APSCUF-KU Representative Council met for its regular meeting today. The Provost, Dr. Carlos Vargas, attended today's meeting to provide the administration's perspective on the pre-spring break meetings with APSCUF-KU Exec and to answer questions. Dr. Vargas reiterated the administration's commitment to change the way things are done at KU and to work more collaboratively with APSCUF-KU. Dr. Vargas talked with Rep Council for about 40-45 minutes (President Cevallos was also invited to Rep Council, but due to previous travel commitments, he was unable to attend).
After Dr. Vargas left, Rep Council members discussed what they wanted to do with vote of no confidence. After substantial discussion, Representative Council voted unanimously to cancel the vote of no confidence as a show of good faith. Rep Council will review progress on the bill of particulars and the summary of initiatives at the October 2008 meeting to ensure there is follow through.
We hope this show of good faith will reinforce our commitment to solve problems collaboratively and proactively.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
St. Patrick's Day Email from Gambone to Faculty: Summary of Meetings with Adminstration
Colleagues,
Attached is a summary of initiatives discussed during meetings between the APSCUF-KU leadership, Dr. Cevallos, and Dr. Vargas prior to Spring break.
Overall, the proposals represent a series of important and tangible commitments by the administration to Kutztown University and its future.
More importantly, both sides have embraced the principle of a collaborative process that will reform the culture of faculty-administrative relations.
Dr. Vargas has agreed to attend the APSCUF-KU Representative Council this week to address the faculty.
Please address comments and questions to my office or your department representatives.
Dr. Michael D. Gambone
Professor of History
APSCUF-KU
To see the summary of initiatives, click HERE.
Attached is a summary of initiatives discussed during meetings between the APSCUF-KU leadership, Dr. Cevallos, and Dr. Vargas prior to Spring break.
Overall, the proposals represent a series of important and tangible commitments by the administration to Kutztown University and its future.
More importantly, both sides have embraced the principle of a collaborative process that will reform the culture of faculty-administrative relations.
Dr. Vargas has agreed to attend the APSCUF-KU Representative Council this week to address the faculty.
Please address comments and questions to my office or your department representatives.
Dr. Michael D. Gambone
Professor of History
APSCUF-KU
To see the summary of initiatives, click HERE.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Friday, March 7th Meeting with President and Provost
Dear colleagues,
Today nine members of APSCUF-KU Exec met for just over an hour with Dr. Cevallos and Dr. Vargas. Like Tuesday's meeting, the discussion was substantive, positive, and productive. A significant part of today's meeting was spent discussing the Early Learning Center, office space, and the need to build a new culture of governance and collaboration. I think it is fair to say that all parties left the meeting feeling we had made significant progress both in terms of tangible solutions and a renewed spirit of collaboration and frank discussion.
While it appears at this point that a joint statement will not be issued, we will email faculty sometime next week with the details of the discussion for their consideration. I want to be clear, the only reason that we are not sending out the details at this point is that we want both the President and Provost to review our notes to make sure that we are in agreement about the content of our discussions.
Overall, I think everyone at the table left today on a positive note, ready for spring break!
Best,
Kevin Mahoney
APSCUF-KU Exec
Today nine members of APSCUF-KU Exec met for just over an hour with Dr. Cevallos and Dr. Vargas. Like Tuesday's meeting, the discussion was substantive, positive, and productive. A significant part of today's meeting was spent discussing the Early Learning Center, office space, and the need to build a new culture of governance and collaboration. I think it is fair to say that all parties left the meeting feeling we had made significant progress both in terms of tangible solutions and a renewed spirit of collaboration and frank discussion.
While it appears at this point that a joint statement will not be issued, we will email faculty sometime next week with the details of the discussion for their consideration. I want to be clear, the only reason that we are not sending out the details at this point is that we want both the President and Provost to review our notes to make sure that we are in agreement about the content of our discussions.
Overall, I think everyone at the table left today on a positive note, ready for spring break!
