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Volume 100, Issue 6
" The Independent Student Voice of
РСС,
Serving Pasadena Since 1915.'
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Art students
exhibit, sell
work in Old
Town plaza
Imelda Monge/Courier
Faculty union
critical of
board actions
Newsletter blasts trustees
Barbara Beaser
and Hannah Leyva
Staff Writers
In a scathing newsletter released
Friday by the Faculty Association,
the FA criticized the Board of
Trustees on several points, includ¬
ing its handling of financial mat¬
ters, former PCC President
Paulette Perfumo, and winter
intersession, which was cut in July
and then partially reinstated a few
weeks later.
"This board is not good at gov¬
erning, not good at crisis manage¬
ment, and not good for our com¬
munity," the newsletter stated.
President of the Board of
Trustees Jeanette Mann said in an
interview on Tuesday that she had
not read the newsletter, which was
disparaging of the board's actions
over the last year.
"I have not seen it," Mann said.
One of the FA's complaints was
directed at the way in which
Perfumo was hired.
"A distinguished 15-person
search committee, made up of
eight PCC faculty and staff and
seven members of the community
handpicked by board members
themselves, conducted lengthy
deliberations to establish a short
list of qualified candidates. By all
accounts, Perfumo was far from
the top. However, the board
ignored the search committee's
findings and chose Perfumo," the
FA's newsletter said.
According to Mann, the commit¬
tee sent the board a list of four can¬
didates, but none of them had
served as the president of a college
before.
"Under board policies, which
are on our website, we reserve the
right to choose someone not on the
list recommended by the screening
committee," Mann said.
The board then had asked the
committee if any others that had
been interviewed had experience,
and Perfumo was chosen out of
that group.
"None of them [the four] had
experience as a sitting president,
and we really wanted someone
who had experience," Mann said.
Trustee Consuelo Rey Castro
confirmed that the board had
wanted someone who had served
as president previously.
"After interviewing the candi¬
dates recommended by the Search
Committee, the Board decided to
interview additional
candidates. ..those who actually
had some experience as a college
president. Perfumo was hired
because she checked out as the
most experienced and qualified of
the candidates with presidential
experience," Rey Castro said in an
email.
Perfumo had served as presi¬
dent of Solano College before leav¬
ing in 2006.
"We looked at that [Perfumo's
leaving] very carefully," said
Trustee Geoffrey Baum, when
asked about her sudden departure
from Solano.
According to Baum, some mem¬
bers of the board went to Solano
College and inquired about her
leaving, and were satisfied with
the reasons behind it. Baum said
he was not among those board
members who visited Solano.
Another point of contention that
the FA made was Perfumo's salary
raise in late December 2008. Her
pay had gone from $186,000 to
$226,000 a year.
"Why would the board extend
Perfumo's contract with a healthy
raise before it conducted formal
evaluations?" the FA asked.
According to Mann and con¬
firmed by Baum, Perfumo was
given the raise based on the previ¬
ous year's evaluations, which
were not as thorough as the 2008
Continued on page 6
Melissa Edis/Courier
A beautiful and breezy autumn day, above, invites local artists and shoppers to One Colorado Plaza to
explore the array of talent from PCC and the Art Center at Pasadena's Art + Design Market on Sunday. At
top, PCC student Timothy Decker, a Fine Arts Major, gives a live demonstration on how his art work comes
to life. See story page 5.
Contract approved for Interim President Sugimoto
Roy Lenn
and Catherine Sum
Staff Writers
Interim President Dr. Lisa Sugimoto's
contract was finalized, and her salary rati¬
fied, at the Board of Trustees meeting
Wednesday evening.
The board was unanimous in its decision
to approve Sugimoto's contract through
June 30. Sugimoto has been in the position
since former President Paulette Perfumo's
unexplained departure from the college in
August.
Sugimoto will receive retroactive pay¬
ment for her work starting August 6.
Negotiations about the amount of her salary
were not announced at the meeting.
Previously, Sugimoto said at a news con¬
ference Oct. 1 that healing and stabilizing
the college is her immediate priority.
"When you go through a transition like
this, people get a little nervous," Sugimoto
said, referring to Paulette Perfumo's sudden
resignation in August as PCC president.
"The good thing is that people here know
me."
In addition to her previous position as
vice president of Student & Learning
Services, Sugimoto is serving as interim
president until the Board of Trustees makes
a permanent appointment.
Other issues of major concern for
Sugimoto include planning for PCC's future
and making sure that students are protected
from the H1N1 virus.
Sugimoto said that her second goal is get¬
ting PCC through its Educational Master
Plan (EMP), a document that examines the
school's existing programs and lays out
plans for future development.
"The EMP provides a focus on the pro¬
grams and curriculum we should have,"
said Sugimoto.
A third concern for Sugimoto is making
the campus prepared to protect from the
H1N1 virus known as swine flu.
Continued on page 6
Arts
Dancers
accompany book
launch
Page
5»
Pasadena Oity College
