LONG BEACH, Calif., USA - The chancellor of the California State University has made it clear for years that he doesn't have much respect for faculty and staff, or hold students in very high regard.
At least that what his
actions - and most of the actions of the CSU Board of Trustees - lead any rational person to believe.
 |
| Charles Reed |
In recent weeks, Chancellor Charles Reed proposed a labor contract that would in two years give him the opportunity to start pushing for (and probably getting)
reductions in the salaries of faculty, if he thought it was a good idea. And he probably does think it
is a good idea now, but knows he can't get away with it.
Not yet.
This
same chancellor battled hard to make sure the newest of his campus presidents (at San Diego State) would get an extra $100,000 per year bump on top of the salary his predecessor made. Apparently, there are campuses all over the nation (And the
world! The
world!) fiercely competiting for these presidents, whose jobs, thanks to Charles Reed, gives them all the authority of a second tier manager of a Rite Aid pharmacy. A
small Rite Aid pharmacy.
But today he managed to give yet another metaphorical digit to students, faculty and staff, when he convinced the CSU Trustees to approve a new policy which keeps potential campus presidents from having to visit the campus over which they will
lord, should he choose them to, well,
lord.
It really
does sound more and more like Rite Aid management, doesn't it?
According to the
San Francisco Chronicle: "The trustees eliminated the visits after Chancellor Charles Reed said some potential candidates would refuse to be considered without a guarantee of privacy."
It seems pretty bizarre to select a person to be the big kahuna of a CSU campus - most of which have a history of democracy and openness - by bringing them in in the dead of night and springing them on the students, faculty and staff. And the tradition of having candidates for campus president showing up to meet with campus folks goes back to the 1960s. It seems to have worked pretty well for over 50 years.
The arrogance is appalling, but that word has seemed, well, insufficient in recent years to describe the tenure of Reed and most of the trustees, who seem to consider students and faculty and staff more annoying than anything.
There is no mechanism for recalling the trustees, nor for getting Reed out of his overly compensated position - $421,500 with a $30,000-per-year retirement bonus and a mansion in a tony section of Long Beach.
But perhaps students and faculty might start doing some picketing down south, wherever the chancellor happens to be roosting at the moment, just like faculty students are doing at Humboldt. Good for you Humboldt State - maybe Long Beach State can rustle up some signs and bullhorns to get the chancellor's attention.
Make it a loud bullhorn though, he seems quite tone deaf.
 |
| "Charlie Watch" at Humboldt State |
No comments:
Post a Comment