FACULTY & STAFF AFFINITY GROUPS Frequently Asked Questions
CSULB Employee Affinity Groups for Faculty and Staff: Involvement Policy Frequently Asked Questions
The Policy:
Staff employees are eligible to participate and engage in a maximum of 20 hours per academic year in approved Employee Affinity Groups, during their normal work hours. Any participation beyond 20 hours is at the discretion of the employee’s supervisor and departmental needs. Full-time Tenured/Tenure Track, Full-time Lecturers, and Part-Time lectures with a minimum time base of 6 weighted teaching hours/year who serve in a leadership capacity in one Employee Affinity Group are eligible to receive 1 WTU of reassigned time per year and may accumulate them for up to 3 years.
Employee Affinity Groups are recognized and formed around a shared identity or common goal to build stronger relationships among members of non-dominant, minoritized, historically and currently marginalized communities in order to foster and promote equity, inclusion, and diversity across the CSULB campus.
You may join multiple groups. However, the maximum of 20 hours of schedule adjustment is inclusive of time spent in all Employee Affinity Groups. Faculty members holding multiple leadership positions will only receive reassigned time for one position.
Approved Employee Affinity Groups are listed on the Employee Affinity Group home page.
For general questions or concerns about this policy please contact the PECC at equityandchange@csulb.edu. For questions about accessing the hours or reassigned time offered in this policy, please discuss with your supervisor.
For Staff Members Only
Yes, however the 20 hours includes participation across all groups and can be distributed among them at your discretion.
Secure an affinity group sponsorship letter provided by the respective affinity group. The staff member then uses that letter to work with their appropriate administrator in seeking department approval to fulfill a commitment to the affinity group and ensure that the operational needs of the department are met.
Log into the Employee Center and look for the Affinity Group icon under “eAPPLICATIONS.” Request/track time using the familiar tool that you use to report time away for other reasons.
In the unlikely event that approval is not granted, the employee may send the decision to their appointing authority (e.g. director, dean), and then if necessary to the Vice President for review and response.
Eligible hours are prorated based on time base. For example, if you have a .4 time base, you would have 8 hours of eligible hours for Employee Affinity Group involvement; if you are at a .5 time base, you would have 10 hours for Employee Affinity Group involvement.
There may be requests that supervisors may deny for participation in specific events or meetings to ensure that the operational needs of the department are met. In these cases, the PECC recommends that the supervisor work with staff members to design an equitable process for ensuring participation of all staff members.
Your supervisor may ask for a report of your involvement in Employee Affinity Groups activities.
For Faculty Members Only
Plan for the use of your reassigned time with your Department Chair or Director as far in advance as possible, to decrease any impact to instruction.
You may accumulate each unit of assigned time for a total of 3 units of assigned time. Please work with your Department Chair or Director to use reassigned time in this way.
Your Employee Affinity Group provides a letter documenting your leadership position and the duration of this position.
Yes, you may receive this reassigned time as well. Please consult with your Department Chair or Director to use reassigned time as far in advance as possible, to decrease any impact to instruction.
Yes, your Department Chair or Director will ask you to plan for and report on your Employee Affinity Groups activities before and after the term when the assigned time is used via the required form: “Faculty Assigned Time Request Form and Report of Work Accomplished.”
