Faculty protests accreditation review process at PAC forum

The Alamo Community College District trustees at a forum at Palo Alto College Wednesday responded to questions about single accreditation, district budget cuts and the impression of a bloated district administration — some calling it the "elephant in the room."

The lecture hall of the fine arts building became electrifying and deafening as Dr. Dorothy Haecker, philosophy professor, questioned the board decision to change the name of the district for promotional purposes from Alamo Community College District to Alamo Colleges.

"What, in all that is holy, were you thinking?" Haecker demanded.

She said the board is researching standardization, privatization and other fiscal efficiency, but they need to come to a quick, speedy and decisive conclusion.

Haecker told the panel — Chairman Denver McClendon, District 2; Gary Beitzel, District 8; seven district officials; and the reigning five college presidents — that the board is going to make its own decisions regardless of student, faculty and staff concerns.

"The only thing we can do is wait to re-elect the board," she said.

Haecker said she understands that "the devil is in the details," but the board needs to make a decision on the future accreditation process for the district soon.

She said the board and district are operating on a basis that has officials in control of changing the core curriculum and the developmental curriculum and skill levels. And the faculty wholeheartedly disagrees with those subsequent changes.

The majority principally rules rather than those who have a better idea and understanding of what is needed to achieve a greater level of success, she said.

But Chancellor Bruce Leslie said rhetoric has revolved around perception in this district for some time.

He said that under the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools bylaws 3.4.1 and 3.4.10, faculty and administration approve curriculum and faculty is only primarily responsible for curriculum that is taught.

SACS is the regional accreditation agency that dictates if an institution meets current and accepted teaching methods for Texas.

The chancellor still has supreme authority as the executive director, but the two parties must co-exist and function together.

Leslie said the district established a curriculum committee, which gives faculty the chance to have input.

But, he said, "Faculty do not own curriculum; they are not the sole proprietors. The board has control. That is the elephant in the room."

Rosie Castro, coordinator for the center for academic transitions, said the last two weeks some students told her they are on the verge of dropping out of college because they were taken off food stamps and have been financially strapped.

There has been no district action to further assist these struggling students, where the district chose to raise child care rates and instead increased the likelihood for more dropouts, she said.

But Castro also said the board and district need to refrain from any more confusion concerning accreditation, telling the public nothing will change.

Obviously, things are going to change, Castro said.

"Under the vote of no confidence, the response from the board was, ‘Well, that is because they don't like change,'" Castro said. "Those are fighting words. You set up people on one end and the other."

She said if the board would have made a steadier and lengthier increase in the accreditation review process, the reception would have been different.

McClendon said as the elected board, trustees have a responsibility to consider all possible actions for the district.

He said accreditation would be more efficient than running things five different ways, and adding an increased level of efficiency is the board's intent. But, either way, McClendon said it would not change college cultures.

McClendon defended the board's position on accreditation by saying the board has no predisposition on single accreditation. He said he has seen various issues across the district that could be solved without going that route.

But the audience shot his own previously spoken words back at him saying, "Single accreditation will not affect anything."

And McClendon rephrased, saying it will not affect culture with a cookie-cutter scheme.

Dr. John Hernandez, philosophy professor, said faculty has lost a lot of its academic freedom and the accreditation process has created a rift filled with tension.

The process seems to be moving away from the core values, he said, and aligning itself more with the agendas of public schools.

"That is not a recipe for success," Hernandez said. There are players involved in decision-making who are not a part of the district, he said.

But Leslie said he cannot control those outside forces.

There has always been an employers advisory committee in place, Leslie said. That is a key part that influences curriculum, he said.

Hernandez said the district needs to revisit current designs and find out if the right measures have been put in place to promote academic success.

The core curriculum could have been designed in an entirely different manner, which would have suited the students' needs, he said.

Hernandez said the current district design does not presently fit students' needs.