CCAHE News cont.

VPI Search: While the VPI search is underway, the College is not releasing the names of those who are serving on this committee. VP of HR Brad Avakian said that the College is trying to avoid any pressure or influence on the VPI search committee members. I don't have to state that this is highly unusual. I spent the weekend with several other CTC union leaders, all of whom were pretty stunned by this and had never heard of such behavior concerning a search. Evidently however, this was the case for the last search - that the search committee members were told to keep the committee membership confidential.

It was recommended that I contact the WEA lawyer, which I will.

Neither myself nor anyone I've spoken with has heard that any of the faculty on the last or any other preceeding VPI search committee were influenced by other employees. However, given the outcome, it's plausible that the administrators on the last search committee were influenced, and that this is why the College is not disclosing the member's names. Or it could be that the ratio of faculty on this committee is low. Whatever the case, this is not normal.  

Student Conduct: We've submitted a public records request to decipher the response rate of the Student Conduct office when faculty file student conduct reports. The ultimate goal is that the office respond to and support faculty in a timely manner. While the pressure that the union's put on the office of Student Conduct hasn't explicitly led to change, I do believe that the office has been responding more rapidly to faculty reports. We have more progress to make, and I'm confident that we'll continue moving forward. 

Board of Trustees meeting: In case you missed it last week, at the last Clark Board of Trustees meeting on March 9th, a half-dozen or so faculty and staff members spoke during public comment about the importance of our Board of Trustees meetings being a welcoming space for public comment, and that the Board of Trustees should be meeting in person according to the RCW regarding open public meetings. Our Board hasn't met in person since February 2020, while all other Washington state Boards of Trustees have been meeting in person for several months. We believe that a better connection between the Board and the College community could manifest with in-person Board meetings. 

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