College of San Mateo CSM Active Minds advisor Gil Perez called for fair compensation for personal counselors, who advise student mental health organizations, at the district board meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
Perez, who has worked at CSM since 2016, said that personal counselors’ compensation for advising mental health clubs such as Active Minds is not solidified in any district contract. They are paid on the basis of whether the dean at their campus wants to or not. If the district decides to require that all personal counselors get compensated for the work they do with advising student mental health organizations in the new contract that they are currently negotiating with AFT1493, the personal counselors do not have to worry if they will lose money if a new dean decides their club work is strictly voluntary.
Perez said that it has happened before, where the school has not paid him to advise Active Minds, because they deemed it to be voluntary work, but he is working to make sure that doesn’t happen again for future counselors.
“This is not just for me,” Perez said. “This is for the future of whoever becomes personal counselors.”
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Perez also said that he wanted to show the board that Active Minds is not simply a club, but a valuable mental health resource that many students have gone to for support. Many students logged into the Zoom session that was broadcasting the board meeting and shared their experiences with Active Minds and their support to make sure personal counselors are paid fairly. Perez added that the messages shared by the students really show the significance of the club.
“The students have shared today that, for them, this specific form of support is saving lives,” Perez said.
Skyline College Professor Luis Zúñiga also mentioned that the situation with Active Minds is one example of faculty having to worry about not being compensated properly for the extra work that they do.
“The situation regarding Active Minds is rather alarming,” Zúñiga said. “We have tried to communicate that with the district an endless amount of times, and they just don’t care. That’s the bottom line.”
Zúñiga added that he believes the reason the district has not given this issue much attention is because they are hoping faculty will continue to do extra work because they care deeply about their students’ success.
The impasse procedures are still running their course; however, the teachers’ union is still planning on holding voting sessions March 10-12 to decide whether their union will strike if an agreement is not reached by the time the impasse ends.