If you've been missing our blog updates, do not despair because the award-winning Southwestern College Sun is on the job!
The latest issue (just out today) provides updates on recent concerns:
Speaking Up: coverage of the suspensions and aftermath
Governing Board Members Face Recall (need we say more?)
Filner, ACLU, FIRE Join to Blast College's Restraint of Free Speech
Computer Glitches Drop Thousands of SWC Students (a follow-up to our previous blog post. It should be noted here that VP of Student Affairs Angelica Suarez has not made good on the promise quoted from her email below. Students who were dropped in error are not being reinstated. Instead, they've been told there's nothing to be done.)
Sun Editorial: Board Needs to End Chopra Era, Begin to Repair Damage
For more on what's happening on campus, including more budget and program cuts, visit the Sun at http://www.southwesterncollegesun.com/
Thank you, Sun reporters, for continuing to provide outstanding coverage!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The Panic, The Board, and The Spin (Part 1)
The Panic of November 2009
Faced with 25% fewer class offerings, SWC students and hopefuls rushed Spring registration with unprecedented fervor.
Registration opened on Monday, Nov. 9, by appointment. Students were given a specific date and time register and could do so any time at or after their appointment--or so they thought.
Unfortunately, even those with priority registration status were greeted with one of the following messages when they tried to log in to Web Advisor, the college's online registration system: "Too many sessions. Try again later" or "System Error Detected," ironically framed with the words "Enroll Today. Succeed Tomorrow."
Students tried frantically to register for classes, waiting up to ten hours to access the system. Many missed classes as they stayed at their computers while others recruited friends and family to stand by should Web Advisor become available. Some students gave up on Web Advisor altogether and traveled to the typically deserted Otay campus to register. Others braved long lines at Admissions on the main campus to register the old-fashioned way.
These newly-registered students' collective sigh of relief was cut short, however, when Web Advisor began churning out "you've been dropped" notices over the weekend. Traditionally given five working days to pay fees, hundreds of students were caught off-guard by a new five calendar day policy--and this in a week with a mid-week holiday.
Worse, the system was set up to count the five calendar days to include the day of registration. Students accustomed to a (rarely enforced) five working day deadline were then broadsided with just four days to pay, including days that the cashier wasn't even open.
The college now admits that the day count was a technical error, and in an email addressed to the college's deans, Vice President of Student Affairs Angelica Suarez writes,"The system was corrected yesterday [Wednesday] to ensure that students have a full, five calendar days before being dropped for non-payment (120 hours). As a result of this issue, Student Services staff has been working with students who may have been dropped prior to the five days."
However, to our knowledge no statement has gone out to students informing them of this error or the possibility of remedy. There is no mention in Web Advisor, nothing on the college's home page.
Students: If you were among the hundreds dropped in error, go to the One Stop Center and ask to see Angelica Suarez (office: S105A; phone: 619-421-6700 X6315) to get your classes reinstated.
Coming up next: Full House at the Board
Faced with 25% fewer class offerings, SWC students and hopefuls rushed Spring registration with unprecedented fervor.
Registration opened on Monday, Nov. 9, by appointment. Students were given a specific date and time register and could do so any time at or after their appointment--or so they thought.
Unfortunately, even those with priority registration status were greeted with one of the following messages when they tried to log in to Web Advisor, the college's online registration system: "Too many sessions. Try again later" or "System Error Detected," ironically framed with the words "Enroll Today. Succeed Tomorrow."
Students tried frantically to register for classes, waiting up to ten hours to access the system. Many missed classes as they stayed at their computers while others recruited friends and family to stand by should Web Advisor become available. Some students gave up on Web Advisor altogether and traveled to the typically deserted Otay campus to register. Others braved long lines at Admissions on the main campus to register the old-fashioned way.
These newly-registered students' collective sigh of relief was cut short, however, when Web Advisor began churning out "you've been dropped" notices over the weekend. Traditionally given five working days to pay fees, hundreds of students were caught off-guard by a new five calendar day policy--and this in a week with a mid-week holiday.
Worse, the system was set up to count the five calendar days to include the day of registration. Students accustomed to a (rarely enforced) five working day deadline were then broadsided with just four days to pay, including days that the cashier wasn't even open.