Best,
Kevin Mahoney
APSCUF-KU Exec
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Notes from 3/4/08 Meeting with President and Provost
Dear colleagues,
This afternoon members of APSCUF-KU Executive Committee met with the President and the Provost. As you know, we postponed the Vote of No Confidence following President Cevallos's letter to the faculty last Thursday expressing a commitment to work with APSCUF-KU in addressing the problems raised in the bill of particulars.
We had hoped to come out of today's meeting with some concrete solutions to some of the problems posited in the bill of particulars and offer a joint statement of shared commitments. However, after two hours of discussion, we had not yet finished discussing all the elements of the bill of particulars. In order to ensure we could have sufficient time to discuss the remaining issues, everyone at the table agreed to a second meeting. Due to the President's schedule (he has commitments over spring break) the meeting will take place later this week if at all possible. At the conclusion of that meeting, we hope to have a better sense of whether or not a vote of no confidence will proceed.
Having said that, I wanted to provide you with a very general sense of the meeting.
Eight members of Exec met with the President and the Provost for a full two hours. The bill of particulars provided an outline for the meeting. Some issues such as mitigating the impact of large classrooms, the culture of decision-making at Kutztown, and budgetary issues (performance funding and funding formulas for example), took up substantial time. Other issues such as office space, hot classrooms, hiring policy, long term planning, and fund raising were also discussed. I think it is fair to say that the dominant themes of the meeting were academic quality, the budget, and the need for a new culture of how problems and planning are addressed.
I should stress that NO AGREEMENTS have been reached at this point. We are looking forward to the second meeting later this week. At that meeting we hope to finish our discussions of the bill of particulars. In the event that we are able to come to some concrete agreements that will move toward resolving problems laid out in the bill of particulars, we will let you know as soon as possible.
Best,
Kevin Mahoney
APSCUF-KU Exec
This afternoon members of APSCUF-KU Executive Committee met with the President and the Provost. As you know, we postponed the Vote of No Confidence following President Cevallos's letter to the faculty last Thursday expressing a commitment to work with APSCUF-KU in addressing the problems raised in the bill of particulars.
We had hoped to come out of today's meeting with some concrete solutions to some of the problems posited in the bill of particulars and offer a joint statement of shared commitments. However, after two hours of discussion, we had not yet finished discussing all the elements of the bill of particulars. In order to ensure we could have sufficient time to discuss the remaining issues, everyone at the table agreed to a second meeting. Due to the President's schedule (he has commitments over spring break) the meeting will take place later this week if at all possible. At the conclusion of that meeting, we hope to have a better sense of whether or not a vote of no confidence will proceed.
Having said that, I wanted to provide you with a very general sense of the meeting.
Eight members of Exec met with the President and the Provost for a full two hours. The bill of particulars provided an outline for the meeting. Some issues such as mitigating the impact of large classrooms, the culture of decision-making at Kutztown, and budgetary issues (performance funding and funding formulas for example), took up substantial time. Other issues such as office space, hot classrooms, hiring policy, long term planning, and fund raising were also discussed. I think it is fair to say that the dominant themes of the meeting were academic quality, the budget, and the need for a new culture of how problems and planning are addressed.
I should stress that NO AGREEMENTS have been reached at this point. We are looking forward to the second meeting later this week. At that meeting we hope to finish our discussions of the bill of particulars. In the event that we are able to come to some concrete agreements that will move toward resolving problems laid out in the bill of particulars, we will let you know as soon as possible.
Best,
Kevin Mahoney
APSCUF-KU Exec
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Postponement of the Vote of No Confidence
Colleagues,
These are hard times for Kutztown University. Vocal minorities on both sides of the vote have assailed the campus with their arguments. Sadly, in some cases, we have refined character assassination into a fine art.
There exists as witnesses to the debate, the majority of faculty who embrace the extremes of neither side. I believe that a majority would support a vote of no confidence if there was no viable option.
Dr. Cevallos’ letter last week poses an important dichotomy. It may be an honest and heartfelt effort to repair our campus and move Kutztown into a constructive future. It may be a calculated last-minute effort to disrupt an impending vote of no confidence that will irrevocably define Kutztown and the president’s future.
