Some Maricopa Community College faculty and administration members allege a vote will be taken by Maricopa Community College Governing Board on Tuesday Feb. 20 on whether to void faculty contracts
Maricopa Community Colleges offices in Tempe, Arizona.
February 17, 2018
Northeast Valley News was contacted by several sources close to both Maricopa Community College administrative and faculty departments with allegations that a vote would be taken on Tuesday, Feb. 20 on whether or not to void faculty contracts.
Several sources that fear retaliation if identified, allege, that this move was taken in order to avoid media attention and done quickly in front of a three-day weekend holiday recognizing Presidents Day. The vote, if taken, would follow on the Tuesday after the holiday.
If approved, sources say that residential faculty will be employed at will, may have to reapply for their jobs and will be contracted annually. The vote is also seen as a move to have a majority of instruction taught by adjunct advisers who are paid substantially less.
Other allegations include substantial salary decrease for faculty and allocation of teaching assignments that could restrict where a faculty member prefers to teach or has been teaching and would instead place faculty where “needed”–not where faculty resides or has been contracted previously.
One source close to the administration alleges that recent discussions by the board and the alleged expedited vote is an unapologetic political move made by some on the MCCCD Governing board and even constitutes a teacher “union busting” template for the nation.
In addition, some faculty say they have been forced to go “underground” with email correspondence to one another and are compiling private email communication lists in order to try and protect their jobs.
Northeast Valley News reached out to MCCCD governing board members over the weekend for their response to the allegations. The President of the MCCCD governing board, Laurin Hendrix, provided the following statement to nevalleynews.org.
The full statement reads:
“The meeting on the 20th is an informational presentation by the faculty. There isn’t any vote scheduled. I’m not aware of anything ever being discussed about voiding faculty contracts. No discussion has ever happened in my presence. It sounds like you are listening to political rhetoric and fear mongering that is not fact based.”
Laurin Hendrix
In a February 13 message sent to Maricopa Community College faculty through the district email system, the President of the Maricopa Community Colleges Faculty Association, Mike Mitchell elaborates on several issues in an email with a subtitle, “Our Future,” these are some of the same issues that other faculty and administrators revealed to nevalleynews.org.
Mitchell also writes in the email of a necessary move to communicate via private email among other things in his February 13 message to faculty provided here in its entirety.
“For many years, the Faculty Association and other Faculty leaders have been warning of a looming danger – that a politicized Governing Board might one day eliminate the Residential Faculty Policies (RFP). Recently, we may have witnessed the first step toward that looming danger becoming a stark reality.
Governing Board President Laurin Hendrix recently verified that the Governing Board intends to consider a vote to terminate the Meet & Confer process. Consequently, this means that the RFP can be altered unilaterally or dissolved completely.
The Meet & Confer process has long been the mechanism by which faculty and the administration have worked together to identify and resolve issues related to our working conditions, which are then codified in the RFP. Much like the Governing Board action taken against the Classified Staff Council last spring, this action comes without prior consultation and will be difficult to stop. It appears motivated by political ideology and undermines the successful relationship between our residential faculty and many successive administrations and Governing Boards for the past 50 years. Without any consideration for how the Meet & Confer process could be used to modify itself, the Board seems intent on eliminating Meet & Confer.
If the Board follows its own guidelines for changes to policy, a “first read” of proposed changes could be conducted as early as Feb. 27, followed by an adoption of the changes at the Mar. 27 meeting. I emphasize, “if, the Board follows its own guidelines” because they have violated their own internal process for modifying policy as recently as the Jan. 23 Governing Board meeting.
It is important to know that any changes to the RFP regarding the Meet & Confer process would not be effective until July 1, 2018. Until that time, the current RFP would remain in full effect. This means that we may hold the administration to the agreements contained within it, and they can do likewise. We must continue to serve our students and our community with integrity, excellence and accountability during this time. We must be the standard bearers of collaboration, decorum and professionalism if we are to protect our students and ourselves.
As we all know, this conflict is not an issue about faculty rights. It is about the conditions and the protections that are necessary for students to succeed. Students and our community expect the MCCCD to fulfill its mission. That mission requires the support of key values which the RFP preserves. Attacks on the RFP are attacks on our ability to do our work. As we repeatedly try to make clear to everyone, faculty-working conditions are student-learning conditions.
In the coming days, you will be informed of our plans to mobilize the faculty in response to this attack on the faculty’s central role in our colleges and district. It will be in this time that the true power and efficacy of the Faculty Association will be revealed by our coordinated and unified action. Know that this is not a moment of our choosing. Know also that we are likely in this struggle alone. We must act together if we are to preserve the fifty-year relationship that allows us to pursue excellence in teaching and learning.