The college now admits that the day count was a technical error, and in an email addressed to the college's deans, Vice President of Student Affairs Angelica Suarez writes,"The system was corrected yesterday [Wednesday] to ensure that students have a full, five calendar days before being dropped for non-payment (120 hours). As a result of this issue, Student Services staff has been working with students who may have been dropped prior to the five days."
However, to our knowledge no statement has gone out to students informing them of this error or the possibility of remedy. There is no mention in Web Advisor, nothing on the college's home page.
Students: If you were among the hundreds dropped in error, go to the One Stop Center and ask to see Angelica Suarez (office: S105A; phone: 619-421-6700 X6315) to get your classes reinstated.
Coming up next: Full House at the Board
Monday, November 16, 2009
Governing Board Meeting this Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 7:00 pm
Show up and speak up!
In response to requests from faculty, staff, students, and community members, the administration has agreed to hold this month's Board meeting in Cafeteria East instead of the usual Room 214.
This is welcome news to everyone who has spent the past two board meetings huddled outside in the dark listening to the proceedings over tiny (and tinny) speakers.
It should also be welcome news to anyone who has considered attending a board meeting but demurred given the circumstances. Now is the time.
Students are especially encouraged to attend and give their accounts of how the recent class cuts, registration problems, and free speech issues have impacted them. When the Board won't listen to faculty, when it won't listen to staff, when it won't even listen to the community, it will still listen to students. It's your college, students. Make your voice heard.
Here's the Governing Board Agenda.
In response to requests from faculty, staff, students, and community members, the administration has agreed to hold this month's Board meeting in Cafeteria East instead of the usual Room 214.
This is welcome news to everyone who has spent the past two board meetings huddled outside in the dark listening to the proceedings over tiny (and tinny) speakers.
It should also be welcome news to anyone who has considered attending a board meeting but demurred given the circumstances. Now is the time.
Protocol:
Just show up a bit before 7:00 and fill out a "yellow card." (They should be available as you walk in.) The card will ask for several pieces of information, but all that's really needed is your name and city. You do not need to cite an agenda item. Turn in the card.
"Oral Communication" occurs at or near the beginning of the meeting, and names of speakers will be called by the Board. Each speaker has three minutes. It's not necessary to use all three minutes, but you have up to that limit.
Students are especially encouraged to attend and give their accounts of how the recent class cuts, registration problems, and free speech issues have impacted them. When the Board won't listen to faculty, when it won't listen to staff, when it won't even listen to the community, it will still listen to students. It's your college, students. Make your voice heard.
Here's the Governing Board Agenda.
Friday, November 13, 2009
SWC Drops Case Against Suspended Profs Shortly Before Free Speech Protest
At 9:44 am this morning, Acting Superintendent/President Nicholas Alioto issued a message addressed to "the college community," informing us that the District has decided not to pursue criminal charges against Dinorah Guadiana-Costa, Philip Lopez, and Andrew Rempt. In the message, sent to college employees globally via email, Alioto wrote,
"in consultation with the College Police Department, . . . administration has demonstrated its desire to move forward together and the College Police have agreed to discontinue the investigation."The email came out roughly an hour and fifteen minutes before the start of a Free Speech Rally scheduled to begin at 11:00 am.
Rempt, Lopez, and Guadiana-Costa
The protest continued as planned, and featured speakers included Rep. Bob Filner, CCA (California Community College Association) President Ron N. Reel, ACLU lawyer Sean Riordan, and Governing Board member Nick Aguilar. (Aguilar cast the lone dissenting vote when the Board declined to address Chopra's class cuts at last month's board meeting.)
Rep. Bob Filner
CCA President Ron Reel (on left)
ACLU's Sean Riordan
SWC Trustree Nick Aguilar
The well-attended rally was marred only by the district's refusal to allow those speaking to use a microphone because the rally fell outside the college's sanctioned "free speech" hours of 11 am-noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Nevertheless, the crowd's chant of "Chop from the Top!" was no doubt loud enough to be heard by Chopra, wherever he is. The vacationing president is expected to return to campus this coming Monday, two days before the next Board meeting.
Meanwhile, no word yet on how the recent turn of events will affect the letters of reprimand placed in the three professors' files.
