unique to california community colleges, ccsf support staff are pooled in the county of san francisco's civil service system, so they may transfer between the community college and other city/county of san francisco departments and participate in the city and county's benefit programs. this is an exception to academic independence enabled by education code section 88137. college administrators do not have control of hiring and placement of classified staff. although it allows for benefit and seniority portability, ccsf classified staff are not paid at the same rate as their equivalent in other city/county department, so transfer to the college is effectively a demotion.