The IVC Holiday Party is a smashing success

Couldn't ask for better weather.

The Ashley Johnson Trio sounded great.

There was a seriously good vibe and everybody seemed to have a great time.

What a great turnout!

Lots of good people, big smiiles.

A good number of classified employees. Lots of faculty, too.

"California Santa" was a big hit.

About $680 was raised for student scholarships. That's great.

Happy Holidays, everybody!

The Chancellor's Open Forum or "We all Have a Role to Play"

How Rebel Girl saw Tuesday afternoon (with apologies to Chunk):

Schoolhouse Rock. All the boys sat on one side of the room and the girls sat on the other and neither seemed ready to ask the other to dance. It's true! You should have been there. Natch, like all those grade school dances there were more girls than boys but dang if the fellas still play shy. There they were, all seven of them, including Chunk, huddled along two sides while the ladies filled out the rest. What's that about? Granted most of the fellas, except for Chunk and S.R., were what Rebel blithely calls "suits," so maybe it wasn't a boy vs. girl thing, cooties and all that, maybe it had more to do with hierarchy and patriarchal privilege in the institution…in other words, a boy-girl thing.

Smokin' in the Boys Room. In the back of the room, having arriving fashionably late, slouched K.S. and Rebel Girl, the two stalwart female profs who close the place down most Thursday nights, Rebel with her writers, K.S. with her cadre of mostly female students wielding scalpels above the prone forms of small, dead animals. The two lobbed a few questions – stipends, reassigned time, the justice of the DRAC model and the possibility or lack thereof of increased justice in the future. They watched as the Chancellor, as is his wont, unspooled his vision, a tapestry of aphorism and narcissism.

The two were inspired by the Chancellor's visiony vision. What we need, he intoned at one point, is a clearinghouse of ideas and goals. The two quickly responded to his challenge and spent the remainder of the meeting building just such clearinghouse of ideas and goals. They used popsicle sticks and Elmer's Glue-All and plan to place it in the parking lot near the mobile home that serves as our bookstore. It can also operate as a birdhouse. It will be a perfect neighbor, quipped one Eng prof, to the beloved marketplace of ideas.

Back in the Day. The Chancellor told a heartwarming story about his days as a teacher. Once he phoned an absent student to let her know of her earned A on an exam. He disabused the poor thing of her own notion of her own mediocrity. Implied moral: if we all could be more like Raghu, student retention would go way up. Start dialing.

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights. The Chancellor made several elliptical comments about how the board, or members of the board, would object to alcohol being served at on-campus events such as the Foundation Dinner and the Summer Jazz picnic. Don't go there, he seemed to be saying. Please. Pretty please. Keep serving that sparkling apple cider at 99 cents a pop from Trader Joe's. Don't violate the sanctity of the college.

They're Making a List and Checkin' it Twice. Sometime during the discussion of ad-hoc student retention strategies, the office of budget management revealed that when students come to them for refund for dropped classes, they ask the students which class it is, the name of the professor and the reason for withdrawal. They put this information on a list and forward it to the Office of Instruction.

In the Still of the Night. Rebel Girl minded her tongue for once and didn't ask about the state of security of campus, especially late at night. She didn't mention the student who recently died in the middle of the night in the parking lot, whose death went unnoticed for over 10 hours and who had to be found by his father the next morning. She thinks about that event often and wonders what went wrong here that night, what other matters were so pressing that no one noticed a car sitting in a well-lit narrow strip of the parking lot with its windows rolled down and a young man inside.

All the World's a Stage. Throughout the meeting, the Chancellor repeatedly told everybody how we each have a role to play.

His role, he said, in response to a pointed question from Chunk, is to put things on the table.

- Rebel Girl

Pearl Harbor Day

● In this morning’s OC Reg: Orange County Pearl Harbor Day events.

I think they've dug up Francis Scott Key to warble a few bars of the Star Spangled Banner over at OCC.

Meanwhile, at IVC, the organizing committee for the yearly College Holiday Extravaganza has arranged for the Japanese Air Force to strafe the college with vintage Mitsubishi Zeroes at about noon today. (Well, no. One committee member tried to fly the idea, but it got shot down by colleagues. What a total buzzkill!)

● This story, from the LA Times, was mentioned in this morning’s Inside Higher Ed: Cal State panel fails to suspend Cyprus program

A trustee committee for the Cal State system declined Wednesday to suspend an overseas study program on conflict resolution held on the divided island of Cyprus.

Representatives of the Cyprus government had pushed for the suspension because the course, sponsored by San Diego State University, is offered on the Turkish-run portion of the island.

They told the special committee of California State University trustees that it was "illegal and immoral" for the university system to operate the program at Eastern Mediterranean University. Some accused the Turkish administration on the island of human rights abuses.

