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Personnel Issues Plague Chipola
05/23/09 - 11:50 PM
By KATE McCARDELL, Floridan Staff Writer
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click for larger image Jackson County, Fla:

The Chipola College administration is currently facing an investigation into its decision to place the college’s faculty union president on administrative leave.

It s also in the middle of an investigation into how some employees were classified, and a discrimination charge filed by a retired employee.

This, as the college and faculty await the recommendation of a magistrate brought in to hear arguments over salary issues at the college.

The Chipola Faculty Association president said he suspects the college is trying to diminish the bargaining power of those who might not agree with administrative decisions.

On May 6, the college placed association President Bruce White on administrative leave with pay,  “to allow the college to conduct an investigation into allegations of misconduct,” according to a statement released by the college.

“Two sheriff’s deputies escorted me off. They placed me on administrative leave. They’re trying to silence me and the union. They will not even tell me what I supposedly did wrong,” said White, who has worked at the college since 1990.

Chipola public relations director Bryan Craven said the administration isn’t ready to discuss details of the investigation.

“At this juncture we do not feel it’s appropriate,” Craven said.

He said the college will retain the services of an outside party to conduct the investigation, but that it has not done so yet.

White suspects the allegations of misconduct might have to do with an incident at a recent board of trustees meeting, as well as discussions White had with students on the issue of the salary impasse with the college.

He said the union has a fixed place on trustees meeting agendas. But in April, the board ended the meeting prior to reaching that part of the agenda.

“When they got to item seven or eight, they immediately ended the meeting so I could not talk. I had no intention of talking at all on any of the issues that were being dealt with in the impasse,” White said.

White said he approached the board president after the meeting, and that the sheriff’s deputy assigned to the meetings responded and intervened.

The day after the incident, a special magistrate presided over a hearing between college administration and the union regarding the impasse in a contractual dispute.

Magistrate Tom Young will issue his report on the matter May 29, although neither side is required to assent to Young’s findings. If neither side does, the   issue would be heard and decided by the board of trustees.

Items at issue include the number of hours faculty are required to be present on campus, and an alleged imbalance in spending for athletics and academic programs.

Craven said the board could not listen to White at the April board meeting because of the upcoming impasse hearing.

However, an attorney for the faculty association said the board of trustees wasn’t barred from hearing from White.

“They can decide to do that, but to say that they are prohibited from doing that at this point is wrong. If they’re doing it, it’s by their own choice,” explained United Faculty of Florida attorney Tom Brooks.

Brooks said the board of trustees is legally allowed to hear union officials up until the point where the trustees would be required to “change hats” — if or when the magistrate’s findings don’t result in an agreement and the decision becomes the board’s jurisdiction.

“But if what their suspending (White) over is for whatever he said at that meeting — our position is really clear and that is he was speaking as a union president and as a representative of the union,” Brooks said. “The law is really clear that the union president has a lot of leeway in disagreeing with management in that capacity. They can’t come in and say ‘You should have been more respectful.’ If they could, it would be quite intimidating to people to assert their rights through a union. Imagine if every time you irritated a part of the administration or said something a board member didn’t like, you’re put on leave.”

Brooks also said there could be concern over the possibility White was placed on leave for discussing union issues with students.

“Academic freedom is a powerful thing in higher education. In places of higher learning, faculty have a right, if not a responsibility, to respond to students’ questions,” Brooks said. “College students are going to ask questions. If some student asked a professor at Notre Dame, for instance, about (Barack) Obama coming there to give a speech, of course the professor is allowed to talk about it.”


Unit clarification

While White suggested his leave was an attempt to stifle the union, he said the administration’s recent hiring practices might be cast in the same light.

He alleged that two of the college’s administrators are actually serving the college as faculty members — they are teaching a full load of classes with a few extra side duties.

“There’s not a continual contract for administration at Chipola, so by hiring faculty on as administrators, they’re avoiding commitment with those who have potential to be part of the bargaining unit. They have more control over who’s teaching and can get rid of them in basically a moment’s notice,” White said.

White said the union filed a letter with Public Employment Relations Commission, to question whether the two people are faculty members or administrators.

“Before a union is established, the Public Employment Relations Commission determines what the bargaining unit is. Once the union is established, if a new position is created, it raises questions as to which unit the position falls under. So a unit clarification is the procedure by which that is determined,” Brooks explained.

“The college claims they are administrators. PERC believes there’s enough evidence to show otherwise,” White said.

According to a statement released by the college Friday, “The college has received a PERC Unit Clarification notice concerning the classification of two positions. We are proceeding through the process.”


Discrimination

Chipola also released a statement Friday regarding a charge of discrimination filed with the Florida Commission on Human Relations in 2007.

According to the college’s statement, Edna Long retired from Chipola College in November 2007.  On Dec. 14, 2007, Long filed a charge of discrimination against the college with the Florida Commission on Human Relations.

On July 30, 2008 FCHR “determined that no reasonable cause exists to believe than an unlawful employment practice occurred.” The college noted Long appealed the determination and a hearing was held on May 19, 2009.

Craven said that hearing did not result in any findings.

Long could not be reached for comment.

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