College of the Redwoods President/Superintendent Jeff Marsee makes $222,602 per year, plus a benefits package worth another $11,432. That salary places him in the top 20 percent of community college presidents in the state, according to the Association of California Community College Administrators. He gets 16 paid holidays, 20 vacation days and 10 days of professional leave each year. He’s using some of the latter right now, touring Russia on a Fulbright Scholarship to exchange ideas with Russian community college administrators.
Since taking the helm at CR in July 2008, Marsee has proved to be something of a firebrand, making bold decisions to acquire new instructional sites, reshape the administrative structure and shuffle schedules and calendars. Not all of his efforts have been successful: He recently backed away from a proposal to purchase the vacant Jefferson Elementary School building in Eureka after citizens made it clear the college wasn’t welcome in the neighborhood. Still, from the outside Marsee’s tenure looks soundly effective. Enrollment jumped 13 percent this academic year. There are new educational sites in McKinleyville and Arcata and one in the works for Garberville. Marsee saved the Redwoods Community College District more than $10 million by rescuing the main campus’ student services building from the wrecking ball. And most importantly, in January CR was removed from warning status by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).
The inside view, however, provides a bleaker panorama: faculty leaders who say Marsee is a tyrant, paranoid staffers convinced that their phones are bugged and a pervasive climate of fear and festering animosity. (For the early stages of this infection, see “Stress Fracture,” July 30, 2009.) An employee satisfaction survey of 121 faculty members, 100 staffers and 19 administrators, conducted in February by higher-education consulting firm Noel-Levitz, painted a picture of an institution on the precipice of disaster. Or perhaps mutiny.
The raw data hinted at a certain discontentment; the anonymous respondents gave the school low marks for planning, cooperation and transparency. But these employees’ true feelings came flowing out in the second part of the survey, in which they were invited to answer open-ended questions. Their responses filled 34 pages with nearly unanimous vitriol, resentment and despair — most of it directed squarely at Marsee.
“Dr. Marsee has pretty much single-handedly created a work environment that is mean-spirited, corrosive, secretive and downright scary,” reads one representative example. “The President has a management style that is authoritarian, erratic and alienating,” reads another. Morale is repeatedly appraised at an all-time low. Campus culture is described as “hostile,” “toxic” and “disgraceful.” Marsee is called autocratic and vindictive. “It is really a dictatorship,” one person surmises. “Fear of retribution is pervasive,” observes another. “People who do speak up are ‘blacklisted’ … and publicly chastised,” agrees a third.
Nearly every page includes one or two sweeping appraisals of almost apocalyptic proportions: “Many of us sincerely believe that the President will destroy this institution.” … “This used to be the greatest college I’ve ever worked at; now it is simply a place of widespread misery.” … “We are traveling down the wrong road at a high rate of speed and the bus is heading for a cliff.” Several confess they’re considering leaving. One simply says, “This is the most screwed-up place I have ever worked.”
Ironically, the survey itself apparently prompted an example of Marsee’s retribution. On Wednesday, March 17, word spread around campus that CR’s institutional researcher, Dr. Martha Davis, had posted the Noel-Levitz survey results on CR’s Web page. Two days later the results had disappeared. According to English Professor and Academic Senate Co-president David Holper, Davis arrived at work that Friday morning to discover her computer access to the company system had been blocked. She told Holper she expected to be escorted off campus at any moment. (Word had recently circulated that Chief Financial Officer Ruth Bettenhausen had been “frog-marched” off school grounds after trying unsuccessfully to reveal a $1 million budget shortfall at a Board of Trustees meeting, though Board President Bruce Emad disputes that characterization.)
The Journal called Davis’ office at 10:30 a.m. on the morning of the 17th. Sounding shaken, she said she couldn’t talk, “because I’m not an employee here anymore.” To someone else she muttered, “Just a sec,” then came back on the line. “Um, somebody’s in here for a meeting. Bye bye.” And she hung up.
The Journal later learned she was placed on administrative leave. She’s scheduled to retire later this month. Marsee declined to be interviewed for this story, citing a busy schedule, though he did submit written responses to a series of e-mailed questions. Regarding the Noel-Levitz survey he said it was taken offline because “the raw data had not been evaluated.” He’s legally prevented from discussing personnel issues, he said, but he made it clear that Bettenhausen no longer works at CR.
