Monday, May 30, 2016

The Engaging Mr. Roquemore? (Faculty champions on campus!)

     Recently, I found a curious article in the “Lesson on Leadership” portion of the February/March 2016 issue of the Community College Journal. In Building Engagement for the college of the future, our own Glenn Roquemore crows about his/our success in developing ATEP, against all odds.
     The article is a bit odd, given that, to date, little has been accomplished at the "Advanced Technical and Education Park." There's money for the first of two major buildings, and planning and construction is going forward. That building will house IVC programs. The next building, of equal size, will house Saddleback College programs. (See HERE for the last word on what these colleges are planning.)
     As the article's title suggests, Roquemore's main point is that, in the course of developing the allegedly wondrous ATEP, stakeholder “engagement” has been sought and achieved. —"Especially faculty" engagement.
     Really?
The excitement is palpable
     Especially during those years (1996-2010) when Mathur and his crowd ran things at the district, faculty complained bitterly that they were left out of the ATEP planning loop, despite the law that gives authority to faculty in the planning and development of educational programs. After Mathur's departure, matters have improved on this score, but not nearly enough. From my perspective as a long-time member of the IVC Academic Senate, recent years seem to have been more about a turf war (over ATEP, between IVC's Roquemore and SC's Tod Burnett) than about anything else. Very little if any planning of the proposed ATEP programs has been accomplished thus far.
     It seems to me that Rocky is crowing about progress that hasn't actually occurred. And whatever progress has occurred has occurred essentially without faculty at the table.
     We've grown used to that sort of thing at IVC.
     Let us know what you think.
     An excerpt:

Just who are these "faculty champions"?
What the two colleges promise...er, plan.
Hey Saddlebackians: $2.75 is about the price of a good cup of coffee. What gives?


Also: we keep hearing that Tod's ass is grass.
Anybody know anything?
If so, who'll take his place?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

The faculty at IVC have been manifestly ignored and kept out of most ATEP processes for two decades of endless upon endless discussions and finally something starting to happen over there. Only academia would take two decades to build something and only an IVC leader would find this to admirable and worse an asset.

Anonymous said...

Beating a dead horse with this one, aren't we? I don't mean to diminish the post itself but there is nothing new in this one.

What is amusing is that a Journal saw fit to print this. I'm going to have to dig into this publication a little further to see if this is the standard fare, or if this is a mere slip in their editorial integrity. I mean, this journal didn't see this for the self- aggrandizing puff piece that this really is? They gotta be better than that!

Anonymous said...

The Community College Journal is the magazine of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). As I recall, Roquemore is an officer of that organization.
Beating a dead horse? Well, I doubt if half of the faculty are even aware that we are building a large building (on behalf of IVC) at ATEP. Whether or not it is common knowledge that Roquemore has done little or nothing to "engage" faculty in the development of ATEP--well, I'll leave that for others to decide. --Roy B

Anonymous said...

Surely it will amuse IVC faculty to be informed by the President that (some, any) faculty have championed the development of ATEP.

Anonymous said...

I wish we didn't receive the land. How much has the District spent over the past 10 years on developing ATEP? We could have accomplished more the cash. Seems like we are spending lots of funds cleaning up the land.
The Prez has spoken about ATEP during his fkex week speech.

Anonymous said...

The Navy is supposed to, I believe, pick up the cost of cleaning the chemicals from the soil.

Former Chancellor Lombardi set the ATEP site into motion followed by others BUT the cost to pour district's taxpayers was and still is enormous. Chancellor Poertner had more to do with it than Glenn did. Glenn, like Tod, likes to take credit even when it is not deserved.

Anonymous said...

Queen rocks!!!

Anonymous said...

What? Took down the supposed quote from Trump so soon?! I barely blinked my eyes and it was gone.

Roy Bauer said...

Well, if it isn't real, it isn't real

Anonymous said...

I work at OCC and back at the turn of the century a couple of our faculty members in our culinary arts worried about the plans for a top flight culinary arts training program at ATEP (or whatever it was called in those days). I told them not to worry SOCCCD would never be able to pull something off like that. I was right.

Anonymous said...

More than $30 million has been spent at ATEP over the years, yet there are few academic programs being offered to students at the site. Meanwhile, at IVC, the ongoing problem with deferred maintenance is obvious: bricks missing from buildings, cracked and broken sidewalks and parking lots, chipped and missing paint in classrooms, speed bumps that are falling apart and horrible restrooms with rusted stalls, broken fixtures, missing tiles, etc. The campus quite frankly is shameful, despite all the hard work from the F&M staff. How is it we can find more money for administrators, but can't find enough money to fix a sink or toilet? What a disgrace!

Anonymous said...

I agree 2:34pm I was in BSTIC a couple of weeks ago and two sinks in the men's room were covered in plastic...they went unrepaired for days. Our students deserve better.

Anonymous said...

Except of a couple of the newer buildings, the restrooms on campus are disgusting and a health hazard.

Anonymous said...

A faculty member said they put Port-A-Potties in parking lot 4 for students to use. I didn't believe it, but I checked and they are there. YUK!

Anonymous said...

Years ago, a former administrator, in response to concerns expressed about the condition of the restrooms, said, "I was just on an accreditation team for CCSF and you should see the condition of some their buildings and facilities". This was his response to how we should feel grateful that our buildings were not as bad as those of CCSF so we should stop complaining about the restrooms!!!! That was and continues to be the legacy of IVC management. Remember the case of toilet paper delivered to A200 in response to a petition to have the A200 restrooms cleaned more often?!

IVC Administration has had this condescending cold-hearted top down hammering, insulting, 'shut up you damn noisy serfs' attitude for nearly two decades and the one we have now is no better and in some ways worse.

Anonymous said...

We've all heard similar stories from Administrators. Rather than exemplify outstanding institutions, just say we're better than the crappy ones.

Anonymous said...

They like to say "the cream floats to the top". But so does shit my friends.

Anonymous said...

When I hear our Administration (that includes the Board of Trustees) pontificate about "Best Practices" it makes me laugh. It's very obvious the Emperor has no clothes.

Anonymous said...

Winter is coming.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...