One final note, there is a real possibility that the District All-Faculty Distribution list could be eliminated. This is a vulnerability for which we must be prepared. For this reason, and because we should not needlessly broadcast private Faculty Association business, it is important that we have current home email addresses for all faculty so that we might communicate with you reliably and freely.”
Northeast Valley News took statements from several faculty and administrative sources that fear intimidation and/or reprisal for coming forward with information.
J. Jackson • Feb 21, 2018 at 5:30 pm
It is about time the Maricopa Community College took back college education form the over paid faculty that for most only work 9 months or less a year. They are employees just like anyone else on the campus and should have no more rights and privileges than other college employees.
Who wouldn’t want a job that gives you every federal holiday off, two weeks at Christmas and not accountable (means they can’t make you attend any meetings, take emails, phone call) for three months in the summer.
For years the faculty have lived in a quasi union environment and have wielded too much power over how many classes they teach, what type of classes they teach. For example, you would think that most of the on-line classes would be taught by adjunct faculty who make substantially less money than full time faculty. But no! Those on-line classes are hard to get if you are an adjunct. Most go to the full time faculty and the face to face classes are taught by adjunct.
Once you are a faculty chair you automatically receive on top of your regular salary $35,000 to manage that department. Let’s not even talk about faculty paid sabbaticals and tenure.
With over 4,000 adjunct faculty, the full time faculty have been living off the backs of the adjuncts for far too long. Any full time faculty who wants to leave, good riddance, because there are hundreds of qualified, competent and engaged adjunct ready to take your place.
A change is needed. Thank you Governing Board. Keep the pressure up and the spending down at our colleges
D C Rubi • Feb 21, 2018 at 12:24 pm
Ms. Hall, you quote Mr. Hendrix as stating: “The meeting on the 20th is an informational presentation by the faculty. There isn’t any vote scheduled. I’m not aware of anything ever being discussed about voiding faculty contracts.”
In fact, the resolution they are voting on, and for reasons that make no sense, states, part: “The Residential Faculty Policies Manual dated July 1, 2017 is extended beyond its termination date of June 30, 2018, to October 31, 2018.” I do not know in which parallel universe Mr. Hendrix is living, but I understand that to “terminate” a contract is to render it null and void. When one terminates an employee contract, it is essentially firing the employee. It does not matter if they plan to replace it with something else, especially if nothing exists at this time to replace the terminated contract.
Here is a link to the resolution (3rd page) so you can read the language for yourself: https://district.maricopa.edu/sites/district/files/board_books/02.20.18%20Special.pdf
One last point: the board is required to do 2 readings of such a resolution. Yesterday, the just did the first reading. Next Tuesday, they will do the 2nd reading and adopt the resolution.
Cat Dragon • Feb 20, 2018 at 8:13 am
Personally, I think this is FANTASTIC!!! Faculty Governance in this college system protects faculty – from anything. There is no accountability for lying, stealing donations intended for students… bullying. I have sat in meetings where they say, “It’s not in my contract to be responsible for student safety.” For the almost 14 years I worked for them – not one fire or active shooter drill. NOT ONE. Faculty didn’t want to deal with them. I watched faculty lie for each other to get certifications. (putting students at risk as they taught things they did not know) I have seen almost $50,000 of damage done at SCC to college property and watched as the faculty member responsible turned around and blamed it on no-name students. I watched as they replaced the student evaluations with their own fake evaluations. And bringing these things up at the order of the Chancellor, lost me my job. Faculty Governance (not all faculty) has become corrupt. Maricopa Colleges have low student enrolment and are cutting funds everywhere they can. Did you know the highest paid teachers barely teach at all? They are given extra money to be “Division Chairs” who are voted in by their segment of full-time faculty – and release hours so they don’t have to teach. One member of the current board member of the Faculty Association told me, “I never want to go back to teaching, they pay me a lot more money to sit in meetings and answer dumb faculty questions. I love it.” The Governing Board took away all the rights of the other employee groups… Full-time residential faculty are not gods who should be worshiped without consequences for their actions as they schedule their classes around their wants and not the students. It should be about the students…. and it hasn’t been for years.
Scott O'Brien • Feb 20, 2018 at 8:03 am
“As we all know, this conflict is not an issue about faculty rights. “…nonsense, it’s always about faculty (and employee) rights when this type of chicanery is afoot…
I would ask the board; aside from a quality, qualified staff educating the student body, just what do you think you offer the community? You make the same mistake Management is making across the nation in all businesses; you think you’re the team and everyone else is merely equipment.
Shame on you –