Faculty and students, however, said the push by what some called the "Greek lobby" threatened academic freedom and the role of higher education in foreign policy....

Owing to cluelessness and meddling, our own SOCCCD trustees have managed to turn a vibrant set of “Study Abroad” programs into slim pickins in recent years.

● From today’s Inside Higher Ed: Study Blasts Speech Codes:

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education on Wednesday released a study finding that speech codes are “commonplace” in American higher education, despite court rulings against them at public institutions and policies at many private colleges that would preclude them. Speech codes are “more pervasive and restrictive than ever,” according to Greg Lukianoff, the president of FIRE.

A "thankless job"

I showed up for the Chancellor’s “forum” up on the 2nd floor of the Library in a room I’d never been in before. It was snazzy, boy.

At first, it didn’t look like there’d be much of a turnout, but, in the end, I counted 19 people, not counting Mathur and Roquemore, who sat up front by themselves like Heckle and Jeckle.

Raghu explained that he thought he’d try “something different” than his usual practice of meeting with each School separately. Hence the “forum.” So, evidently, it was Raghu’s idea.

I asked about reassigned time for Academic Chairs. Thanks to former Trustee Dot Fortune (you remember her: she resigned amid accusations that she had moved to Central California!) and the corrupt bastards who once controlled the faculty union, reassigned time was essentially eliminated, except for union officers, about 8 years ago. Recently, owing to some hard work by Bob Cosgrove, the Chancellor granted the two Academic Senates a significant increase in reassigned time, but the situation for non-union duties like department chair has not improved.

The specific problem to which I referred is that some department chairs are expected to do a very substantial amount of work—tens of hours per week—on top of a full load of instruction, and that workload is insane. Raghu had nothing to offer except to say that reassigned time is a “contractual matter.” We were advised to talk to the union.

Lisa noted another problem: chairs are expected to work during the summer without compensation. “The assumption,” she said, seems to be “that my [time] isn’t worth anything.” Again, Raghu was unhelpful. “Let’s collect the data,” he said. Again, we were advised to go talk to the union.

Someone asked about DRAC, the committee that decides how district funds are distributed. Kathy, who serves on DRAC, said something about how DRAC is like a gizmo with a funnel at each end, and that’s when I fell into a deep coma. I flickered back into consciousness just in time to hear Kathy explain that DRAC is a “much less rancorous place” than it used to be.

Raghu explained the importance of increasing enrollments, which have been shit-tay of late. I asked what he was doing about it, and he said something clever like, “What do you want me to do about it?” Well, hell if I know.

Donna Sneed noted the recent bad press concerning low community college transfer rates. She also referred to the possibility that we at IVC are losing students to Orange Coast College owing to that college’s oft-repeated assertion that it has the “highest transfer rate” or the "most transfers."

A recent Register article that celebrated OCC’s “top ranking” in “Transfers to California State University campuses” (OCC tops) seemed to contain a glaring fallacy, for the relevant statistic (to students who seek to transfer) isn’t the number that OCC transfers, but, rather, the rate at which it transfers (per 100). (Obviously, a small college can have a high rate while a very large college with a lower rate will have much higher numbers.) And yet the article refers only to OCC’s high number of transfers, and the issue of “rate” isn’t even mentioned. Further, the article occasionally lapses into talk of a “transfer rate” as though that were the same thing as the transfer number. Sheesh!

Donna noted that, while OCC never tires of trumpeting its high transfer factoid, IVC doesn’t even know what its transfer rate is, and despite her best efforts, Donna has been unable to get clear data from the state.

If Raghu had anything helpful to say about all this, I sure don’t remember it.

Eventually, the Foundation’s Al Tello noted a problem with Foundation fundraising. More money would be raised if the Foundation were allowed to sell booze at functions. It appears that that is legal, but one or some trustees are resisting the idea.

Sheesh, what’s that all about? Sell booze, I say. Lots of it.


At some point, I mentioned the growing popularity of Study Abroad programs. Two years ago, we had about 14 of ‘em in the district. Now we’re down to two or three. Why? Because the trustees FUBARed Study Abroad into oblivion, that's why.

My question was: Raghu, why didn’t you try to stop them? Shouldn’t you be guiding them away from such folly?

Raghu’s answer seemed to be: well, now, good things are happening. Isn’t a reduction of the liability insurance for trips on the agenda for the next meeting?

Yeah, that’s great, I said, but how come you didn’t say anything when the discussion first came up two years ago? You just sat there as Fuentes yammered about Spain “abandoning our fighting men and women” and Williams fretted about marauding anti-American Italians.

Raghu said that the board votes the way it votes and there’s nothing he can do about it.

That would be a fine answer, I said, if you (Raghu) had done everything in your power to try to steer the board away from their disastrous decision, but you didn’t do that at all. Nope.

