As appearing in the Daily Herald
05/29/2008
Glenn Hansen, president of the College of DuPage Faculty Association, released the following statement Wednesday in response to the board's actions this week:
The Faculty of COD are very concerned about the latest action of the Board of Trustees and the impact on the Institution and its reputation. This action will affect the employees and the students. We find the timing of this decision and the way it was carried out to be very disturbing and unsettling. As with several other significant events in the last year and a half, it came as a surprise and without detail. The abrupt transitioning of President Chand out of office will give the new public relations firm an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and creating a positive message for the College.
The announcement of Tuesday's meeting during a holiday weekend and then holding that public Board meeting at 9 a.m. on the first day of classes for the summer semester, fits a disturbing pattern. Too much has transpired out of the public view to be ignored. As before, we call for the Board of Trustees to be open in how they conduct their business; the business of the College.
In January 2007 a Trustee, Jane Herron, abruptly resigned. Former Trustee Herron raised concerns about Board operations in her letter of resignation and in newspaper interviews after leaving the Board that were not responded to. The replacement process was not open to public scrutiny and the replacement Trustee was selected in closed session and then presented to the public when he was administered the oath of office.
Later in the same year, the Facility Director, Gavin Tun, resigned making many statements again about decision making and the freedom to express differing opinions.
In January 2008 Trustee, Mary Mack, resigned with a long letter of accusations against the Board leadership. After much debate a process to replace her was established that allowed for questions of the finalists to be submitted by the public and asked by the Board. Without feedback from the public the new Trustee was selected in closed session.
The Board has now removed President Chand. Interim President Harold McAninch assumed responsibilities today. Obviously decisions were made prior to yesterday. This process to remove the President appears to have been progressing in closed session for a while.
There was a public cooling of the relationship between the Board and President Chand since last December and the decision to proceed with the Berg Instructional Center. President Chand was adamant about the importance of renovation of our main instructional building and opposed building a new structure at the expense of any renovation of the BIC. Recently, at Board meetings, President Chand repeatedly called for the level of employee insurance benefits be maintained at their current level. In our newly accepted contract, we agreed to increase our contribution to maintain that level of service. The Board is in the process of finding a new insurance broker and perhaps new plan.
We can only speculate as to the nature of the breakdown of the relationship between the President and the Board, personnel matters are not a matter of public record. But, we do know that this comes at a time with many issues in flux. We are involved in a major building program and we are in the midst of planning our new mission and vision statements. President Chand was providing the leadership in these and many other areas. He was bringing all constituency groups to the table to work together in planning the future for COD and our students.
This abrupt action is disturbing. We are left asking why and for what purpose such action is taken in such a way. As we must move forward, we call for the search for a new president to be open and inclusive.
It is time for the public to ask questions about this pattern of behavior and receive answers. The residents of District 502 are the ones the Board must answer to.
