Faculty Rights Tip: Yes, Faculty Still Have the Contractual Right to Not Talk to Campus Police

In recent days, the Chancellor’s Office has issued a new “Time, Place, and Manner” policy in relation to the national upsurge in student activism, encampments, and other free speech activities which make our campuses dynamic spaces of democracy and passionate exchanges of ideas, as recently noted in a New York Times essay by Wesleyan University President, Michael S. Roth.

Several CSU campuses also issued emails with directives that proscribe conduct contained within the new “Time, Place, and Manner” (TPM) policy also applies to represented employees – including the Faculty, of CFA/Unit 3. We will continue to remind the CSU (through cordial exchanges, legal action, and protest as needed) that making new rules that subject faculty to discipline must come with notice and an opportunity to bargain over them. The Chancellor and her staff know this. For example, whenever there are new discrimination, harassment, and retaliation rules, the CSU administration notifies the union and we meet and confer over the changes. It is no different now just because the CSU is hastily trying to react and respond to the pollical climate.

Moreover, we have rights explicitly enumerated in our 2022-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which protect us from incursions into our freedoms and working conditions on our campuses. In addition to the preamble of our CBA, which guarantees our academic freedom, faculty enjoy additional protections in our new agreement, specifically relating to our interactions with campus police.

During our last contract fight, CFA secured additional language in the CBA which begins to limit police power on our campuses. This language exists in Article 37, Health and Safety and essentially stipulates that as a unionized faculty member, you have the right to refuse to talk to campus police. Article 37.10 secures this right for us, and reads as follows:

37.10   All people have constitutional rights when it comes to interactions with police officers. CSU employees have those same rights when it comes to interactions with University Police. When University Police seek to interview a CFA represented employee, the employee has no obligation to participate. If, however, the employee chooses to participate, the employee may request to be accompanied by a union representative.  If the request for a union representative is denied, the employee has no obligation to participate. Nothing in this provision shall limit the rights of employees to be represented by an attorney when interacting with University Police.

If you agree to speak with police, we urge you to request a union representative to be present.

Protect yourself and each other, and be aware of your Article 37.10 rights to not speak with campus cops! Watch out for your BIPOC colleagues, and for those who might be targeted for their political beliefs and affiliations, and help spread the word about our Article 37 rights.

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

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