Both principle and pragmatism are compelling reasons to delay the vote. As a result of a delay, we may solve a critical majority of the problems we have cited in our bill of particulars. Conversely, during the course of a delay, we may expose the fundamental problem of leadership that has led to this crisis. In the former case, a vote will be rendered moot. In the latter, it will provide further evidence to proceed.
With these factors in mind, I have decided to postpone the vote of no confidence for a period of no more than thirty days.
This decision places a premium on Dr. Cevallos’ ability to lead. If we accept the overwhelming confidence vested in the president by both the Kutztown Board of Trustees and the PASSHE Board of Governors, he is well prepared for the task that is before him. Moreover, with the support of these two formidable bodies, there is no question that he will have the resources necessary to resolve the many matters affecting our campus.
APSCUF-KU is prepared to sign binding agreements that the president’s leadership will produce. It is important to consider that the bargaining unit will have the authority to hold the administration to its proposed solutions. The University Senate lacks that authority. Small groups of faculty and town hall meetings also lack any legal standing. If Dr. Cevallos sincerely wants to provide concrete solutions to our many problems, the union is at the end of his path.
With these thoughts in mind, I look forward to our meeting on Tuesday.
Dr. Michael D. Gambone
Professor of History
APSCUF-KU
These are hard times for Kutztown University. Vocal minorities on both sides of the vote have assailed the campus with their arguments. Sadly, in some cases, we have refined character assassination into a fine art.
There exists as witnesses to the debate, the majority of faculty who embrace the extremes of neither side. I believe that a majority would support a vote of no confidence if there was no viable option.
Dr. Cevallos’ letter last week poses an important dichotomy. It may be an honest and heartfelt effort to repair our campus and move Kutztown into a constructive future. It may be a calculated last-minute effort to disrupt an impending vote of no confidence that will irrevocably define Kutztown and the president’s future.
Both principle and pragmatism are compelling reasons to delay the vote. As a result of a delay, we may solve a critical majority of the problems we have cited in our bill of particulars. Conversely, during the course of a delay, we may expose the fundamental problem of leadership that has led to this crisis. In the former case, a vote will be rendered moot. In the latter, it will provide further evidence to proceed.
With these factors in mind, I have decided to postpone the vote of no confidence for a period of no more than thirty days.
This decision places a premium on Dr. Cevallos’ ability to lead. If we accept the overwhelming confidence vested in the president by both the Kutztown Board of Trustees and the PASSHE Board of Governors, he is well prepared for the task that is before him. Moreover, with the support of these two formidable bodies, there is no question that he will have the resources necessary to resolve the many matters affecting our campus.
APSCUF-KU is prepared to sign binding agreements that the president’s leadership will produce. It is important to consider that the bargaining unit will have the authority to hold the administration to its proposed solutions. The University Senate lacks that authority. Small groups of faculty and town hall meetings also lack any legal standing. If Dr. Cevallos sincerely wants to provide concrete solutions to our many problems, the union is at the end of his path.
With these thoughts in mind, I look forward to our meeting on Tuesday.
Dr. Michael D. Gambone
Professor of History
APSCUF-KU
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Mike Gambone Responds to President Cevallos's Email to Faculty
Dr. Cevallos,
We appreciate your letter and the evolution that it reflects.
We are ready to meet and address the problems cited in our bill of particulars. It is unfortunate that the snow storm last Friday prevented our monthly breakfast with you and the University Senate leadership. Although I have to attend a meeting of all APSCUF chapter presidents today and tomorrow, the local leadership will be available from Monday onwards.
What will restore faith is substance. If the administration is willing to address each of the items the faculty cited in concrete terms and with distinct deadlines, we will make progress.
We can begin this process as early as Monday.
Until then, the vote of no confidence will proceed.
We will contact your office for an appointment and look forward to our first meeting.
Dr. Michael D. Gambone
Professor of History
APSCUF-KU
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