Failure to communicate, Part III: SNAFU@ivc

     This afternoon’s meeting of the Irvine Valley College Academic Senate (senate = faculty qua participants in shared governance re academic matters) was pretty wild, dominated by discussion of the recent wildly unpopular faculty hiring decision. (See IVC Recruitment Stopped, but Saddleback Continues to Hire!)

     Among visitors today was Dan W, Pres of the Saddleback College Ac. Senate.

     Kathy S, IVC’s Ac. Sen. Prez, commenced speechifyin’ like she does. She said she’d keep her remarks short, but, somehow, they failed to respond to her intention.

     With regard to the recent explanatory/apologetic letter from VPI Craig Justice regarding the rationale for eliminating the three faculty hires, there are two distinct issues, said Kathy:

• The number of positions.
• Which positions?

     Kathy reminded us that, “at the end of the day,” the senate and other groups offer only recommendations to the President. The final decisions are made by the President.

     The big picture here, according to Kathy, is essentially this: administration seems to have made the decision to hire only 6 faculty (not the nine that had been sanctioned and pursued) back in mid-December, but, oddly, they kept that particular light under a bushel: other groups at the college were not informed about the decision as per “collegiate consultation” or “shared governance.” According to Kathy, when asked why they failed to communicate their decision for three long months, they commenced pointing fingers, assuming, evidently, that somebody else would convey the info to whom it may have concerned.
     I.e., SNAFU@ivc.

Director, Opacity & Rubbish

     Last year, the process was a model of transparency and such, and so we all expected things to proceed apace this year. But that’s not what happened.

     President Glenn Roquemore and VPI Craig Justice have essentially apologized (said Kathy). Academic Senate leadership has pressed hard for assurances that procedures will be put into place (or whatever) to make sure this communication breakdown does not happen again.

     The college planning committees were never clued in about the decision. And so, when Craig’s memo (announcing the decision) was promulgated last week, it came as a “shock” to many. Many were “dismayed.”

     We were told that, yesterday, the fit hit the shan at the Budget meeting: senate leadership took Davit K (Beancounter in chief) and Glenn (Craig was absent) to task for these failings.

     The other issue, of course, is the faculty positions that made it to the list, especially the Automation, Electronics, Electrical and Robotics position (and, secondarily, the Laser position)—and the ones that did not. You’ll recall that the Robot Hire was the choice of the deans (Tier 3), who appear to have modified the position considerably over the last few months (including its school location). It morphs.

     At one point, Kathy projected upon the wall the relevant section of the Board Policy re Tier 3 (deans’ choice) positions, and it clearly states that administrators are obliged to consult with relevant faculty in identifying and defining needed hires. It’s clear that that did not occur.

     The always genteel Ms. W, math instructor, was on hand to explain, in her subtle fashion, the degree to which faculty in her area were left out of the loop in the development and definition of this position (which is now located in Math). Later, whilst discussing the Laser hire (I think), physics guy M told a similar tale, repeatedly using the word “shabby” to describe how all parties, especially faculty, have been treated in the pursuit of this position. Ms. W made clear that the college is utterly unprepared to provide teaching/students/program for this hire. Later in the meeting, the relevant administrator made similar points. Meanwhile, very strong cases can be made for new Math hires and other hires that are no longer on the list.

BeanCalc Czar

     The discussion was utterly one-sided and pretty overwhelming.

     It looks like Glenn’s “vision” for ATEP (Lasers, robots, cold fusion, and perpetual motion machines) is more important to him than providing the kind of instructors we actually need. That seemed to be the tacit theme of the discussion, if aural and body language are any indication.

     In the course of the discussion, Kathy and VP Bob explained that they have always sought to make the hiring process (and other processes) more open and participatory. Toward that end, as members of the budget/planning committees, they were regularly given budget updates and projections, which made the relevant data clear whilst collegiate deliberations progressed. Unfortunately, this time around, the updates and projections, though repeatedly requested, did not materialize, and Kathy/Bob were caught by surprise when, all of a sudden, the decision to cease the three hires, seemingly based on FON (explained below) data, came to light. (Kathy, or at least Bob, apologized for not being “suspicious” enough.)

