Last May, the CSU Chancellor’s Office notified CFA members that it planned to implement what it called “Systemwide Guidance: Responding to Other Conduct of Concern” (OCC) in January 2025.

This guidance was designed to address concerns from students, faculty, and staff about unprofessional conduct, bias incidents, microaggressions, acts of intolerance, bullying, and abusive conduct that may fall outside the Nondiscrimination Policy, but are nonetheless disruptive to our working and learning environment. CFA members are concerned that this vague and ill-defined policy could have serious unintended consequences, including the chilling of speech, an erosion of solidarity, and potential misuse resulting in grievances.

CFA leaders met with CSU management over summer 2024 about the OCC policy. In September 2024, the Chancellor’s office indicated that it would only bargain with CFA members over the impact of the OCC guidance, not the decision to implement it.

We subsequently filed an Unfair Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) over CSU management’s refusal to bargain over the implementation of the OCC guidance.

The CSU revised its OCC guidance in November 2024. The revised guidance continued to set out vague prohibitions and failed to reflect the input and will of the bargaining unit. On November 26, 2024, CFA members filed an amended Unfair Practice Charge over CSU’s refusal to bargain over the decision to implement the “revised guidance.” On December 23, 2024, PERB issued a complaint against the CSU, for failing to bargain over its decision to implement the revised guidance. This means that PERB agreed with CFA members and seeks to find common ground between the parties. The parties currently have an informal settlement conference scheduled for March 20, 2025. If a solution cannot be reached in this informal mediation, the union would have the right to take further steps, including bringing the matter before an administrative law judge.

On January 31, 2025, the Chancellor’s Office notified CFA members that it had revised its Systemwide Guidance on Other Conduct of Concern for a third time, despite the PERB ruling. This shows continued bad faith on the part of management, and an insistence on sticking with a poorly conceived, intrusive, and potentially destructive policy that could be in violation of the first amendment.

The current OCC guidance still fails to reflect the input and will of our members. It still sets out vague prohibitions of conduct. We continue to believe these prohibitions, if not examined more carefully, can lead to unjust disciplinary action against employees as well as being chilling of speech. We also insist that the guidance, including procedures related to investigating faculty accused of other conduct of concern should not apply to faculty until there is a resolution to our outstanding PERB charge. If you need additional assistance, contact your CFA chapter representatives on your campus. Additionally, please let CFA chapter leaders and chapter representatives know if you notice attempts to implement the OCC guidance.

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