Possible reduction of deans on campus

Brittany Blust / Roundup

A dean reduction program that would put deans back in classrooms to ease budget deficiency was proposed by the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) Feb. 15 and could affect Pierce College administration if put into action.

“[It’s] not a formal targeting of just the deans,” Pierce College President Kathleen Burke-Kelly said.

The LACCD Executive Committee recommended the District Budget Committee (DBC) community colleges in the district hire only a number of deans, but has not voted on the proposal yet, Academic Senate President Tom Rosdahl said.

“But what tends to happen is colleges like to hire administrators, and when times are good and you have money [the colleges] generally start loading up with deans and vice presidents and associate vice presidents,” Rosdahl said.

The LACCD is now looking at their formula for how they disburse the funds they get from the state to the colleges and proposing to change it.

“This task force that looked at the allocation formula looked at how many [dean] positions a college should have ... they give each college a chart and say ‘in the amount of budget you get you can afford this many deans, vice presidents, presidents, etc.’,” Rosdahl said.

The proposal or a dean reduction program would not increase the number of classes and would have no other effect on the number of classes Rosdahl said.

In 2003, Pierce College enacted a similar program.

Burke-Kelly said there’s a different chancellor now than there was in 2003, which means that the situation today is not like it was then.

“Any reduction is difficult because we can’t provide management, and that requires a full cadre of administration,” Academic Affairs Dean Paul Whelan said.

Burke-Kelly is putting together a small team to look at the budget.

“When you cut classes you don’t have as many Indians but you still have the same chiefs,” Rosdahl said. “So if we’ve reduced sections by 20 percent, we haven’t reduced the other areas of the colleges.”

In 2010 the average gross pay for the eight deans on campus was $113,010.63.

Deans who were professors before they were in their current position may have retreat rights, and be able to return to their previous job if the proposal is voted in, Rosdahl said.

Community colleges have a Faculty Obligation Number (FON), which the state provides the district. The FON is a ratio of full-time professors to part-time professors.

Pierce needs to hire nine full-time professors to meet state law requirements, or the district can be fined $65,000 per missing full-time professor by the state for falling below the FON.