In the survey and elsewhere, Marsee has been accused of bending the truth to support his version of reality. The Journal found evidence of just that. Read on.
^^^^^
Late last year, CR librarian Ruth Moon told the Journal that many on campus were feeling paranoid and anxious. “We have concerns that our phone conversations may be listened to,” she said. “Information is coming out — stuff about union activities that was only talked about over private lines. I don’t have any proof. … But people have just decided to start using cell phones.”
Members of the CR Faculty Organization, the college’s teachers union, became convinced that their e-mails were being monitored, so they stopped communicating over CR’s Web server. A tenured faculty member from the Mendocino educational site, who also asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, said people have started referring to CR as “Jeffland” because Marsee rules with an iron fist. “You don’t cross this man … or he will have your head on a plate,” the instructor said. “How long will it will take for the outside world to recognize this and come rescue us?”
If this all sounds sensationalized, it’s not, according to union leaders. Music Professor/CRFO President Ed Macan and chief union negotiator/Professor of Mathematics Todd Olsen recently sat down for an interview. They said it was their intention to “blow the whistle” on Marsee before the ACCJC returns in October to evaluate the school’s progress. They’re convinced that not only is CR’s accreditation at risk this fall, but the very future of the school is in jeopardy.
“In my 16 years at CR, this is the most apocalyptic threat to the institution’s future that I have ever seen,” Macan said. “I say that with complete confidence and with complete seriousness.”
The threat posed by Marsee is threefold, he said. First, Marsee believes himself to be above the law, frequently making unilateral decisions without regard to contracts or the state’s Educational Employment Relations Act, which grants employee organizations a voice in policy decisions. Second, when he does reach out to faculty, it’s just for show. “One of Marsee’s primary M.O.s is to set up sham processes that look good, that look democratic … but that go nowhere,” Macan said. The third threat is Marsee’s corporate-style vision for the school. “He wants to Phoenixize CR,” Macan said, referring to the popular University of Phoenix, a vast, for-profit higher learning institution that critics say cares more about profits than academic quality.
Olsen said this last characteristic is exemplified by Marsee’s controversial expansionism, his frequent use of expensive private consultants and his push for more online distance learning courses, moves that Olsen considers fiscally irresponsible. “Marsee is a money waster,” Olsen said. “When he decides he wants to do something, it doesn’t matter what it costs the District.”
On Jan. 8, the union filed a complaint with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) alleging that Marsee broke the law with two recent decrees. One was his sudden swap-out of the school’s software management system — under false emergency pretenses, they say — while most faculty were away on summer break. The other was a scheduling mandate dictating that 25 percent of CR classes be scheduled at night. “Both decisions were made suddenly with no prior warning, no consultation and no negotiation,” Macan said.
Members of CRFO and the Academic Senate say they have a right to participate in any decisions affecting them, as outlined in the tenets of “interest-based bargaining,” or IBB, which is standard practice among public institutions of higher learning. Macan and Olsen say Marsee violated the spirit and letter of IBB again this semester when, after nine consecutive calendar negotiations at which Marsee submitted identical proposals, the District simply deemed negotiations to be at an impasse and instituted Marsee’s calendar.
Marsee says negotiations remain ongoing, and that his administration simply “has a different interpretation of the roles and responsibilities of the Academic Senate.” But Art Professor Cynthia Hooper sides with union representatives, saying Marsee sidesteps collaboration and data-based decision-making “because [such things] inhibit his unfettered ability to spend money however he wants.” Hooper believes the purchase of the Garberville Elementary School building — using bond monies from 2004’s voter-approved Measure Q — will prove a particularly foolish investment. “It’s going to be a huge money pit. No rational, real analysis was done for demands or costs.”
CR already offers classes in Southern Humboldt at South Fork High School. Of the four classes scheduled there this semester, one was canceled, another has 12 students enrolled and the other two have just 10 students apiece. Meanwhile, the CR main campus has more than $20 million in deferred maintenance, and — as was just revealed last week — the District has a $1.5 million budget shortfall this year.
