Saratoga News

Faculty should compare apples with apples

By Karin Dowdy

As a former board member and president of the West Valley-Mission Community College District, I would like to echo the thoughts of Joy Atkins, current board president, in supporting the chancellor, Dr. Rose Tseng.

In addition, I must point out that the "raise" that the faculties of the colleges have been so outraged about is an action taken by the board in order to reward and retain an excellent employee. The chancellor and the two college presidents are direct hires of the board, but even so, the faculty, staff and students have extensive input in the hiring process, probably more than the board. Dr. Tseng went through this process. The faculty had extensive input.

However, these kinds of "shared governance" processes are not appropriate when the board makes compensation decisions regarding its top administrators. Unfortunately, the district's employees seem to think they should have veto power over board decisions with which they disagree.

A few years ago, the board decided to extend a raise to Dr. Leo Chavez, who at the time was president of West Valley College. The faculty just came apart and created a huge crisis that turned personal. A year later, when Dr. Chavez departed for the chancellor's position with the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, the faculty was moaning and groaning and pleading with the board to "do something" to keep him at West Valley.

Because of the enormous flap that Dr. Chavez's raise created, the board decided to approach the pay question for top administration differently. We put the chancellor and the presidents on a "step" scale like all the other employees, except that the administrators have only five "steps" on their pay scale and the other employees have 12.

When the board took this action, average faculty salaries were the third highest in the 10 Bay Area community college districts. The chancellor's salary was ranked eighth in the Bay Ten. The board knew that Dr. Tseng was doing exactly what the board had asked her to do--make the district more self-sufficient through grants and fundraising, make the district more visible in Silicon Valley, pursue partnerships with local high-tech companies and increase the district's political clout in Sacramento in order to get funding for the building program at Mission College--all while dealing with the district's financial crisis.

Not many people realize that the district was sliding toward bankruptcy only three years ago. Dr. Tseng brought the district back onto solid financial ground. Meanwhile, the faculty has resisted any changes to its benefits package, which, by the way, is the most generous I have ever seen.

When the board devised the "step" system for the chancellor and the presidents, we pointed out that these three people are not represented by the collective bargaining units that represent all other district employees. They serve at the discretion of the board and are subject to annual contract renewal. They do not have the kind of job security the other employees have, nor do they have the union-negotiated "work rules." They put in very long hours, and they are constantly evaluated by a group of seven demanding employers-- the board.

So when the faculty complains about the chancellor or the presidents getting a "raise," let's be sure they're comparing apples to apples. Are they talking about the administrators' "step" increases or a percentage raise? And if they want to do away with the five-step pay scale for administrators, do they want to do away with their own 12-step pay scale?

I can only hope that this latest squabble will be resolved amicably. The West Valley-Mission district has an abysmal record of retaining top-level administrators, perhaps in some part because of the nearly constant criticism leveled at them by some of the employees. It doesn't much matter who it is, those employees will find something to dislike. I suggest they stop and count their blessings and get on with their primary mission-- providing the very best quality education for the students.

Karin Dowdy was a West Valley-Mission district board member from 1992 to 1996 and served as president in 1995.

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