CHAPARRAL

Help! We need somebody! Not just anybody. . .

On Friday, January 30, 2009, the campus will be visited by representatives from the Community College League of California (which represents college trustees and presidents) and the Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges (which represents community college senates.)  The purpose of their visit is to offer technical assistance to promote effective participation in college governance.  This comes at the request of both the administration and the Senate.

     The reason we have asked for technical assistance is the difficulty we have experienced in governance for the last two years.  In particular, we have asked for assistance in three areas:  shared governance, hiring and evaluation of administrators.

     Shared Governance:  In the transition from the Davitt administration, disagreements have developed about the proper role of the Board of Trustees, Superintendent/ President, and the Guild and Senate.  As I have mentioned in past articles, there have been accusations of “micromanaging” by the Board of Trustees on the one hand, and the Administration, the Guild and the Senate overstepping their proper roles in the governance process on the other.  CCLC and the ASCCC will no doubt present a discussion and interpretation of the applicable state laws vis-à-vis governance.

     Hiring:  The issue here is mainly faculty hiring committee recommendations.  Hiring committees typically send their candidates ranked, and when the administration disagrees with those rankings, serious disagreements have occurred. There is also concern regarding checking references for both faculty and administrative applicants.

     Evaluation of administrators:  The possibility of changing the procedure for administrator evaluations was discussed last year.  At the heart of the issue is what role faculty should play in the process.  Famously, this issue also involves faculty evaluation of the president.

     As I understand it, the visit will be in three phases.  In the first phase, ASCCC and CCLC will present a workshop amounting to best practices in shared governance.  (I assume this will be open to the entire community, probably taking place during a special Board meeting.)  The second phase will be a discussion with the individual constituencies (Board, Administration, Senate, and Guild) to get their take on the situation.  After gathering information, the ASCCC and CCLC will send us a report with suggestions to improve the governance process.  Hopefully, this will enable us to restore the collegiality for which we were famous around the state.

     A schedule has not yet been developed for the day.  The day is not the best for much of the campus—a Friday in the midst of intersession.  I encourage everyone to attend, if at all possible, because the more eyes and ears we have, the more fully a discussion of improving the governance process can take place.

     A reminder of some Senate basics:  the Senate meets the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month during the fall and spring at Los Robles 105 from 1:15 to 3 p.m.  An additional meeting usually occurs during the winter intersession.  Meetings are of course open to the entire campus community.  Agendas are posted on the Senate website in advance of a meeting, as are minutes of past meetings.  A wealth of information about academic and professional policies is available on the Senate website as well:  http://www.glendale.edu/senate/

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