ASMANIAN DEVIL STILL AT LARGE. Knowledgeable persons tell me that Chancellor Mathur continues to be on a tear. Evidently, one source of Mathurian consternation involves a presentation, to be given at Monday’s meeting of the board of trustees, of faculty curriculum actions. Huh?
Nobody I talk to seems able to explain Mathur’s concerns over this. As you know, the curriculum process is a faculty-run activity in which the Chancellor has no role; it occurs via public meetings governed by the Brown Act. Any account of the curriculum process or of recent curriculum actions will be as dry as dust and about as interesting. No red meat.
Maybe all will become clear at Monday’s meeting of the board of trustees. Hope so.
MATHUR LYING AGAIN. The April Faculty Association (union) newsletter reports on upcoming contract negotiations. According to the newsletter,
During the Faculty Association’s spring Flex luncheon, SOCCCD Chancellor Raghu Mathur stood up during the meeting to state that the District is interested in quickly resolving negotiations over the new faculty contract, and in not repeating extended negotiations necessary to produce the last contract.
Yup, I was there and that’s what he said.
As you know, the chief reason for the “extended” nature of negotiations for the last contract was the involvement of Mathur, who, you’ll recall, had prefaced those negotiations with a similar statement of the district’s intention to foster smooth sailing.
Right. After years of Mathur-created logjammery, VC Gary Poertner replaced Mathur as negotiator. Things then quickly improved.
Chunk's niece & nephewGuess what? For the new contract, Poertner won’t be negotiating for the district (or he won’t be lead negotiator).
The job has fallen to VC Bob King. You remember: he’s the guy who helped Mathur in his ill-fated raise ruse.
The FA newsletter goes on to say:
On April 19th, when the agenda for the April 23rd meeting of the SOCCCD Board of Trustees meeting is published...the Chancellor’s promise [to promote a quick resolution] will be proved false.
…The District’s initial proposal, to be distributed on Thursday, … certainly contradicts the Chancellor’s hopeful comments from the spring. … The District has chosen to present a provocative sunshine proposal, containing many proposed provisions apparently designed to anger the faculty, and start negotiations on a contentious footing.
The newsletter lists the proposal’s odious provisions. Included among them:
• requiring faculty members to work a set minimum number of days on campus;
• allowing in faculty evaluations the use of information not collected through the evaluation process;
• …proposing the development of a new, “comprehensive ‘No Strike’ provision”
RED MEAT FOR CONSPIRACY FANS? IVC full-time faculty have elected Wendy Gabriella for another term as President of the IVC Academic Senate. She received 71 of 71 votes cast. (About 30 faculty chose not to vote.)
A friend sent me this. Are they trying to tell me something?“[The authoritarian] management style is considered Neanderthal by today's management theory and practice.”—Howard Eisner
1 comment:
Maybe Mathur is projecting his fears about his pending court appearance onto Monday's Board meeting. If his past history is any indication, when he testifies(like Gonzales)he can't recall what he did, is full of contradictions, and usually makes a fool of himself. He knows nothing about curriculum or courtroom integrity--and his frustration is probably borne out of his inability to control either. Let him rant--it makes for good copy!
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