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On
May 4, Board
President Vahe Peroomian emailed the campus to announce the
resignation of Dr. Audre Levy as of June 30, 2009. Dr. Levy is
leaving Glendale to become President of Lone Star College district’s
CyFair campus in Texas.
Due to numerous issues over the past several years involving
President Levy and the faculty, the announcement that Dr. Levy would
be leaving Glendale for a new position in Texas was greeted with a
general sense of relief by many employees. In an email to the
campus, Dr. Levy noted that her new position would allow her to be
closer to her family and thanked those who have been
supportive during her three years at GCC.
The
First Huge Surprise
Several weeks after the announcement of her new position, a
previously undisclosed piece of
information came out regarding the Board’s March decision (in
private session) to “buy out” Dr. Levy’s last year by providing the
equivalent of a year of salary and retirement funding. Apparently
the Board voted in their closed session to ask for her resignation
and to pay her what in the private sector might be called a
severance package, including some funds for an annuity (somewhat
like the one that recent retirees now enjoy).
Guild
leaders and other employees were astonished to find that such a
decision could have been made without consultation with employees,
and public comments at the May Board meeting reflected those
concerns. The Board had originally asked for comments on the
process for hiring an interim president, but this task was
overshadowed by the expressed outrage of those who did not
understand why the Board would allocate approximately $300,000 to
hasten an employee’s departure. More heated comments conveyed the
belief that the package should have had a contingency clause so that
if Dr. Levy obtained comparable employment, all or part of the
package could be canceled.
More
Surprises from the Board
After the unusually intense dialogue between faculty and
trustees, the Board went into closed session for several hours.
Ignoring campus requests for some type of inclusive process for the
interim position, the Board then announced their decision to appoint
Vice President of Instructional Services Dawn Lindsay as interim
president starting July 1. The appointment is for a one-year period
during which the Board will convene a hiring committee for a
permanent president.
What
is the Proper Role of the Board?
Ultimately, such matters as selecting presidents (including
acting, interim or permanent status) and terminating a president’s
contract early (often with some form of buy-out provision) are
indeed within the Board’s purview. However, the decision-making
process in this case has led to many serious questions about the
Board’s communication with employee organizations. Time will tell if
the Board will bridge the gap to improve relations between employee
organizations and the members of the Board of Trustees.
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