More photos:
- Southwestern College Sun: Congressman Filner, ACLU blast college restraint of free speech - News
- 10 News Coverage of today's rally: SWC Professors Won't Face Charges Over Campus Rally
- Telemundo 33 en facebook: Protesta en Southwestern College
- San Diego Union-Tribune: Southwestern College protest backs instructors
- KPBS: Independent Report of Teacher Suspensions Released By College: ACLU Says Suspensions Were Not Merited
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Fiction 101: Report by District Investigator Released
In a report laced with speculation, exaggeration, and downright misrepresentation,
Nancy Solomon, a Los Angeles lawyer hired by the district, presents as fact what campus police and a couple college employees "believed," "thought," and "felt."
The redacted (names removed) report includes police testimony describing "around one hundred" people "surging" at and "shoving" officers outside the 100 building.
Of course, those of us who were there that day know that nothing of the sort occurred.
Here's your angry mob of a hundred:
Here's your surging crowd:
No yelling, no shoving, no riot.
If you were there on Oct. 22, please attend the next Governing Board meeting and give your version of events. The November meeting will be Wednesday, Nov. 18, and begins at 7:00 p.m., but come early and fill out a yellow speaker card. The meeting is currently scheduled to be held in Room 214, seating capacity 85, so bring a warm jacket too.
And remember the Free Speech Rally tomorrow at 11:00 am (no yellow cards required)!
Nancy Solomon, a Los Angeles lawyer hired by the district, presents as fact what campus police and a couple college employees "believed," "thought," and "felt."
The redacted (names removed) report includes police testimony describing "around one hundred" people "surging" at and "shoving" officers outside the 100 building.
Of course, those of us who were there that day know that nothing of the sort occurred.
Here's your angry mob of a hundred:
Here's your surging crowd:
No yelling, no shoving, no riot.
If you were there on Oct. 22, please attend the next Governing Board meeting and give your version of events. The November meeting will be Wednesday, Nov. 18, and begins at 7:00 p.m., but come early and fill out a yellow speaker card. The meeting is currently scheduled to be held in Room 214, seating capacity 85, so bring a warm jacket too.
And remember the Free Speech Rally tomorrow at 11:00 am (no yellow cards required)!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Celebrate Friday the 13th with Special Guests (including the ACLU and CTA!)
Reminder: Free Speech Rally this Friday, Nov. 13, at 11:00 a.m. in front of Mayan Hall!
Guests will include speakers from
Food and beverages provided courtesy of SCEA
(SWC employees: remember to avoid attending the rally during your service hours. SWC students: Don't cut class to protest class cuts. Attend only between classes.)
Rally co-sponsored by SCEA, CSEA, and the Southwestern College Academic Senate
Guests will include speakers from
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- The California Teachers Association (CTA)
- The Southwestern College Education Association (SCEA)
- The Southwestern College California School Employees Association (CSEA)
- The Southwestern College Academic Senate
Food and beverages provided courtesy of SCEA
Faculty, staff, students, community members--all are welcome to come and speak!
(SWC employees: remember to avoid attending the rally during your service hours. SWC students: Don't cut class to protest class cuts. Attend only between classes.)
Rally co-sponsored by SCEA, CSEA, and the Southwestern College Academic Senate
Monday, November 9, 2009
ACLU Letter to Chopra
In an extensively documented letter to SWC President Raj Chopra, David Blair-Loy, legal director for the San Diego/Imperial County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, outlines how the college's actions and policies violate the First Amendment, California Education Code, and the California Constitution.
These are the primary points of the letter:
For the full details, citations, and references to case law, please see the full letter.
And remember the free speech rally coming up this Friday the 13th! (see previous post)
These are the primary points of the letter:
1. California law does not allow the college to declare most of the
campus off-limits to free speech.
2. California law does not authorize a prior restraint on college student
speech.
3. The First Amendment narrowly circumscribes the college’s right to
require an advance permit for speech or assembly.a. The policy may not delegate excessive discretion and must
contain a mandatory deadline for issuing a permit.
b. A permit requirement for small groups is an invalid prior
restraint.
c. Any permit requirement must contain an exception for
spontaneous expression.
4. The college unconstitutionally restricts protected speech.
For the full details, citations, and references to case law, please see the full letter.
And remember the free speech rally coming up this Friday the 13th! (see previous post)
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