No more Butt Library

     On Monday, the SOCCCD board of trustees will hold its September meeting.
     It appears that, on that night, Chancellor Gary Poertner intends to quietly bring about the close of the "James B. Utt" era and to launch the "Boring And Inoffensive Names" (BAIN) era via the following consent calendar item:

ITEM: 5.5
RE: Saddleback College: Naming the Library and Learning Resource Center
. . .
STATUS
The Saddleback library building is undergoing an extensive renovation that includes a state-of-the-art learning resource center on the second floor. In keeping with the new design and its multi-purpose functionality, it is recommended that the building be named the Library and Learning Resource Center.

RECOMMENDATION
The Chancellor recommends that the Board of Trustees approve the naming the of the Saddleback College library building to be named the Library and Learning Resource Center.

     Not that I'm complaining.
     Well, I do have one complaint. Contrary to the agenda, they're not "Naming the [']Library and Learning Resource Center[']," cuz it doesn't yet have that name. They're either naming the as-yet-unnamed center—or they're renaming the "James B. Utt Library" (aka "Butt Library").
     I'm trained in philosophy, OK?
     Now if only Saddleback College would replace its "Frito Bandito" mascot!

     Another interesting item:

     That's cool.

James B. Utt Library: built as a fortress against students; hence no windows

City College of San Francisco's accreditation crisis

UPDATE: On the 19th, State Senator Leland Yee rebutted Shireman's commentary: Faculty voice key to CCSF's future

Who's in Control? (Inside Higher Ed)

     Robert Shireman has long criticized colleges and lawmakers for not doing enough to protect lower-income students. But now that he's back in California, after a stint battling for-profit colleges for the U.S. Department of Education, Shireman has found a new opponent: faculty leaders at the state's community colleges and an approach to shared governance he says created the mess at City College of San Francisco.
. . .
     The problem, he said, is a “labyrinthine” approach to shared governance by California’s community colleges that is perhaps unique in American higher education.
     The state Legislature in 1988 updated a law calling for community colleges and their districts to “ensure faculty, staff and students the right to participate effectively in district and college governance, and the opportunity to express their opinions at the campus level and to ensure that these opinions are given every reasonable consideration.”
     The language in the bill (AB 1725) is fine, according to Shireman. But he said the supporting regulations drafted later by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges give Academic Senates too much clout. Local governing boards have the choice of reaching “mutual agreement” with the faculty groups or essentially deferring to them on decision-making about a broad array of issues, extending well beyond curriculums and academics….