The Academic Senate debated holding a vote of no confidence for the Board of Trustees at Monday’s meeting.
(Concepcion Gonzalez/Courier)
Many senators voiced their dissatisfaction with how the Board handled many issues this year.
“I think some really bad decisions have been made, and I think that they should be held accountable,” said Academic Senate Treasurer Pat Rose.
New Academic Senate Vice President Kris Pilon agreed.
“I feel that the board members are the real gate keepers for policy and what happens at the college,” she said. “They have both ignored their own policy and let people run roughshod over them.”
Academic Senate President Eduardo Cairo said he did not see any potential negative repercussions for holding the vote.
“(The Board) implemented a disastrous summer school schedule, block scheduling, a calendar, and the extended spring fiasco all without consulting the Academic Senate,” he said. “So they have already done everything without the Senate so what else can they do to us?”
However, other senators argued for a wait-and-see approach with a new member having been selected to the board—Ross Selvidge—who seems proactive and President Rocha potentially leaving for a new job.
“I agree wholeheartedly that the Board has let us down in fulfilling their responsibilities,” said Senate Treasurer Dan Healey. “However, in recent months they have made a couple of gestures to Cairo and I’m wondering if we should hold off on (the vote) and see how things go with them.”
Senator Kathleen Uyekawa agreed that the Board had not done their job well, but she didn’t know how anything positive would come out of a no-confidence vote.
“If Rocha is leaving, maybe this will be a chance for us to start something positive,” she said. “Give it a chance. Let them know we are talking about no confidence, then let them have a chance to do something positive about it.”
In order to move forward, Uyekawa said the Board is very unresponsive to those of you who have confronted them in the past, suggesting that other representatives from the Senate should approach the Board. Cairo suggested a subcommittee for just this purpose.
Senator Jo Buczko was concerned about having a no-confidence vote for the Board so soon after Dr. Rocha’s vote and said his potential departure from PCC would portray the Academic Senate as attacking.
“I think we should be poised and ready to go with a vote of no confidence,” she said. “But we really want to give (the Board) an opportunity to move forward together.”
The Academic Senate voted to delay the discussion until their next meeting on July 14.
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How many more opportunities does the BOT need “to move forward together”? They’ve already made it clear that they don’t care what faculty, staff, or students have to say. “Move forward together”? They’ve already left us behind.