SWC Classified Employees Union (CSEA) Vote of No Confidence

SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, CHAPTER 524



Date: May 27, 2009

Authored by: California School Employees Association (CSEA), Chapter 524



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




WHEREAS, CSEA Chapter 524, of Southwestern College, the exclusive bargaining representative for classified employees, fundamentally disagrees with many of the decisions and priorities of the current Superintendent/President, and



WHEREAS, CSEA members are joined with our Academic Senate colleagues and Council of Chairs and wholly support their recent collective comments and actions, and



WHEREAS, due to recent actions taken by the Superintendent/President to reorganize the Southwestern College campus with a complete 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, CSEA members take great exception to the process by which the Superintendent/President makes decisions. After promising collaboration on the proposed reorganization, no input from CSEA leadership was requested prior to the presentation of the completed plan to the Governing Board. Thus CSEA Chapter 524 expresses no confidence in the
leadership of the Superintendent/President Raj K. Chopra, now therefore



BE IT RESOLVED, that Southwestern College CSEA Chapter 524 unites with our academic colleagues and solemnly votes no confidence in Superintendent/President Raj K. Chopra, and



BE IT RESOLVED, that CSEA Chapter 524 urges the Southwestern College District Governing Board to take swift, direct and deliberate action to address CSEA concerns as expressed clearly by the vote of no confidence at the May 27, 2009 resolution vote.



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that CSEA urges the Southwestern Community College District Governing Board to open dialogue formally with the faculty and CSEA leadership prior to June 15, 2009 for purposes of addressing concerns, and



BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that CSEA 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, the faculty and the classified staff 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, as we are gravely concerned that allowing this issue to go unresolved could adversely affect accreditation and have other long-term negative consequences.