More than 90 percent of faculty has no confidence in the administration of PCC President Mark Rocha, according to a vote presented by an Ad Hoc Faculty Committee to the Board of Trustees on March 13.
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The committee said a “crisis of leadership†had engulfed the college.
Five members of the ad hoc committee, instructors Patricia Rose, Melissa Michelson, Karen Carlisi, Jill O’Hora and Mary-Erin Crook presented the full results of the committee’s February faculty-wide poll during the public comment section of the meeting.
According to their statement, 213 full-time, active faculty participated in the vote. Of the 204 valid ballots received, 188 have no confidence in the administration, with only 16 supporting the administration.
Three of the committee members presenting the results to the Board read an official statement from the committee.
“This vote underscores the fact that 92 percent of full-time voting faculty agree, amongst other things, that President Rocha impeded student success, violated student and faculty trust, and, in general, brought about destructive rather than constructive change at the college while consistently ignoring the concerns of students, staff and faculty members at Pasadena City College,†said Rose.
Carlisi said the vote underscored major problems on campus.
“Today at PCC we have a superintendent-president and an administration whose style of leadership ignores the very principles of reasoned judgment, respectful collaboration, and shared values that further a healthy, productive community college,†said Carlisi. “The vote of no confidence exposes the deep fissures in the foundation of PCC, which have been caused by President Rocha and his administration.â€
Addressing the Board, O’Hora said it could take the college years to recover from the damage done.
“Do you, the Board of Trustees, really want this kind of destructive legacy on your hands?†O’Hora asked. “Can you really afford to ignore the voices of both students and 92 percent of the faculty voting a position of no confidence in President Rocha?
“We expect that you will listen to and act upon this crisis of leadership so that PCC can start moving forward.â€
The audience reacted to the comments with roaring applause, while members of the Board and President Rocha sat with a look of discontent as they listened to over an hour of public comments attacking the college president and its administration.
The members of the committee said in an interview after the presentation that the purpose of their poll was to inform the public and to help persuade the board to take action.
“This was our main goal. The point was to make [the results] public and get it out to the community,†said O’Hora. “This will hopefully put pressure on the board and get them to act, which they haven’t been doing.â€
Michelson was satisfied with the outcome of the poll.
“There were so many faculty involved, not just us, and they came together and supported each other. Some of us may dissolve [from the committee], some of us may come back, and there might be new faculty to support a vote of no confidence against the board if necessary,†said Michelson. “But for now the task we took on is now finished.â€
- Calendargate continues - April 24, 2013
- Academic Senate begins no confidence debate - April 3, 2013
- Faculty overwhelmingly has no confidence in administration - March 14, 2013
You’d THINK that wasn’t enough time to get a no confidence vote. Apparently, the Academic Senate voted no confidence in 2001 for then-president Rocha but it got lost in the shuffle of a closed session Board of Trustees meeting. Rocha resigned shortly thereafter. John Smith of mathematics was Academic Senate president of the time. PCC’s Board of Trustees certainly spoke to people at Santiago during the hiring process to get references…What were they THINKING?!!?
Rocha wasn’t at Santiago Canyon College long enough to receive a vote of “no confidence” – his tenure was 10 months. I wonder if he even includes this stop on his resume. Following Santiago Canyon College he had a few other jobs before he landed at West Los Angeles College.
In a surprising move, students decided to poll themselves on the quality of instruction received at PCC, and the findings reveal that students overwhelmingly have No Confidence in PCC Faculty.
No. Truth is the students have also formally censured the current administration and called for Rocha to be fired immediately. I don’t think a no confidence vote for the president from either the faculty or the associated students has ever occurred before at PCC.
Students and faculty at PCC are for the most part respectful of each other, and mutually supportive.
Based on conversations I’ve had on campus, most of the office staff and those in management (who were not hired in specifically by Rocha) also share the view that the current administration is destroying PCC and that Rocha (and, eventually, most of the current trustees) has to go.
I am at a loss as to what would motivate Nicole’s silly slap at the faculty under these circumstances.
Rocha may be weak in the people skills department, but I suspect that PCC faculty and students are going to have a problem with any president who does his job and carries out budget cuts. The person who really deserves a vote of no confidence is Mark Yudof. During his tenure as president of UC, tuition has ballooned to $4500 a quarter and unfunded pension liabilities will reach $40 billion in five years. When that happens more money will be spent on pensions than on classroom instruction. Yet somehow Yudof has escaped any blame for this, and will soon retire with a $250K pension.
http://today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/yudof-letter-uc-employment-benefits-168517.aspx
Is anyone surprised the faculty has no confidence in the administration?
Let us count the ways Rocha and his hand-picked lackeys have screwed up.
Just one: the so-called “summer” session (really, “winter” moved to late May) is supposed to be enrolling classes right now. However, not a single class is posted on the non-existent “class schedule” on the college web site.
They put out a news release in January encouraging students to enroll starting Feb. 28. So what can they enroll in?
Can anyone spell MISmanagement?
Rocha was removed from my college after one year 2000-2001. He also received a vote of no confidence from the faculty. This is not a surprise. Did they vet him?
Bert,
Which college was this? Do you have any articles or materials on it? Thanks!
Mark Rocha resigned after one year as president of Santiago Canyon College in Orange County in 2001. He jumped into a job running a for-profit college, an ethically dubious enterprise. I cannot find any information online about a no confidence vote in that situation, though. I second Concerned Staff’s post: if that really happened, Bert, please provide details.
Here’s the story of Rocha’s time at West LA College.
https://www.latimes.com/local/la-xpm-2011-feb-27-la-me-build1-20110227-story.html