9. Academic Senate Resolution: No Confidence, April 29, 2009

SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE ACADEMIC SENATE
RESOLUTION

Date: 28 April 2009
Authored by: Academic Senate Executive Committee, by direction


Title: Vote of No Confidence in Superintendent/President Raj K. Chopra


WHEREAS, The Academic Senate, as the legal representative of the faculty of
Southwestern College in all academic and professional matters, fundamentally disagrees with many of the decisions and priorities of the current Superintendent/President, and


WHEREAS, due to recent actions taken by the Superintendent/President to reorganize the Southwestern College campus with a total lack of regard for Southwestern College’s standing commitment to its own Shared Governance Guidelines adopted by the District on January 8, 1997, which in part state as follows:

Shared Governance is the act of District employees participating collegially in the decision-making process of the college. The goal of shared governance is to include, within the decision-making process, representatives of all college constituencies affected by these decisions. . . To ensure that governance is shared, all groups shall operate within the shared governance processes. Mutual trust and support are essential for the success of shared governance. These result from a demonstration by each group involved that they first seek to improve the college and strengthen its ability to carry out the college’s mission of educating our constituent populations…; and

WHEREAS, the Academic Senate takes great exception to the process by which the
Superintendent/President makes decisions, and thus expressed in a 26 to 1 vote of no confidence in the leadership of the Superintendent/President Raj K. Chopra, now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Southwestern College Academic Senate solemnly votes no confidence in Superintendent/President Raj K. Chopra, and

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Southwestern College Academic Senate urges the
Southwestern College District Governing Board to take swift, direct and deliberate action to address concerns of the faculty as expressed clearly by the vote of no confidence at the April 28, 2009 Academic Senate meeting.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Southwestern College Academic Senate urges
the Southwestern Community College District Governing Board to open dialogue formally with the faculty prior to June 15, 2009 for purposes of addressing concerns expressed by all members of the Academic Senate in its vote of no confidence, and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Southwestern College Academic Senate
respectfully requests that the Southwestern Community College District Governing Board provide a written response to this resolution by June 15, 2009 detailing the Governing Board’s plan to improve the relationship between the Superintendent/President and the faculty of Southwestern College, and to ensure true shared governance at Southwestern College as defined by: Education Code Sections 70902(b) (7), Title 5 Sections 53200 et seq, 51023.5 and 51023.7; and Accreditation Standards IV A.2. and IV.A.5.