College leaders ignoring our concerns
Published 4:21 pm Wednesday, May 27, 2015
I am deeply disappointed by the Green River College Board of Trustees’ (BOT) response to community concerns.
The lack of acknowledgement of two faculty votes of no confidence, concerns expressed within the no confidence documents, a student petition of no confidence in the president, and approximately two hours of public comments from concerned staff, students and citizens after the trustees meeting is disheartening, to say the least.
The BOT references the budgetary troubles of the college in its support of the president and states that this latest vote of no confidence comes in the wake of a potential reduction-in-force. One would be hard pressed to argue these points. Most colleges in the region felt economic crisis a few years ago when state funding changed.
We were seemingly able to ride out these troubles through some of our “contractual income.” And now we are in a crisis? What has changed? Did we not see this coming? During these past several years of “surviving,” we have remodeled and built new buildings and created several new programs.
I support each of these endeavors individually, but should we be doing so many new things at once while in hard economic times? Should we have planned better so as not to sacrifice long-standing, community driven programs?
More importantly to me is the way these changes are taking place. Yes, this latest vote of no confidence comes after notification of potential program cuts, but that was just the last straw. The campus community I once loved and bragged about to all of my friends has become a toxic environment. Staff comment about “just keeping their head down” and fear that at any moment someone might tell them their job is no longer needed. People who try to express their concerns fear for their jobs.
Decisions are made unilaterally without consulting or at the very least giving advanced notice to those involved. When given the opportunity to give ideas or solutions, faculty and staff suggestions are often cast aside before real consideration. Our community feels broken.
No longer is coming to work something I look forward to every day. I am extremely thankful for my wonderful colleagues and students who remind me each day the joy of what I do for a living. But, feeling cast aside, undervalued, and even scorned by this administration wears on a person. And this means those wonderful students are not getting my best self. Don’t they deserve that from all of us?
– Rochelle Mitchell, mathematics instructor for 19 years at Green River College
