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Friday, August 28, 2026
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Faculty at Central Oregon Community College Declare Impasse
Market Adjustments to Compensation Remain Sticking Point in Contract Negotiations
Bend, OR – After nine months of contract negotiations, Central Oregon Community College Faculty Forum, an affiliate of the Oregon Education Association, has declared an impasse with Central Oregon Community College (COCC). While the Union and the College have tentative agreements on many provisions in contract negotiations, market adjustments to compensation remain a sticking point.
“It’s been nine months, and I am sad at what this impasse signals to the workers who deliver high-quality instruction, support, leadership, and innovation to our students and the COCC community. COCC’s actions demonstrate that they are fine with COCC faculty being among the lowest paid at any community college in Oregon. When you factor in cost of living, we are the absolute lowest paid faculty. We have been sharing for months that this needs to change. COCC Faculty Forum stands together to demand better for our colleagues, our students and our community,” said Sara Henson, President of COCC Faculty Forum.
Compensation for faculty at COCC has trailed faculty at peer institutions for years, see Appendix A and B. Faculty at COCC also have higher workloads compared to faculty at peer institutions and have made the case that high-workload and lagging salaries have reduced candidate pools, made it harder to fill positions, and led to high turnover. The Union has indicated a willingness to compromise on workload proposals if compensation concerns are addressed.
“Faculty have been asking for a long time for the college to increase salary to adjust for labor market conditions and the rising cost of living in Bend. Time and time again, the college has balanced its budget on the backs of hardworking educators. Meanwhile, they have made a series of financial blunders by investing in projects that have shown no sign of paying off. That is on COCC administration, not on the people delivering quality instruction to students at COCC,” said Mindy Williams, COCC Faculty Forum Bargaining Lead.
A recent report commissioned by SEIU 503 demonstrated bloated administrative spending at Oregon’s public universities, at the expense of rank-and-file workers whose pay has not risen with the rising cost of living. Faculty contend that the same is happening at COCC.
“Administrators have raised their pay to adjust to labor market conditions. Meanwhile, I moved to Madras as a tactical retreat from Bend’s skyrocketing cost of living. Even that is not enough. With my low COCC salary, I am forced to sell my remaining ‘spare’ time to the economy by working extra jobs wherever and whenever I can get them that work around my schedule. I have never been allergic to hard work, but it is a staggering irony that, if worked full time, the compensation for these ‘supplemental’ jobs can and will exceed the salaries of our junior faculty and make even the compensation of more seasoned faculty seem inadequate,” said Murray Godfrey, COCC Professor of History.
The Union has been working in good faith with COCC administrators and share the belief in the College’s mission and the importance of delivering high-quality instruction to each student. In negotiations, the College has consistently inflated the cost of the union’s proposals. While there are genuine budget concerns at COCC, like many other community colleges and institutions of higher learning, recruiting and retaining educators through market-based compensation is critical to the success of COCC.
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APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B