CCCFE Faculty News Notes April 1, 2013

April 1, 2013

CFT Convention (Sacramento):

            The annual statewide convention was held March 15 through the 17^th  in Sacramento, and for the CCCFE delegation  represented by Vanessa Haynes and Leonard Clark and including David Maruyama, Jose Villalobos, and Toni Wasserberger, the main issues were the show-cause status of San Francisco City College and the need to straighten out the separation of the Classified from the Certificated unit.

            As you have probably read, the ACCJC dealt harshly with San Francisco’s expenditures, and its finances generally, and why are we not entirely surprised?  Since the ACCJC’s sanctions on Compton, the ACCJC has severely sanctioned other small and often rural  institutions such as College of the Redwoods, Cuesta, etc, though not taken their accredited status,  but now has turned its attention to the large institutions with multiple centers, to wit, San Francisco. Moreover, the ACCJC has made it clear that the “Compton Model” (that is, a ;partnership with an accredited institution in good standing) is not available to any college that loses its accreditation;  the doors will close. We did have the opportunity to talk to the San Francisco delegates who had just come from a rally in support of their college, so their morale was high, but rallies and public support, as we know altogether too well, will not help them maintain their accreditation if they do not address the issues that the ACCJC has deemed essential.  They had already been informed that there would be no “Compton Model” available;  in short, a partnership would be out of the question should they lose their accredited status.

Infrastructure work:

            The latest phase of this project will definitely inconvenience those who teach in the VT building, as the road behind the building will be closed until June 5, and there will be no access for Auto Mechanics and Welding to get instructional equipment—like cars—in and out.  When the matter was introduced at the Consultative Council meeting on Monday, it was made clear that the work had already begun, and that no changes could be made. The question was not about parking, but rather about access to the building through the bays.

            The parking lot at the north end of the campus between the Greenleaf gates will open on April 15^th, ., and the middle section between Artesia and Greenleaf, on the east side of the campus, will be out of commission later.

Administrative Reorganization:

            At today’s Consultative Council, Vice-President Perez announced that the District would implement the District’s reorganizational plan. Would that it were an April Fool’s joke.  She presented a letter addressed to Academic Senate President Michael Odanaka and CCCFE Faculty President, Toni Wasserberger, explaining the district’s reasons for its decision. A copy of that letter is attached. It is clear that the principal reason for the realignment of divisions and disciplines is to equalize the workload of the deans on the basis of the full-time faculty equivalent (FTEF) and FTES. A bean-counter approach to an alignment of disciplines seems to be an arbitrary means of getting to student success. The Olio Division—olio being a miscellaneous mixture of ingredients-- (Division 2) combines CTE and business with Social Sciences which had already been yoked to Fine Arts like the participants in a shotgun marriage.  And some of the disciplines now linked to Social Science have been torn from the former Humanities Division, placing Spanish and Humanities, inexplicably with PoliSci, Sociology, Women’s History, etc. But the numbers work.  Sort of…

How about these numbers:  Division 1 has related disciplines, 20 of them, although the physical sciences are perhaps the most remote;  that division will have a support staff of 7.  Division 3 has 7 disciplines with 6 support programs and a support staff of 7, suggesting the importance of student success;  however,  Division 2 has 31 disciplines and a support staff of 5. The sheer weight of the disparate disciplines with less support staff, particularly since one  was recently fired, leaving 4 support staff in Division 2, is staggering. Where’s the equity of workload for the deans here?  From the faculty perspective, as the faculty leadership has argued, what faculty care about organizationally is discipline compatibility, the “marriage of true minds” rather than the shotgun marriage

While it is true that some shotgun marriages may work out, Vice President Perez acknowledged that the reorganizational plan might not work; nevertheless, the district is determined to try it.  What it may mean for faculty is some confusion in reporting responsibilities, in communication, etc. Will division chairs potentially report to different deans until their term of office expires? The reorganizational plan will have the opportunity to succeed or to fail following July 1, 2013, when it will be implemented.

What remains baffling is the administration’s contention that unless the divisions were reorganized, there was no hope of meeting our goal for filing for eligibility for accreditation because we would not have the organizational structure for adequately addressing student success.  One would think that in readjusting to new alignments, the faculty would be slowed down in the areas so vital to our preparation:  the SLO assessments, program outcomes (PLO’s) and their assessments, program reviews, etc.  This is work which must be completed, but if all one is concerned with is the numbers in making a reorganizational decision, one is not considering the potential increase in workload for faculty if programs are redefined in the realignment.

And what provisions does the district intend to make to comply with the contract regarding division chairs and their elections;  current division chairs are in the middle of their term of office, yet some divisions have been subsumed into the new divisions, and previous disciplines split off. This item is negotiable, so it is to be hoped that the district is willing to talk substantively at last.

Negotiations Update:

        Since we now have a permanent CEO, the District is anxious to get back to the bargaining table and has set a meeting for this coming Friday, April 5 from noon until 4.  An update will be provided following Spring Break.