The college needs a better way to communicate changes in leadership and organization, librarian John Deosdade said at the Faculty Senate meeting Wednesday.
Deosdade proposed forming some line of communication, so faculty does not learn of things through rumors, hearsay or "something is happening after it happened."
Deosdade brought up a number of changes in leadership and with programs that were not communicated to the college community.
He cited the dissolution of the instructional technologies and innovation center and its transfer to the office of technology services; the renaming of admissions and records office to enrollment services and the transfer of Helen Torres, director of distance education, to head that department; and not informing the college J. Martin Ortega, former director of admissions and records, made a permanent move to the center for student information at Pat Booker Road.
Deosdade also said he did not also understand why service learning was temporarily moved under student life.
Deosdade said service learning should have been moved to a program that correlates with it or eliminate it.
He said he did not understand why some functions were crossing lines like service learning and student life.
Frances Crawford, director of the writing center, said this was a stopgap measure so the college could still provide some functions from service learning.
"It was a bandage on a huge wound," she said.
Deosdade said the lack of communication and lack of shared governance in making decisions leaves a dangerous precedent for the future.
President Robert Zeigler also addressed the senate about a letter the administration sent to all faculty in August concerning faculty responsibilities.
The letter stressed the importance of all faculty fully participating in service and living up to their responsibilities to students, departments and the college.
He wanted to clarify the letter was written by administration not chairs, but he asked for chairs' input.
The two topics he touched on were the fact a chair could discipline a professor and a tenured professor is not "untouchable."
If a tenured professor is not living up to expectations, a chair has the responsibility to discipline that professor.
When Zeigler spoke at the meeting, he announced that Dr. Charlotte Wolf, director of instructional technologies, and Nancy Cobb, dean of P-16 initiatives for this college and Alamo Colleges, are retiring. A time of their retirement was not told.
Jeff Hunt, theater and speech communication chair, informed senators someone would take the place of Cobb but would be hired through soft money.
Deosdade said moves like this should formally be announced.
Crawford, who is a part of the process management committee of the Baldridge team, said her committee would be working on an effective way to get out more information throughout the college.
"We need a more effective way of communicating than e-mail," she said.
Crawford said eventually this process will come to Academic Council.
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