No plotting or scheming behind anyone’s back, we’re assured

Some points of information and clarification re the curriculum chair resignation:

A CURIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT. On Monday, IVC faculty received an email "announcement" from the President of the IVC Academic Senate that stated: “The responsibilities of IVC Curriculum Committee Chair have passed from [KS] to [JT] effective immediately.” That statement was followed by an expression of gratitude for K’s years of dedicated service.

The announcement took many of us by surprise and seemed to many of us in need of explanation and elaboration, but we soon learned that the cabinet had agreed not to discuss the matter with anyone. As far as I know, they have kept that agreement.

Today, during a meeting of the IVC Academic Senate Representative Council (i.e., the “senators”), the Senate President announced and then explained the situation, informing Senators that new and dire curriculum review deadlines had arisen, raising the long-standing curriculum “bottleneck” problem to a genuine crisis.

That was followed by a discussion in which I (Roy Bauer) participated.

1. Laboring under the impression that J was replacing K, I made the point that, according to the Senate bylaws, a vacancy of the office of Chair of Curriculum is to filled by the Rep Council, not the cabinet.

This is true. But, I was told, in this case, there was no vacancy to fill, since, prior to the resignation, the Curriculum committee was “co-chaired” by J and K. Hence, all that has occurred is the continued chairing of J.

That J was a “co-chair” before the resignation appears to be beyond dispute. I do feel, however, that Monday’s announcement invited confusion when it described “responsibilities of…Curriculum…Chair” passing “from [KS] to [JT].” I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that such language can be understood as saying that JT is replacing KS as chair.

That J had already been serving as co-chair was further obscured for me by the circumstance that, in my memory, only K reported during Senate meetings for the Curriculum Committee. Contrary to the impression this left with me, the Curriculum Committee has for some time been "co-chaired."

(It is perhaps worth mentioning, however, that J’s status as Chair has changed in one sense, for, evidently, significant changes will occur for her in reassigned time/compensation, suggesting an increased workload. Also: the Senate cabinet might want to correct the IVC Academic Senate website, which clearly identifies only K as the Chair of Courses.)

2. Proceeding with the understanding that some of the cabinet had decided to ask for K’s resignation in discussions that did not include K, I objected, arguing that, since K was a member of the cabinet, she should have been included in those discussions. In my mind, I was making a plea for transparency and I was rejecting processes that involve some committee members secretly plotting/arranging actions against another member.

Unless I misunderstood, the Senate President (and other members of cabinet?) assured me today that such was not the case.