     As it turns out, the Presidential Exec Cabinet (PEC)—the cozy group of P and VPs—made the decision to pull the plug back in December and then didn’t tell anybody about it. Ordinarily, the discussion and decision would have occurred on the Budget Committee(s), but not this time (said the Bobster). Prior practice with regard to the location and nature of these discussions was abandoned in favor of this shell gamery.

     Kathy wryly noted that administration’s less-than-popular “create a new dean” initiative went through the usual process without any administrators mentioning the faculty hire cancellations. Golly. What are we to make of that?

Minister of Machinations

     You’ll recall that the FON (Faculty Obligation Number) was cited by Craig as a major factor in the decision. Kathy (and Dan of SC) explained that FON is not a target number. It is a floor, a minimum (of faculty hires; as you know, the low full-time/part-time ratio has been a scandal in the Cal CC system for decades). You don’t want to get too close to that “danger” line, ‘cause if things go south you’ll end up paying a serious fine. Evidently, there’s a district guy (Peter Lorre, I think) who calculates the FON for the district and the colleges, and it is pretty mysterious how he does that calculation and what sort of data he uses. Clearly, transparency issues are afoot.

     Another issue here concerns the much-discussed factoid that IVC is growing (actually, at present, it is flat, but projections are positive) and Saddleback College is shrinking into an unpleasant old turnip. How does that enter into the determination of how many faculty should be hired at SC and IVC?

     Kathy acknowledged that it is clear that the college opted to drop these hires as a money-saving move. Administration’s explanatory/defensive verbiage offers red herrings about FON and whatnot, but this is about money, plain and simple.

     Kathy noted that, when an administration has conducted itself in a manner generating suspicion, they are well advised to proceed all “squeaky-clean.” Well, they’re not proceeding squeaky-clean nohow. They should be honest and upfront about why this happened, how it happened. Why can’t they do that? (Well, they never do.)

     Steve made a motion: to request that the algorithm and data used to make the calculation (by the district guy, Bela Lugosi) be made public. That was approved unanimously.

     Steve’s second motion was that we recommend that the college move forward with the full list of 9 faculty. That was approved 22-1-2.

Director, Mellifluent Malarkey

     Of course, Glenn has no obligation to heed our recommendations. Undoubtedly he will opt not to.

     In his report, VP Bob explained that “we were completely blindsided” by last week’s announcement that the three faculty hires would cease. We had fallen into the trap, he said, of expecting budget reports, but these never seemed to materialize, and then this announcement dropped like a bomb. (Bob was apologetic.) Bob co-chairs two of the budget committees, and yet he had heard nothing about the Dec. 15 decision by the Presidential Gang. (Recall that we are going forward with a new dean position, and that will be pricey.)

     Trust has been a casualty of this episode, announced Kathy.

     Steve suggested that we ask Glenn to come to the senate and explain why the December decision was not communicated until March. That passed, 25-0-0.

     (At one point I noted that the confusion, incompetence, and failure of transparency that is manifest in this episode is an established pattern among Rocky and his friends.

     (We need to think about a “vote of no confidence,” I said.)
     Have a nice Spring break!

IVC faculty hiring: Failure to communicate? Part II

Flapjacks? Yep. Shared governance? Not so much

     I am told that, at yesterday’s BDRPC (budget development) meeting (at Irvine Valley College), discussion focused on recent hiring decisions, a matter that was not even agendized. The latter circumstance indicates that passions were high. (See Omnishambles II).
     With regard to the hiring of faculty, one faculty member noted that at the end of the summer when hiring was last publically discussed, FON (the district-wide minimum full-time faculty “obligation” number) was not mentioned. And yet it was central to VPI Justice’s account in his recent memo. (See Failure to Communicate?) Another faculty member noted that Justice’ announcement in that memo did not go out to any of the planning meetings. The announcement was made only in the President’s Executive Cabinet (PEC), a meeting of the college’s president and vice presidents only. A senate officer observed that PEC’s data, upon which their decision was based, was not shared. These circumstances have produced significant fallout among faculty. And why, it was asked, was the new dean position spared while three faculty positions were cut?

     Another Academic Senate officer objected to the failures of communication by administration in this matter.
     At today's meeting of the IVC Academic Senate, this matter will be discussed.
     I expect fireworks.

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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

Shakin'

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