theTorch stories that matter
The independent student newspaper of Lane Community College JAN. 13, 2016
VOLUME 51, EDITION 10
EUGENE, OREGON
WEATHER CLOSES CAMPUS
André Casey / theTorch
Icy road conditions across the southern Willamette Valley forced Lane to close for the first day and a half of Winter Term out of safety concerns travelling to Lane campuses. The vegetable garden outside of Building 17 was not visibly damaged by the frosty weather.
DIRECTOR’S REASSIGNMENT ALARMS FACULTY André Casey Editor-in-Chief
Lane administration may have violated a Medical Office Assisting faculty member’s contract by removing her without due process, according to a statement by the Faculty Council. A formal grievance filed by the faculty union, officially known as Lane Community College Education Association, claims Lane removed Martha Pittman from her role as Program Director of the MOA program because of alleged performance deficiencies without attempting to investigate Pittman’s performance. “If there is a perception, real or imagined, that there is a faculty performance issue that has impacted curricular enhancements or improvements, then there is a process that the college can use to address it in a very systematic way,” Physical Therapist Assistant Program Coordinator Christina Howard said. The union contract states that corrective evaluations “shall be the response to indications of performance deficiencies requiring significant intervention.” According to the LCCEA, Pittman’s most recent evaluation in 2011 was “universally positive.” The Administration has not released any information to date regarding the reasons for Pittman’s reassignment. “Because that’s a personnel matter and the issue of a grievance, I really can’t comment on that,” Dawn DeWolf, interim vice president of Academic and Student Affairs, said.
Pittman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A new program coordinator is scheduled to be hired to lead the development of new curriculum for the MOA program that would take effect in Fall of 2016. The MOA program is in the middle of its one-year reprieve after almost being suspended last Spring, and there are concerns about how the curriculum will be revised given the short timeline. “[The time between] when you can act on it [curriculum changes] fully and implement a change can sometimes take two to three years,” Howard said. “And that’s not because you’ve ignored it, it’s because there’s a lot to do.” “Revising the full curriculum by Fall 2016 is not physically possible unless curriculum committee deadlines and the program review process are ... ignored,” Steve McQuiddy, co-chair of Faculty Council, wrote in a statement. Yet the Administration is confident the process for curriculum redevelopment can be followed and meet the Fall 2016 deadline. “Revisions to the curriculum will realistically not be ready for the first deadline in January [2016] — which is the deadline for the print catalog,” DeWolf said in a statement. “However, curriculum revisions will be submitted in time to be included in the college’s electronic catalog.” Last summer, Linn-Benton Community College’s Medical Assistant Program Director, Kathy Durling, was hired by Lane to conduct focus groups with potential employers and create a report with See MOA on page 3