The Academic Affairs telecommunications agreement changed after nearly six years on March 15. Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Erika Cameron said staff without specific telework agreements must prepare to return to the office.

Those who do will be allowed to work remotely one day per week, with a full return-to-office on July 1, 2026. The change follows an earlier plan that would have ended telecommunication agreements on Feb. 2.

The ending decision drew immediate criticism from staff and labor representatives. Vivian Mendoza, the labor relations representative for the Sacramento chapter of the California State University Employees Union, said that ending telework agreements disrupts workers schedules.

“Telecommunicating is an opportunity for them to maintain the demands, but it also allows for a better work-life balance,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said administrators have not cited performance issues among staff.

“Service levels are already being met, in fact, services are preferred by our peers,”Mendoza said.

The current telework agreements began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when staff could not be on campus.

Manuel Lopez, chief steward for the Academic Professionals of California’s Sac State Chapter, said remote work reflects how the campus has adapted after the pandemic.

”Students were still being served, faculty were still being served, it’s been since COVID that we’ve been doing this.” Lopez said. “Over the last six years, here at Sacramento State, I think we’ve adjusted pretty well to the changing society.”

Lopez has worked at Sacramento State for more than 27 years. He said performance issues in Academic Affairs stem from staffing shortages.

“When staff leave, we don’t hire somebody to replace them. That to me is more of a problem,” Lopez said.

Others have also raised concerns regarding staffing shortages.

At a Faculty Senate meeting on March 5, a resolution supporting the current telework agreement stated Academic Affairs lost 69 staff members between spring 2024 and spring 2026.

Lopez and Mendoza said flexible work arrangements have helped retain staff over the years.

“The fact is that the CSU is not offering pay raises to its employees. Staff are not getting pay raises, they’re getting a one-time bonus,” Lopez said. “One of the benefits that we got was a flexible schedule that let people work at home.”

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If the agreement ends, Mendoza said bringing all staff back to campus could increase parking congestion. Some staff already face issues commuting to campus.

“Some live in very distant areas, and for some of them, as you can imagine, coming onto the campus, it creates an added layer of hardships,” Mendoza said. “We’ve had some of our members that literally say,‘We run out of gas money.’”

However, Michelle Ward, chief of external relations, said in an email that only 135 Academic Affairs employees, roughly 4% of all Sac State workforce, have telework agreements, and that their return would not significantly affect parking.

Some faculty members also oppose ending the telework agreement. The Faculty Senate introduced a resolution supporting continued telework.

At the March 5 Faculty Senate meeting, Amber Gonzalez, an education professor, introduced the resolution.

“We want to make sure that we’re supporting flexible, evidence-based telework practices in one way that we can retain talented staff and sustain our academic mission,” Gonzalez said.

Others outside the Faculty Senate also voiced support for maintaining telework options at the meeting.

Research Integrity and Compliance Officer Leah Vargas, who spoke on behalf of the Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development said that requiring all Academic Affairs staff to return to the office would slow faculty research proposals.

Another message of support came from Ashley Ciraulo-Stuart, the Student Success Center coordinator in the College of Education. Through Zoom, Ciraulo-Stuart said that having the option to telework allows for the center to better meet students’ needs.

“Teleworking has not diminished service quality,” Ciraulo-Stuart said. “In fact, productivity, responsiveness and continuity in student support has actually been improved in many cases.”

There were also concerns that requiring the return of Academic Affairs staff to campus would lead to confusion among other departments.

“[Vice President of Student Affairs Aniesha] Mitchell communicated that Student Affairs has no plans to end their telecommunication agreements, and emphasized that any plans to change that would involve decision-wide consultation,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez also said that requiring Academic Affairs staff to return on campus fails to uphold the standards of the CSU Forward strategic plan by not being an employer of choice.

Ultimately, the biggest concern is more staff leaving if the telecommunication option ends. Vargas, through talking within the ORIED office, said that the department could lose 55% of staff.

“They’re not doing anything to keep us here. They’re doing things to push us out. The campus is not working to retain staff, and the people being affected are students,” Lopez said.