Failure to communicate?

     Re our postS IVC Recruitment Stopped, but Saddleback Continues to Hire! & Omnishambles II:

     Less than an hour ago, the IVC community received this email from IVC VPI Craig Justice:

Dear Faculty,

     Every year, the administration consults with the Academic Senate about Irvine Valley College’s faculty hiring priority list so that a recommendation can move forward to the Board of Trustees at their October Board Meeting.  Always, a longer list is presented to the Board than can be funded, as was the case this year.  Nine positions were authorized by the Board for recruitment, and IVC’s President’s Executive Council (PEC) confirmed on December 15th that only six faculty could be funded with certainty due to continuing limitations on revenue arising from the Proposition 30 phase-out and the continuing long-term structural deficit.  The remaining three positions would be considered for funding (in priority order) only in the event a recruitment failed or if it was determined that the college had not reached its target for the Faculty Obligation Number (FON) required by the state.   Neither of these contingencies has materialized and therefore the recruitments for positions #7-#9 have been stopped.

     Typically, job descriptions are written and recruitment committees formed in the fall and HR advertises all the positons [sic] in December.  Normally, by mid-February, recruitments would be stopped prior to their closing date and continued over to the following year if funding was not allocated by that time.  IVC has followed this practice for many years.  This year, the communications studies recruitment was halted on the day it closed and the positions for geography and learning disabilities halted in advance of their closing dates.  While the committees have not yet met nor screening commenced, it has become clear that there were expectations, unlike past years, that the recruitments would proceed.  Unfortunately, this is not the case for two compelling reasons that have been confirmed since March 1st:

1)   Currently, the District is about 20 full-time positions over and above that which is required by the FON.  Full-time Equivalent Students (FTES), budget revenues, the Faculty Obligation Number, the size of new planned instructional buildings, among others, are determined in our community college system by WSCH (Weekly Student Contact Hours).  WSCH at IVC for resident students did not grow at all this past fall and has declined at Saddleback College.  The District’s FON is expected to fall next year as a result of falling WSCH in the District. 

2)   Neither IVC nor Saddleback College know with any certainty the size of additional obligations that will be drawn from their budgets this year and next as a result of higher “costs of doing business.”  Coupled with not knowing with certainty how or at what level the state will fund the colleges for enrollment growth, it would be imprudent (if not irresponsible) to hire more than six full-time faculty this year.

     Thus, for financial reasons related to the FON and impending future expenditure obligations of unknown size, the recruitments for communication studies, geography, and learning disabilities instructors have been stopped.  These hires will be considered next year.  There is discussion about the LD position becoming a DSPS/LD counseling position funded by categorical grants with the instructional costs of the adjunct teaching faculty in ESS, MSS, and CSS classes funded by OSH.  President Roquemore has agreed that this position would not be included in IVC’s calculation of its share of the faculty obligation number.

     I apologize for any breakdown in communication in this matter because I am sure that had we publicized the process and its steps more completely – say, by stating the funded number of positons [sic] openly as a “planning assumption” for APTC and BDRPC and other strategic planning committees to follow – expectations would have been more in line with the final reality.  I pledge to take steps to make communication more clear and effective next year as we manage the many components of the hiring process.

     Disappointment aside, we should all celebrate the fact that a total of eight new faculty will be joining IVC in the coming fall – two positions carried over from last year and six funded this year.  Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully,

Craig

Craig Justice, Ph. D.

Vice President for Instruction

Irvine Valley College