Raghu said something like, “Golly, you have no idea the wonderful things I do when you’re not around to see it! I’m really quite remarkable, and selfless, too!”

I mentioned other cases. What about the ALA decision? That was pretty embarrassing. The Accreds said they read about it and it weirded them out from hundreds of miles away! How come you didn’t try harder to steer these people away from that SNAFU?

Mathur pulled another “When you’re not lookin’, I’m workin’ it, baby, like a sonofabitch.” Well, he didn't put it quite that way, but you get the idea.

At one point, he trotted out his best example of Mathurian selflessness and sacrifice: he explained that the faculty contract was approved on a 7-0 vote instead of 5-2. That was his doing, he said. He doesn’t get credit, he said. He doesn’t ask for it. He performs his miracles and then slips quietly into the night. He’s just that kind of guy.

I kept thinking: “Um, what difference does it make if its 7-0 or 4-3, as long as the damn contract is approved?” But whatever.

Eventually, Raghu commenced speachifyin’ about how he’s the kind of guy who “gets things done.” He’s not interested in “settling scores.” No, not him. The bottom line, he said, is that we’ve got to work with people, even if we don’t like ‘em.

At one point, I forget when, he declared that being Chancellor is a “thankless job.” I kept thinking, “Yeah, but those 290 thousand bones you get have gotta wipe away the tears pretty well!”

“I’m a pretty independent person,” he said. He added that he's always working in the background, making his miracles. “Do I always have to say something when I hear bizarre things?”—he was referring to Fuentes’ twaddle about Spain, I suppose.

No! He does things the “professional” way. He’s not the kind to follow a “negative agenda.”

That “negative agenda” stuff. That’s was about me, I guess.

That reminds me! IVC faculty & staff: don’t forget about the Holiday Party Spectacular on the 7th. We’ll have cool entertainment, good food, games, prizes, and general foolishness. “California Santa” will be there with his Harley-Davidson sled, and I’ll be takin’ the pictures of the kiddies on CS's lap! BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

It's "creepy"

Well, it’s finally happened. The hellmouth has opened up right here in OC.

● A couple of joggers happened upon a human skeleton yesterday in Dana Point near a High School (Corpse found). Apparently, it’s been there for at least a year. Somebody speculated that someone just fell in a pond there and died. Yeah, but wouldn’t somebody notice they were missing? (See also Remains found.)

● Some of my students were telling me that University High was planning to use student fingerprints to speed up lunch lines. Well, sure enough, the story was true (see Plans dropped). Irvine Unified has nixed the plan for now, but it turns out that “A quarter of the school districts in West Virginia use fingerprint scans to identify students.” It’s “creepy,” said one student. (See also Plans called off.)

● Meanwhile, “Huntington Beach police have stopped hiding guns in cars of people they pull over — a way to test how rookie officers search a suspect's vehicle — because ‘it's probably not the way we should be operating’….” (Police drop tactic). A police spokesman said, “How long it's been going on, we don't know….”

Meretricious yet delicious

At 3:00 this afternoon, Chancellor Raghu P. Mathur will hold a "forum" at Irvine Valley College. There will be a repeat performance tomorrow morning (at 9, I think).

Sources tell me that the Chancellor held similar simulacra of solicitude at Saddleback College last week and that they were poorly attended. Sixteen people showed for one. Even fewer showed for the other.

The impression I get talking to people around campus and throughout the district is that last week's visit of the Accreditation Teams went badly for the Chancellor. Here at IVC, near as I can tell, the Team kept hearing that Mathur is a big problem.

See you at the forum.

The Reg blasts CA community colleges

The editorial in this morning’s OC Register gives California’s community colleges an “F.”

See
Community colleges not making the grade. Some excerpts:

California's vast network of community colleges is dramatically underperforming in two of its most fundamental jobs—graduating students with two-year associate degrees and transferring students to four-year colleges and universities.

A good teacher might give community colleges an "F."

…Belly-button gazers may struggle to explain why such financially blessed schools don't deliver on two of their most basic responsibilities…. But don't expect them to consider the obvious. The obvious is that not everyone belongs in college, let alone transferring to a four-year school. The obvious is colleges that spend disproportionate amounts of time teaching students what they should have learned in high school probably won't turn out vast numbers of upper-division scholars.

Sadly, we don't expect community college officials to work against their own financial interest to reduce the scope or size of their kingdom.

But public education funded by taxes claims to serve a public interest. When 90 percent of community colleges' students don't finish the curriculum, and three-fourths never get to a four-year college, it's time for someone to reevaluate whether the curriculum is serving the public.

SEE:

Dec. 3: Bill Hewitt’s letter

Nov. 25: Sans surge