EDITORIAL: Reinstate winter, Page 4
Bangin'
Orchestra
brings in
the Spring
Page
8»
Pasadena City College
Online edition
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Volume 107, Issue 7
The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
March 21, 2013
Campus seethes
Community buzzing after no confidence votes presented to Board
Courier Staff
Members of the campus com¬
munity are sad and seething
with disappointment over the
actions of the administration
after the presentation of two his¬
toric votes of no confidence at
the March 13 Board of Trustees
meeting.
Education instructor David
McCabe said the votes were of
great importance.
"It is significant and it is pow¬
erful. These are tactics that are
very seldom used," he said. "It's
something that [the administra¬
tion] should really pay attention
to ... I'm kind of interested to see
what happens in November."
Board President John Martin
said the statement released to the
Courier on March 5, which
expressed the Board's "unani¬
mous and unequivocal support
for the President
/
Superintendent" sufficed as the
Board's comment on issues
brought up during the meeting.
"I think the statement is suffi¬
cient," Martin said.
Repeated attempts to reach
other members of the Board for
comment were unsuccessful.
Television Instructor Carmen
Porreca saw the votes as
unprecedented.
"I think it's completely signifi¬
cant. I have been here for 37
years and in all that time I have
never seen a vote of no confi¬
dence against the president,"
Porreca said.
Humanities Instructor Hugo
Schwyzer said the no confidence
votes were justified.
"The administration is dis¬
trusted by all the stakeholders
on campus — faculty, students,
Continued on page 11
Karen Carlisi,
Jill O'Hara, and
Melissa
Michelson of an
ad-hoc faculty
committee
present on the
CC Building
steps on March
13, the results
of a vote in
which more
than 90 per¬
cent expressed
no confidence
in the presi¬
dent.
Matthew Chan
/
Courier
Faculty panel cites 'crisis of leadership'
Anthony Richetts
Online Editor
More than 90 percent of faculty has
no confidence in the administration of
PCC President Mark Rocha, according
to a vote presented by an Ad Hoc
Faculty Committee to the Board of
Trustees on March 15.
The committee said a "crisis of lead¬
ership" had engulfed the college.
Five members of the ad hoc commit¬
tee, instructors Patricia Rose, Melissa
Michelson, Karen Carlisi, Jill O'Hora
and Mary-Erin Crook presented the
full results of the committee's
February faculty-wide poll during the
public comment section of the meet¬
ing.
According to their statement, 213
full-time, active faculty participated in
the vote. Of the 204 valid ballots
received, 188 have no confidence in the
administration, with only 16 support¬
ing the administration.
Three of the committee members
presenting the results to the Board
read an official statement from the
committee.
"This vote underscores the fact that
92 percent of full-time voting faculty
agree, amongst other things, that
President Rocha impeded student suc¬
cess, violated student and faculty trust,
and, in general, brought about destruc-
Continued on page 8
President
defends his
administration
Senate holds extraordinary session
Anthony Richetts
Online Editor
At an extraordi¬
nary meeting of the
Academic Senate on
Monday, College
President Mark
Rocha dodged hos¬
tile questions from
Senate members and the public when he defended
his administration in a session that suspended offi¬
cial Senate business for two hours.
In an attempt to quell growing antipathy
towards his administration and the Board of
Trustees, the embattled Rocha not only side¬
stepped straightforward questions about the status
of the campus and the benefits of the new three-
semester calendar, but also accusations that his
administration has created a hostile environment
on campus.
Languages Instructor Nancy Rutzen started the
Q&A session with impassioned words about the
atmosphere on campus.
"There is a clique here of seven people who are
running the campus, that are perceived as lackeys
doing your bidding, and there has been a consoli¬
dation of power that has never existed here before"
said Rutzen, who has worked at the college for
over a decade."There seems to be no respect for
faculty, for students, for deans, for the institution.
There is a spirit of fear on this campus that never
Continued on page 9
To watch a video
of the entire meeting
visit
pccCourier.com
'Extended Spring' registration set for April
Philip McCormick
Staff Writer
Students will have to wait a
while longer - until April 8 - to
register for "Extended Spring"
classes, officials said this week.
And faculty won't know their
summer assignments for sure,
even then.
But, students won't be able to
view the 400 sections of classes to
be offered in the new session until
about March 26 when they will be
posted online, Senior Vice
President Robert Bell said in an
interview Tuesday.
Even though registration is set
to begin April 8, the final class
schedule can still undergo
changes. "There very likely may
be changes that occur in the sec¬
tions between when they are
posted to the web and when they
are released for registration," said
Interim Manager of Enrollment,
Planning and Research David
Colley. "During any schedule
building process, there are small
changes that occur even into reg¬
istration. It is preliminary in that
it is subject to change."
Through all of the confusion,
teachers don't know yet what
they will be getting paid during
"Extended Spring."
"I need to make sure with
[Human Resources] exactly how
they are going to be paid," said
Bell. "But they will not be under¬
paid and will definitely be paid."
Continued on page 10
Showcase
Tom LaDuke is intro¬
duced by Visual Arts
and Media Studies
Dean Joe Futtner as
this semester's artist
in residence.
Story
/
Page 3
Caitlin
KellyThompson
/
Courier
