The Calendar Committee voted 17-2 to recommend a calendar that includes a winter intersession after the administration had already given the go ahead for an operational calendar that does not include a winter intersession to be put into the scheduling system.
Interim Dean of Enrollment Services and acting co-chair Karen Semien defended the operational calendar, explaining it would be the least risky calendar to choose.
“The winter does effect operations,” Semien said. “It is a labor issue it is still tied to the dates added into the operation of the 2014-2015 calendar.”
Committee member and Associated Students Vice President Sarah Belknap was outraged that an operational calendar was put into effect without any consultation from the shared governance groups.
“It’s the AS position to have a calendar with winter. This is a really big problem for us. We haven’t seen any information about this [operational] calendar,” Belknap said. “That is a big violation of shared governance. I am really unsympathetic to this. This cannot be said to be in the best interest of students. It’s not fair for you to put students in a place to just rubber stamp because you have successfully delayed the process.”
Semien explained that the committee should move forward with recommending the operational calendar, which is a rollover of this year’s calendar, and focus on working towards a 2015-2016 calendar.
Committee co-chair Krista Walter stated that the committee must follow the process and discuss the options for a 2014-2015 calendar before even thinking about the next calendar.
“We have a process. We have always met regularly,” Walter said. “You are right we should be talking about 15/16. We have not been able to do our job.”
Semien argued that if the committee voted to recommend a calendar with winter, it should also recommend a calendar without it in case the administration’s appeal of an unfair labor practice suit from PERB was granted.
“The PERB Ruling has not passed. We can’t ignore that piece of it. We would have to bring a calendar without winter as well,” Semien said.
Belknap argued that the PERB dispute had nothing to do with having a winter intercession moving forward.
“The PERB case is a labor dispute. It is only about the process with the calendar, not about the calendar itself,” Belknap said. “The calendar is not about that, it has nothing to do with that. This is a new process. We are moving forward. Students can’t keep waiting on a labor dispute.”
After the committee voted to recommend the calendar with to only two dissenting votes, Semien was disheartened.
“This is going to have more impact on the students than what you think,” she said.
Committee member Philip Ricards believed the vote was a step in the right direction.
“The committee is in favor of a calendar with winter,” he said. “This is the right thing to do.”
The committee plans to meet before the next Board of Trustees meeting, which takes place on May 14.
- Calendar Committee recommends calendar with winter - May 5, 2014
- Board votes to re-invite Dustin Lance Black - April 30, 2014
- Calendar committee recommends half a calendar - April 30, 2014
Good job to the Calendar Committee for taking back the process.
Hooray for the Students, Faculty, and Staff, for doing their job with decisive and effective action. Shame on Admin and their stooges, who spent all year playing games with students’ futures.
Ms. Semien has a peculiar line of reasoning, re: PERB Ruling. What a convoluted mouthful of half-truths that is!
For years, the college has shown itself quite capable of running a Winter intersession without PERB input–what a weasel-y leadership move it is, to hide behind that story. It’s time for the Rocha clique to man-up, admit you lost, and get out of the way of education.
What?!? An administrator putting up unreasonable roadblocks in a shared governance decision-making process? Who ever heard of such a thing!