THE GOO THICKENS. Yesterday morning, just when faculty were being encouraged (by colleagues wary of Mathurian shenanigans) to access and read the faculty hiring policy (BP4011.1), that very policy disappeared from the district's board policy website. (See yesterday's post: The mystery of the missing policy.)Some of us immediately smelled a rat. Later that afternoon, we were told that the situation was the product of an innocent SNAFU. According to the story, a classified employee had simply removed the policy in order to fix some typos. But then she couldn't get the policy back onto the site. (But why remove the policy to change it? Odd.)
Later, BP4011.1 seemed to reappear on the site, but, in fact, the wrong policy was placed there (namely, the hiring policy concerning administrators and managers, not faculty).
THE LATEST & THE GREATEST. Today, I again went to the board policy website, whereupon I discovered that its contents had changed yet again. This time, a version of BP4011.1 was posted (a Word file), but it was not the version that was posted (as a pdf file) last week! Last week's version began Preface: The hiring of highly qualified full-time faculty is essential to the educational mission of the South Orange County Community College District.
But today's version begins
Preface: The Board of Trustees derives its authority from statute and from its status as the entity holding the institution in trust for the benefit of the public.
Further, last week's pdf file ends with: "Adopted: December 12, 2005." That made sense. That's about when it was adopted (after successful litigation by the Academic Senates).
Today's Word file does not include that language. That's very odd.
I don't have time right now to look more carefully at these versions. But I do know this. It would be highly illegal for the district to unilaterally change this policy.Check it out.
P.S.: I've had a chance to peruse the hiring policy currently posted on the district website. It is indeed the wrong policy, an iteration that does not reflect important changes that were later made at the insistence of the faculty's representatives and that were incorporated in the policy approved by the board in December of 2005. -CW
11 comments:
I sense the need for a blockbuster Hollywood horror film.
The beginning scene:
Two old guys sit in rockers, chewing on toothpicks, watching the sun set on Modjeska Canyon.
First Old Man: "Do you smell a rat?"
Second Old Man: spitting out his toothpick and pointing.."Smell one, Lookee der, that's the goldangest biggest rat I ever did see"
Neither character survives Scene 1
A classified employee removed a Board Policy from the District website to fix some typos??? A classified employee had the authority to remove a Board Policy and make changes??? Talk about smelling a rat!!! Since when would a classified employee have the authority to change a Board approved policy without being directed to do so by a member of management??? Wow. When the s**t hits the fan, blame it on the classified staff. A total lack of management accountability is the real issue here...
We'll get to the bottom of this very soon. I can hardly wait! Stay posted. It has nothing to do with a classified employee changing typos.
It has to do with an extremely highly paid chancellor who will not accept the fact that he lost.
I'd like to publicly and personally thank Roy for his dedication. In the back of my mind, I knew I should check the District website today to make sure the correct version of the faculty hiring policy was posted and I couldn't get a moment to check. Thank you Roy for following up on this. Roy is precisely correct...the wrong version of the faculty hiring policy is now posted on the District website. I know this policy inside and out after four years of litigation. Somebody posted an earlier iteration of the policy. Lewis Long will be able to provide us with the exact date of the version that is posted. But, it is NOT the version of the policy adopted by the board on December 12, 2005. There are substantial differences between the policy posted on the District website today and the actual policy adopted by the board.
I'm hoping this was just a mistake and it will all be cleared up in the morning. I've contacted Gary Poertner's office and I'm hoping it was a mistake and he will post the correct policy in the morning.
It is going to be a lot of work implementing the correct version of the policy, assuming we can get the correct version posted.
It is quite amazing because the correct version is posted on the senate website and the office of instruction website and we have the correct version in the senate files. Also, on November 20, 2007, all of the Deans, Classified Managers, and Senate Officers reviewed the correct version line by line for 2 hours.
I can't imagine someone would think they could pull a switcharoo and nobody would notice? Thank you Roy.
Wendy
What would be the point of pulling a switch on the SOCCCD website? Don't they know that those of us who worked on the faculty hiring policy committee have copy after copy after copy of every version of that thing that ever was? Lewis alone must have 10 meg of it just in temp files.
6:37, stop being a drama queen.
Here come de judge, here come de judge!
Damn - when will they ever learn?
Accurate, approved copies of the BP policy on Faculty Hiring can be found in the SC Senate office.
This is a bit too far-fetched even for Raghu, dontcha think?
I mean, how could he have imagined getting away with it?
Evidently, this morning, the "innocent series of mistakes" account is back on top. Wendy seems convinced of that. -CW
While this circus continues to raucaus ooohs and ahhs, perhaps CW could also post the CORRECT copy on this website so everyone can have it and have access to it?
Nothing like truth and information to chase those blues away!
What a fiasco, indeed! Where are the accred folks when you need them.
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