Gavilan is on track to get its sixth vice president of
instruction in five years, causing some professors to wonder what
has spurred the
”
surprising
”
turnover and when it will end.
Gilroy – Gavilan is on track to get its sixth vice president of instruction in five years, causing some professors to wonder what has spurred the “surprising” turnover and when it will end.
Tuesday night, when the Gavilan College board of trustees approved Victor Krimsley as interim vice president of instruction, he became the fifth person to hold the position in as many years. In addition, Gavilan staff plan to replace him with a permanent vice president in January. The regular administrative shifts, coupled with the mysterious circumstances surrounding the last vice president’s departure, have some professors doubting that stability is in their future, even though it is a top priority.
“Every time you have somebody come in, they have their own focus and experience in instruction,” fine arts professor Marilyn Abad-Cardinalli said. “As instructors we need to be assured that instruction is our No. 1 goal. For us as a faculty, it’s always a wait and see.”
The Revolving Door
Gavilan’s turnover in instruction began spring 2004 when long-time professor and administrator Martin Johnson retired from the vice presidency. The college promoted Sherrean Carr to interim vice president for the 2004-2005 school year. Carr returned to her position as dean of technical and public services again when the college selected Jane Harmon to the expanded position of vice president of instruction and student services starting in fall 2005.
Carr did not return multiple phone calls.
Harmon lasted one year before leaving to take interim positions at other colleges. Trustee Mark Dover said Harmon departed because she did not want to only have the responsibilities of the vice president of instruction while another person took over responsibilities of vice president of student services.
The decision to separate the positions was made because “one person held too much power,” Dover said. Yet Harmon “wasn’t interested in it having it split apart.”
Harmon did not return multiple phone calls.
Former Evergreen Valley College dean Adrienne Akinsete was hired to replace Harmon in fall 2006, but did not last an entire year. Professors said she was fired and asked to go on leave during her last two weeks of her contract. However, college trustees and staff, including college President Steve Kinsella, who is responsible for vice presidential personnel decisions, refused comment on the leave or contract termination claiming they were confidential personnel matters.
However, Kinsella indicated that Akinsete was not fitting in with the “participatory” atmosphere of the college.
At different colleges “there’s different levels of participation,” he said. “This is a very cooperative group to work with. You really want to make sure that folks spend some time to bring people along with them.”
The Dispatch could not locate contact information for Akinsete.
Who’s to Blame?
Some professors said the problem lies not with Akinsete or the past vice presidents, but with Kinsella and his strong-handed style of governance.
“The college is moving steadily toward a military bureaucracy,” fine arts professor Art Juncker said. “Check the administrative hires, particularly male, and you should come up with a roster which would not be out of place in Iraq.”
Kinsella denied that the administrative hires had that much impact on the daily lives of professors.
“I can see folks being concerned about the change but I don’t see it changing at their immediate level,” he said. “Their immediate supervisors have not changed.”
Math professor Ken Wagman, a member of Gavilan faculty for 18 years, agreed.
“For most of the day-to-day stuff, who the vice president of instruction is doesn’t have that much of an impact on what we do in the classroom,” he said.
The turnover, while worrying, is not yet at a crisis point, Wagman added.
“There has been a question of why,” he said, but “I think what’s more important to me as an instructor and to my students is that we get somebody good now.”
Gavilan trustees and staff agree, specifying that they expect the next hire to want to live in South County and get involved in the community. They have already started the search process, having hired Krimsley and talked about hiring a search firm in September.
Case Not Closed
But, trustees and staff might not be able to put the past behind them just yet.
In addition to approving Krimsley at Tuesday’s meeting, trustees and Kinsella discussed anticipated litigation in closed session. While they said they could not discuss the closed session item, they did discuss a claim against the district for wrongful termination. The claimant’s name was not revealed, but he or she could have been Akinsete, trustees said. Dover said the chances of the anticipated litigation and the claim relating to the same case was “very likely.”
The board rejected the claim and will wait for the claimant’s next move, trustee Kent Child said.
“It’s basically like a tennis match where it’s lobbed over one side of the fence and then it’s lobbed back,” he said.
The vice presidential turnover, possible litigation and work that has transpired are unfortunate realities in ensuring that the college is functioning on the highest level possible, Dover said. The latest episode with Akinsete is no different.
“I will say that it was very disappointing to the board that this didn’t work out,” he said. “But I will say, we are only going to have high quality, top-performing employees in that position.”
