Quotes from a Metro
Pulse article written by former city council representative Carlene Malone:
Citizen participation
in government decisions is recognized as a legitimate and beneficial activity…..
Since government’s policies and actions profoundly affect our lives, it
makes sense that citizens want to influence its decisions…..
Citizens don’t expect
public officials to blindly do what they want.But
they do want to know their concerns are understood, represented and weighed
in the decision making process.And
they want officials to explain their decisions.
Substitute “college”
for government and that pretty much represents the way I have managed through
the years.
Quote from Bob Boyd
email concerning the compilation of comments:
At some risk of life
and limb, I will stick my neck out (no pun intended) in response to the
concerns itemized and articulated in detail.There
should not be an “either – or” tone promoted in discussing the closing
of any site campus during the summer.The
focus should be that all of the sites should remain open during the summer.Negative
and slanderous remarks do not serve the college as a whole well.The
detailed comments had merit and a very professional, nonjudgmental tone.We
all feel very deep attachments to the sites where we work and have helped
to establish.Each site serves its
surrounding community and the college.We
are all professional, so let’s use fact and not emotion in voicing our
concerns.
Quote from John Reaves
email concerning the compilation of concerns:
My main concern is
that it leaves out what to me is the most compelling argument for keeping
Division Street open in the summer.Many
of us feel that this summer closing is the first step down a road that
leads to year-round closing or, at the very least, the reduction of Division
Street to a teaching site where a few classes are held when the other campuses
overflow.
The administration
says that closing Division Street will save $24,000 the first summer and
$60,000 each summer starting sometime in the future.The
only way that $60,000 figure can be achieved is to replace all 12-month
employees with 10-month employees.We
are told that no employees will have their contracts involuntarily reduced
from 12 to 10, so, in order to achieve that savings, all 12-month people
will have to be transferred to other campuses and replaced by 10-month
people.Without those key people,
the Learning Community that they and others have worked so hard to put
together will fall apart.Instead
of being the campus that many employees want to transfer to, as it has
been the last several years, it will revert to being the campus everyone
wants to avoid, as it was 13 years ago when I first came here.
But 13 years ago, the
handful of full-time faculty at this campus could at least use their offices
during the summer.Under this plan,
as your list so ably points out, they will have to pack up and move at
the end of every spring semester and then move back again in the fall.How
long can any of us put up with that?Faculty
will start jumping ship and going to campuses that promise some stability.New
faculty will refuse to work here.
Programs will be moved
to other campuses.You have made
it very clear that Photography, Law, and Hospitality need access to this
facility during the summer.Anyone
who doubts that needs to talk to the program coordinators.But
if this is closed every summer, it is just a matter of time until the damage
to the programs becomes obvious and they are moved to more stable environments.
Losing our key staff
and administrators, our sense of community that they engendered, and our
in-house programs will, of course, cause us to lose students.In
fact, enrollment will plummet! And
low enrollment will be used as an excuse for delaying maintenance, reducing
the number of computers, and so on.The
administration says, “Oh no, we can’t close Division Street.There
are 1500 students there.Where would
they go?”
Four or five hundred
would go to the Pellissippi campus, resulting in larger class sizes there.A
hundred or so would go to Magnolia.And
the rest would go away.
My position:
Dr. Bruns has put me
in a very difficult position in this whole discussion.I
want every site to be vibrant and flourishing and successful in every way.I
want them all to be places where faculty and students are able to teach
and learn in a wonderfully enriching atmosphere.I
want them all to be full to the hilt with faculty and students.Like
Solomon, I cannot choose a favorite amongst any of the site campuses because
each has unique characteristics.I
get very upset whenever I hear someone say something derogatory about any
of the sites.I can say that honestly
even though my office is at Division Street.
Because of my position,
I also have an obligation to be a spokesperson for faculty, staff, and
students at Division Street.It is
in that position that I have had to try to voice the opinions of faculty,
staff, and students concerning the decision to close Division Street in
the summers.If there was a decision
to close either Blount or Magnolia, I would voice the opinions of people
at those locations also.
There have been many
unpleasant things said by people because of this decision.I
cannot control what people say or think.I
can try to give another viewpoint and try to rebut uncomplimentary comments,
although many people will not listen to reason.I
can work with people to try to be more professional in their comments,
both verbal and written.I fear that
this has brought out the worst in many people because this is an emotional
issue for faculty, staff, and students.One
of the things I find so distressing about this decision is the animosity
it has brought out in people against their peers and administration.
