far, from 2022-25).

If your anniversary date is sometime in August, you should soon be seeing a 2.65% increase in your gross pay (that is, your total pay before taxes and other deductions). If you have not yet received your increase by September 30, and you believe you are eligible, contact your campus payroll office, inquire about your eligibility, and ask when you will be paid. (If you were first hired in spring, and your anniversary date is sometime in January, you should receive the 2.65% increase early in Spring 2025.)

In the meantime, you can determine your eligibility by looking at this salary schedule. If your salary is below the level in line with the phrase, “SSI Max” in the chart, and, for lecturer faculty, you have 24 WTUs in your department since your appointment or last SSI, you are eligible to receive the 2.65% increase.

CSU management is notorious for failing to pay us on time, so  be your own advocate and know that our union leaders will support you in receiving the pay owed to you. 

If your campus payroll office is unresponsive and you’re still unsure about whether you have an SSI coming your way this year, contact your CFA chapter representatives on your campus.

Want to learn more? Become active with your local CFA chapter Faculty Rights team. Find your representative here.

  • Browse the faculty contract here.
  • See an archive of Faculty Rights Tips.
  • If you have questions about a faculty rights tip or would like to suggest a tip, please write us with the subject line “Faculty Rights Tip.”
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