Sh*t hits fan, part II (recent developments!)

     At present, the college is abuzz over a remarkable fubar concerning the Library that erupted last week.
     As we reported on Friday (see IVC: the sh*t hits the fan):

     A week and a half ago, out of the blue, construction workers entered the Library and walled over a door to Room 107 (behind the circulation desk), evidently part of a plan to hand the room over to DSPS, which is in desperate need of a space for testing. No one connected with the Library was consulted about this action—certainly not the dean, not even the VPI. No warning was given.
     Naturally, Library faculty, among others, were consternated and outraged. They arranged for a discussion of the situation on the floor of the Academic Senate (last Thursday). Senators decided to have the Academic Senate Prez confront the college President with the facts—an apparent gross violation of both defined processes and his much-ballyhooed alleged "spirit of collaboration" and "civility" at IVC—and to demand that the parties responsible for this outrage be held accountable. 

Library: door becomes wall.
No process

     Last week, I asked a Library insider—someone with a reputation for honesty and integrity—to provide an account of this affair from the Librarians' perspective. Earlier today, he/she provided the following (only slightly edited for clarity), which ends with a surprise:

     Sometime in December 2013, Administrators (I forget who exactly) and Facilities started to examine Library Room 107 as possible testing space for DSPS. We were told that Library 107 should not be used as a “storage room.” But, in fact, Library 107 was not a storage room, for our part-time cataloger’s office was in the room as was our adjunct librarian workstation. The rest of the space was used for book processing and, quite honestly, we still had storage issues even when we had the use of 107.
     Dean Feldhus and the Librarians were told to come up with a “shared-use” space plan for Library 107. Consequently, the Library submitted a plan where roughly 3/4 of the space for 107 would be used for student testing and ¼ would be used for our processing area. There would be a wall separating the two areas.
     At the time, we were told that the use of Library 107 for DSPS testing was temporary and that we would get the room back for Spring 2014.
     That was the status quo, but then facilities people showed up and moved everything out of Room 107 and into Room 201 and other locations on campus. Owing to the suddenness of this action, the Librarians had no time to decide where to move the items originally stored in Room 107, and so ad hoc measures were taken.

Mea culpa posy

     A short while later, desks and chairs were moved into Library 107.
     Then, on Friday, January 24th, Facilities workers [suddenly showed up and] eliminated the access door from the library staff area to Room 107; they drywalled over the door. Needless to say, all of us in the library were shocked and in a state of disbelief. At that point, we realized that the “temporary” situation was in fact permanent, and nobody was considering our shared-use suggestions.
     Owing to unhappiness with the situation, Library faculty decided to submit an agenda item to the Academic Senate. During the Academic Senate meeting last week, discussion of this item was spirited (and very sympathetic to Librarians' perspective).
     After the Senate meeting, the Senate President met with the College President to discuss the situation.
     Then, on February 3, 2014 [i.e., four days later], the College President offered an apparently sincere apology [in what form?] for the situation and took responsibility for everything that happened. He assured the Library that a minor renovation project would begin soon to relieve the space issue and input from Library staff will be taken into account for this project. [END]

     It seems to me that an apology ain't worth much if nobody knows about it. This is the first I've heard about Glenn's alleged mea culpa. Was there a memo I missed?
     It's no secret that VP of SS Linda Fontanilla was very involved in this snafu. Will we (or the Librarians) be hearing from her as well? Perhaps the Librarians will each be sent a mystery apology posy and that will be that.
     I remind readers that, as explained on Friday, the Library snafu is only one in a series of events and circumstances that reflect the fraudulence—or at least emptiness—of administration's noisy embrace of collaboration, openness, and civility.

Philosophy of Sexism? (Inside Higher Ed)
   The University of Colorado at Boulder on Friday announced that it was changing the leadership of its philosophy department and requiring mandatory training for all faculty in an effort to change a culture that is hostile to women….

Harvard B-School Dean Apologizes to Women (Inside Higher Ed)
   Women in Harvard University's business school have been treated inappropriately for decades, Dean Nitin Nohria told an alumni gathering last week, according to Business Insider….

"You need to get beyond that; things are different now!"

     Administrators at IVC love to respond to any signs of suspicion and skepticism directed at seemingly hinky administrative doings by saying, “You need to get beyond that; things are different now; we have openness and trust and collaboration and transparency and civility; it’s a new day!”

     SEE IVC: the sh*t hits the fan

My mom drops by to visit her little boy Teddy

My mom and Young Theodore are pretty close

Teddy puts up with lots of goofy shite to play with mom.
Here's mom dressing the boy up in a ribbon and towel.