This is supposed to
be a season of joy but it has been a season of resentfulness since August:
1.Resentful
of position this has put me in
2.Resentful
that this has brought out the worst in some people
3.Resentful
that this pits one campus against another, including the main campus, faculty
against faculty
4.Resentful
that I have worked hard to build an environment that focuses on “teaching”
and not the politics of the college and this has destroyed all of that
work
5.Resentful
that the “community” seems to be lost as part of our mission – What will
the community think?If they don’t
need the place in the summer, do they need it the rest of the year?Since
we are surrounded by county agencies, maybe the county needs that piece
of property more than the state
6.Resentful
that the decision was made without careful examination of data.The
numbers don’t make sense, every one has different numbers:
Number
of sections taught by full-time faculty
Number
of sections that didn’t make previous to the last 2 summers
The
amount of money that will be saved
The
increase in full-time pay in the summer
(although
this is due in large part to the results of the Mercer study and clarification
is needed as to which faculty were included in the statistics, ie – were
department heads included in the amount?)
7.Resentful
of being accused of fomenting discontent.One
person told me that I had been surprisingly passive in my actions.
8.Resentful
of the lack of leadership to make all the campuses successful
So what am I joyful
about?
1.That
I work with a group of people at the sites who are dedicated to student
success
2.That
I work with a group of people at the sites who like to laugh
3.That
the college has spent a lot of money updating the Division Street facility,
well over a million dollars in the last 5 or 6 years (and wishthat
the same amount could be spent at Blount and Magnolia)
a.Renovate
classrooms into the ERC, a bustling place
b.Renovate
allied health labs into classrooms and offices
c.Replace
the HVAC system and ductwork
4.That
I have a job
Course Term Report Statistics for 2000,
2001, and 2002 Summer Terms
2000
208 Sections
Including:
7
Cooperative Ed. (not included in faculty numbers below)
1
Independent Study (not included in faculty numbers below)
3
Internship (not included in faculty numbers below)
2
Practicum (not included in faculty numbers below)
1
Web
74
sections with more than 21 students taught by full time faculty
36
sections with more than 21 students taught by adjunct faculty
30
sections with less than 21 students taught by full time faculty
54
sections with less than 21 students taught by adjunct faculty
1
section with less than 21 students unidentified
104
sections taught by full time faculty
90
sections taught by adjunct faculty
1
section unidentified
Enrollment statistics:
Head
Count – DupFTE
Blount County14136.40
Division Street32688.27
Main Campus1981651.20
Knoxville Area Urban
League469.20
Panasonic102.67
2001
238 Sections
Including:
3
CBase (not included in faculty numbers below)
4
Cooperative Ed. (not included in faculty numbers below)
5
Independent Study (not included in faculty numbers below)
2
Internship (not included in faculty numbers below)
2
Practicum (not included in faculty numbers below)
7
Web
40
sections with more than 21 students taught by full time faculty
39
sections with more than 21 students taught by adjunct faculty
83
sections with less than 21 studentstaught
by full time faculty
60
sections with less than 21 students taught by adjunct faculty
123
sections taught by full time faculty
99
sections taught by adjunct faculty
Enrollment statistics:
Head
Count – DupFTE
Blount County16249.07
Magnolia Avenue29989.33
Main Campus2188722.93
Knoxville AVTS40.80
Headstart MLB Bldg194.00
Cyberspace15034.33
2002
263 Sections
Including:
3CBase
(not included in faculty numbers below)
3Cooperative
Ed. (not included in faculty numbers below)
3
Independent Study (not included in faculty numbers below)
4Major
Field Exit Test (not included in faculty numbers below)
4Internship
(not included in faculty numbers below)
4Practicum
(not included in faculty numbers below)
36
RODP (not included in faculty numbers below)
13
Web
79
sections with more than 21 students taught by full time faculty
49
sections with more than 21 students taught by adjunct faculty
36
sections with less than 21 studentstaught
by full time faculty
42
sections with less than 21 students taught by adjunct faculty
115
sections taught by full time faculty
91
sections taught by adjunct faculty
Enrollment statistics:
Head
Count – DupFTE
Blount County18349.27
Magnolia Avenue25178.87
Main Campus2070670.40
Great Smoky Mtn. Nat’l
Park123.20
Headstart MLB Bldg92.20
Cyberspace31683.73