IS STLCC THE BEST PLACE TO WORK?

is no one on the Chancellor’s leadership team who has indicated an ability to willingness to have tough conversations. As a result, the workforce is suffering, but leadership makes every excuse to blame the workforce and avoid all accountability.” own bravado that they think they are never wrong and are above reproach. They push their own personal agenda without regard for the best interests of students or staff.”

Faculty and Staff Responses

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One unnamed Meramec employee was not happy with the college, saying “There are many other aspects to the student experience I’d like to divulge but there won’t be enough space in this survey to digress. The lab spaces are antiquated and crowded and equipment needs to be updated as do the science buildings. The lighting is dim and dreary down the hallways, the buildings are covered in mold and the roof leaks. No one on the Meramec campus can understand why we are not getting an Allied Health building, and why so much money is being put into the Florissant Valley campus.”

Later on, this person continued, “The Meramec campus is strategically located to serve a greater population and is in proximity to the greatest number of hospitals (greater opportunities for clinical opportunities) and contains a vast population of students whose needs and desires are NOT being met in the area in which they live, and they will NOT drive to North County to satisfy their needs, they will go to another college, plain and simple.”

Regarding this matter, Pittman said, “The College has strategically planned for an expansion of all its health care programs across the Region and will construct new health care structures and expanded programming at the Flo Valley and Wildwood campuses as a part of STLCC Transformed. In addition, there are plans to expand our health care programs at South County with the addition of a new Licensed Practical Nursing program. These expansions were carefully planned by assessing area hospital clinical capacities and in aligning with current workforce needs.

He continued, “While Meramec continues to be an important part of the district’s overall expansion plans, the College is dramatically expanding several workforce programs to meet area workforce needs as determined by the employers we serve. Our Meramec campus focus under STLCC Transformed will include the construction of a financial services center and an emerging technologies center. These projects are currently estimated to cost more than $138 million.”

Another anonymous employee did not mince words when criticizing the college and the chancellor, and believes that the college is out of touch with what students, faculty and staff require.

“First, the fact that the institution nominated itself for this award shows just how disconnected leadership is from its employees,” they said. “Anyone with a true understanding of the internal complexities of the institution should not invite this type of attention. The Chancellor’s success is based not on his ability to connect and his commitment to making St. Louis Community College the best it can be, it is based on his political affiliations and comfort rubbing elbows with the Governor.”

This person also goes on to heavily criticize the college’s leadership team.

“It is quite possible that STLCC would be no more if the State showed up and conducted internal audits. Leadership certainly does not give much weight to quality of life. Instead of accommodating the needs of employees, those who are not facing the same issues as the majority of employees make decisions about what those employees need. Leadership does not have the tools to effectively manage, and the management experience of leadership is questionable. The Leadership Team is devoid of real representation and is instead a personification of tokenism, ripe with individuals meant to placate instead of challenge.”

Later on in this person’s remarks, they accused the Chancellor of inappropriate comments and behavior regarding departing employees.

“The Chancellor also has a known habit of making horrendous comments about those who move on to better opportunities and [a known habit of] treating them terribly upon receiving resignations.”

This person also accuses the college’s leadership team of similar behavior.

“The archaic nature of the leadership has resulted in low morale and an ineffective workplace. There is a lack of professionalism and the lack of accountability embedded in the culture of the institution is palpable,” they said. “Leadership’s disregard is evident in the way they speak to others, disregard valuable input, and treat others. For example, it’s not uncommon for management to punish employees for the very type of behavior displayed by management/leadership. Instead of setting expectations, many leadership members gossip about their own employees and complain about insufficient output. There is an “it’s not our job” mentality here, and there is often hostility where there should be collaboration.”

Later on, they continued, “There

Later on, they also accuse the college of targeting employees who speak out against it, saying “It’s worth noting that certain employees are unlikely to complete this survey due to fear of retaliation. There have been instances during which internal “anonymous” surveys have been completed, less than flattering feedback was provided, leadership was able to identify the authors, and those authors were retaliated against. The microaggressions are real here. The disregard for those from different walks of life is real here.”

Criticism of the college administration continued in another review, with another anonymous person saying, “The administrators are so far removed from the day to day activities of the college that they have lost sight of what it takes to properly run the institution. They are so focused on outcomes that they have forgotten about the people pushing to achieve those outcomes.”

Further commenting on employee turnover, this person continued, “The environment has become so hostile that staff turnover has skyrocketed. New people come in and stay less than a year and move on. They realize STLCC is not a great place to work. STLCC has truly gone downhill over the years. Employees are undervalued and treated poorly and unfairly. They are denied the opportunity to advance because the current leadership prefers to hire their friends over internal candidates with years of experience. We were once a place that fostered the growth and advancement of our own, but no more. There is blatant favoritism for those who do not speak out against leadership. If someone wants to advance, they must always agree with leadership and never question them. The college no longer values people who work hard and do their job. Instead, they value employees who show up every day and do the minimum. People who do their job are now expected to pick up the slack for those who do not. Being an employee who takes initiative is discouraged. Professional development opportunities of substance are only afforded to those favored by leadership. For those who have been with the college for years, we have seen this decline firsthand.”

They further continued, “This entire company is a hostile work environment with leadership that is so full of their

This person, like others, stressed that this isn’t the first time that the college has conducted a survey like this.

“Every time they conduct one, they ignore the results because they are critical of leadership.”

Regarding these accusations, Pittman expressed disbelief and denied the allegations.

“I disagree with this anonymous comment,” he said. “And it is impossible to understand what this is about given there are no names or details provided. I do not make ‘horrendous’ comments about current or past staff, and, in fact, I often serve as a coach and supply references for those who wish to further their career at other colleges.”

Pittman then cited two examples of assisting two former high-level administrators of STLCC acquire CEO positions at other Colleges and assisting another high-level leader obtain a similar job at a larger college. He also says that prior to COVID, he had offered the Chancellor’s Leadership Academy to provide leadership training to aspiring community college faculty and staff, and post-COVID, “we are working on plans to begin this program once again in the not-toodistant future.”

Pittman also addressed the criticism of college leadership by saying, “It is difficult to respond when there are no employees named or specific incidents identified. I have not witnessed unprofessional behavior or gossip personally and believe our leadership team is working very hard to create an environment where people feel valued.”

Lastly, regarding the allegations of the college seeking to identify those who may respond in an anonymous survey, Pittman said, “I am not aware of any incident since I’ve arrived in 2015 where any employee has been identified or retaliated against because of completing an anonymous survey. There is no way for us to connect comments in these surveys back to the participants.”

He continued, “I find the faculty and staff here very forthcoming in stating their opinions about any topic they feel compelled to comment about, as illustrated at our board meetings for the past several years. And yes, the fact we are committed to the work associated with the ‘Best Place to Work’ initiative illustrates that I and the other leadership members value the input and contributions of nonadministrative employees.”

April 6, 2023