Ian, Diane, and Barbara vs. board micromanagement

At Monday's big district powwow, Ian Walton, Diane Woodruff, and Barbara Beno tried to help the trustees understand how they might avoid further micromanagement. (These three were critiquing the board's draft of how it conceives its "duties and responsibilities.")

In the following audio clip, Ian Walton (of the State Academic Senate) expresses pessimism. He refers to recent board remarks--no doubt he is thinking of Mr. Fuentes' defiant squawkings--as an indication that some in the room are not disposed to make the needed changes:

In this next audio clip, Diane Woodruff (of CCLC) notes that the board's draft of its "duties and responsibilities" comprises legal Ed Code language. She suggests that such language is inadequate, for it potentially implies that the board may take roles and responsibilities that are excessive. She urges the board to modify the draft so that it refers to Board Policy 2100.1, which defines those areas in which the board must rely primarily on the Academic Senates (i.e., on faculty):

In this next audio clip:

1. Ian Walton also comments on the Board's draft of its responsibilities. He, too, notes the draft's reliance on legal language, which really is not adequate, since it fails to indicate the importance of delegating to relevant experts (faculty), etc.

2. Barbara Beno (of ACCJC) explains that the "current" policies are inadequate in that they speak of the board's "supervising" the colleges. (She is responding to Trustee Wagner's suggestion that the current policy--as opposed to the draft--is unproblematical.)

3. Diane Woodruff (of CCLC) suggests that the draft of Board "duties and responsibilities" should be written so that it would guide a new trustee. She notes that the board should be accomplishing the tasks listed in the Ed Code "collegially"--i.e., with appropriate input from relevant faculty experts, etc.

Trustee Fuentes picks cherries with his ears

cherry-pick: to select the best or most desirable from

At Monday's big powwow among the various "constituent groups" of the district, Barbara Beno, President of the ACCJC, gave a Powerpoint presentation in which she spelled out the nature of accreditation (the presentation was entitled "What Every Board Should Know"). Her presentation was made that night as part of an effort to facilitate overcoming problems that the Accreditation agency (i.e., ACCJC) found with our two colleges. Foremost among them were (a) trustee micromanagement and (b) an institutional climate of fear and despair.

Below, I present two audio posts. The first is a series of excerpts from Ms. Beno's presentation. I'm afraid that it is a bit choppy, in part because I worked from an incomplete recording. Still, by listening to this post, you will get a pretty fair sense of what she came to communicate.

That audio post is followed by another: Trustee Fuentes' remarks in response to Beno's presentation. As you'll hear, Mr. Fuentes seemed to find in Beno's presentation an emphasis that, arguably, she did not give, for, though she said virtually nothing about the board's "independence," Fuentes seems to suggest that it is the board's independence that she came to emphasize.

Judge for yourself.

ACCJC President Barbara Beno (excerpts from her presentation):

(about 5 minutes)

Trustee Tom Fuentes (responding to Beno's presentation):

(about 1 1/2 minutes)