IVC: the sh*t hits the fan

      GLENN'S NAME IS "MUD." Kathy Schmeidler, the IVC Academic Senate President (i.e., leader of faculty qua academic matters), is among the least confrontational and hostile persons one can imagine. Even so, even she has her limits, which were exceeded this week—and, in particular, at the Jan. 30 meeting of the IVC Academic Senate (Rep Council).

      The same might be said for most or all of the senators in the room.

      Administrators at IVC love to respond to any signs of suspicion and skepticism directed at seemingly hinky administrative doings by saying, “You need to get beyond that; things are different now; we have openness and trust and collaboration and transparency and civility; it’s a new day!”

Big smile

      Big smile.

      Yeah, but then, repeatedly, they turn around and reveal that it’s the same old day after all—essentially the kind of day that members of the college community used to endure at the hands of mythic autocrats and connivers of our not-so-distant past.

      As you know, the college’s Early College Program (see here and here) has been controversial at IVC for many years—ever since IVC President Glenn Roquemore foisted the program upon faculty, despite their expressed reservations and concerns. The history of the program since then has been one of faculty grumbling (backed by evidence of folly and failure) and indifference by Roquemore to said grumbling. The program, it seems, will go forward, and that’s that.

      Recently, the Academic Senate announced its intention of participating in yet another poll of involved parties concerning EC. Administration didn’t want that. They opposed it. But the faculty are undeterred; the poll will go forward, despite administration.

      Evidently, of late, key faculty leaders (reps from the Academic Senate) have not been invited to EC meetings. Why? Whatever happened to collaboration and openness and communication and all the rest?

      That particular snafu has been corrected. But why does this problem arise at all, and repeatedly?

      Earlier this week (Monday), at the meeting of the Academic Planning and Technology Committee, it came to light that administrators are moving forward with plans for ATEP, the SOCCCD’s third campus in Tustin. Evidently, their thinking is that administration will decide what will be developed there, and then, afterward, faculty will be apprised. --Civilly, of course. With a big smile!

      Upon learning of this, the aforementioned senate prez blew her top. No, she said, faculty will not be informed after the fact; faculty will participate in these deliberations.
      Oh.
      And then came the latest outrage. To make a long story short, the college has defined a process for resource allocations—including room usage. Library staff/faculty have come to depend on a particular room in the library behind the circulation desk. It is crucial to their operation. But, last Friday, without warning, noisy construction workers showed up and eliminated a door to that room; it was drywalled in. (I went to look at it yesterday; it is now as though a door had never been there.)

      Evidently, the room into which library personnel normally entered through the aforementioned door was being reassigned. You see, the DSPS people lost a space owing to mold/water damage. It became necessary to find a new space for the purpose of giving tests, and so DSPS reached out to administration. Nothing wrong with that.

      Subsequently, a certain administrator (LF, the VPSS) decided that the room in the Library would be good for the testing.

      On the day that construction (i.e., elimination of the door) occurred, the dean overseeing the library was caught by surprise. Why is this happening? Who decided to do this? Why were we not notified or consulted?

      Nobody was notified or consulted. Not even the Vice President of Instruction, Craig Justice. He had no idea what was happening.
      Evidently, the VPSS had decided to reallocate the room to DSPS without providing the library folks with a new space. It would be DSPS’s. She had brought this project to the attention of the college president, Glenn Roquemore. He gave it his blessing. No doubt the two were smiling. Silence pervaded the scene.

      Naturally, people are hopping mad. There are now serious storage problems at the library. Administrators are upset. Librarians are upset. Faculty are upset.

      The problem was presented at yesterday’s senate meeting. Senators couldn’t believe their ears. It turned out to be one of the most spirited and impressive senate meetings in memory. The Senate wants the responsible parties to be held to account; they want an apology. They want assurances that this sort of thing will not continue.
     Want details? Lemme know.

Call to Action on Accreditation (Inside Higher Ed)

The drumbeat of support for changing the U.S. accreditation system has played out here in recent months and years in many realms; it’s playing out at Congressional hearings, in the Obama White House, and at think-tank panel discussions. Accreditation, in the eyes of reformers, needs to change to put higher education on a path of booming innovation that will expand access and lower costs….

Teddy and the kids on a lovely Tuesday evening

Everybody seems to love Young Theodore. The Bauer kids sure do.
Here's Sarah feeding Teddy a Dorito. He licked it but didn't eat it.

Teddy caught in mid jump. He enjoys pouncing.
As far as I know, he's never actually killed anything.

Sarah is amused by Young Theodore's antics. Adam, too.

What could be better than a fluffy sweet cat?