PVCC Puma Press: April 2006

The Golden Gavels will report to the Faculty Senate on Oct. 4 that administration has implemented a majority of its recommended changes, resulting in a return to the culture of shared governance experienced with previous administrators.

Tensions developed last year when the Faculty Senate identified problem areas in their relations with administration, such as strategic planning, budget processes and professional courtesy, says Dr. Hank Mancini, Gavels co-chair.

The Gavels presented their action plan for addressing these problems to administration, in February 2007, and following the response by administration prepared a white paper last May. The white paper identified specifically where the two parties agreed and the issues that remained unresolved.

Mancini says administration put forth a significant effort to dialog with faculty leaders over the summer and that both parties now agree with the Gavels recommendations.

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	The president's executive assistant is still an issue to be resolved
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Administration has implemented nearly all of the ideas, thoughts and recommendations from the Gavels, says Mary K. Kickels, college president. As an example, she points to changes made to the strategic planning process and the forming of the Budget Development Steering Committee, making it a more collaborative system than formerly.

Faculty Senate President Jeff Lace says regarding the strategic planning process—each faculty division chair now serves on this committee and he serves as co-chair with Dr. Laurie Pemberton, director of Institutional Effectiveness.

The original action plan requested a re-thinking of the budget process, says Mancini.

Jeanne Franco, accounting faculty, looked at the process and came up with a much more streamlined process and a more collaborative way of getting budget requests reviewed, approved and forwarded to administration. She described to administrators how the Budget Development Steering Committee would work and why it is necessary. At this point the administration agreed that this made a lot of sense.

Additionally, the Gavels point to further progress through the inclusion of many more stakeholders in the Capital Development Committee. This committee oversees planning of bond funds including the new life sciences building, the newly acquired county library and Paradise Valley North.

Although the Gavels and administration are in agreement with the intentions of their recommendations, some issues have yet to be resolved and those will be left to the Faculty Senate to address through the newly acquired avenues of shared governance.

John Nelson, Gavels co-chair, says that the Faculty Senate will have to work to smooth out some areas, such as the question of the president’s executive assistant. He adds that both sides are seeing problems with it and that it isn’t an issue of disagreement, but how best to work the problem to a fair resolution.

The president’s executive assistant has been traditionally a faculty position. However, Nelson says the nature of the position is creating problems for both faculty and administration. The problems are the length of service—term a faculty member would commit to serving, duties—some duties should not be the responsibility of a faculty member and the position is not one that faculty members may want to do.

Finally, Mancini says that issues surrounding active retirement remain unresolved.

Originally, when the district passed the responsibility of active retirement to the campuses, each college received an allotment of money to run their program. PVCC’s allotment may not have been as equitable as the other colleges, says Mancini.

Mancini adds, “It’s not a matter of this administration; it is a matter of what may have occurred originally when the district turned it back and now we’re here today saying our people aren’t going to receive the same benefit as the people at say Phoenix College or Glendale.”