Are these real estate purchases a legitimate use of Measure Q money? The language presented to voters in 2004 included a list of 11 facilities projects, some specific and others — like “renovate and repair college buildings” — more vague. The Board of Trustees was charged with “ensur[ing] that the funds [are] expended only on the project list set forth” in the measure. Many faculty and staff members argue that those projects have never been completed.
But Marsee says expanding the campus to new sites is a valid use Measure Q funds, calling such expansion “an investment in the future.” District lawyers have validated his view, pointing to language in the measure calling for new classrooms and training facilities.
Regardless, Hooper’s primary complaint, like that of union reps, is not about expenditures so much as Marsee’s overall management style, which she describes as autocratic and duplicitous. She accused Marsee of discarding a curriculum planning model that had taken faculty months to research and prepare, then inexplicably sending that very model to the ACCJC as evidence of CR’s shared governance. The accrediting agency was apparently quite impressed by the model: Shortly after receiving it, they removed CR from warning status. But Hooper said that in the months since, that model has been completely ignored.
Vice President of Instruction Marjorie Carson disputed this, saying that the faculty’s planning model was little more than a draft and that it “required further refinement.”
Even more frustrating than Marsee’s dogmatic rule, many employees say, is the Board of Trustees’ unwavering support of him. And indeed, Board President Bruce Emad, in an interview last week, seemed unconcerned about the signs of rebellion, which he dismissed as bargaining tactics. Every three years, the school renegotiates employee contracts, and 2010 happens to be a negotiation year. “It’s grandstanding,” Emad said of the complaints. Furthermore, he said, employee complaints are hardly a reliable measure of the District’s health. “During the [Casey] Crabill reign, enrollment went to absolutely terrible numbers, finances went to absolutely terrible numbers and accreditation went out the door,” Emad said. (CR didn’t actually lose accreditation, but the ACCJC issued sanctions.) Yet faculty hardly said boo.
“My theory is that complaints are inversely correlated with how tough the president and his agenda are,” Emad said. In other words, employees are just being melodramatic whiners. Emad’s convinced that once negotiations are complete, everyone will kiss and make up. “We’re a family,” he said. “We’ve got Hatfields and McCoys, and right now we’re going through one of those water fights.”
Marsee struck a similar note, saying dissidents are simply “struggling with the many changes that CR is experiencing.”
^^^^^
That may be so. Or it may not. Several people with whom the Journal spoke for this story complained that it has become necessary to fact-check everything Marsee says. The Journal did just that with his written responses. Turns out their doubts are justified.
For example, regarding CRFO’s filings with the Public Employment Relations Board, Marsee asserted that “PERB rejected the faculty union’s initial complaints.” Not exactly. PERB merely asked CRFO to amend their complaints. Marsee left for Russia before the Journal could ask for clarification, but Mike Wells, CR’s director of human resources, spoke on his behalf, arguing that a request for amendments could be interpreted as a form of rejection. But Wells acknowledged that PERB had yet to issue a ruling on the matter.
On Monday, that ruling came: PERB upheld the union’s complaints, concluding that the District “failed and refused to bargain in good faith.” A settlement conference will be held soon. [Correction: PERB did not, in fact, rule on this complaint. The board simply agreed to hear the issue. The complaint was withdrawn in Jan. 2011.]
Marsee also supplied dubious answers regarding his employment history. From 2003 through most of 2005, he served as provost/vice president of operations at the Katharine Gibbs School, a for-profit community college in New York that’s frequently been described as an unscrupulous diploma mill (hence the fears of a corporatized, University of Phoenix-style makeover of CR).
Regarding his tenure there, Marsee wrote, “When I left the school it was accredited and 95 percent of the graduates were either placed in their careers of choice or were continuing towards a baccalaureate degree.” What he didn’t mention is that at the time of his departure, Katharine Gibbs School and its parent company, Career Education Corporation, were under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and several consumer protection agencies for allegedly defrauding students, investors and the federal government by overstating enrollment and manipulating financial statements.
In January 2005, while Marsee was still provost, CEC and the Katharine Gibbs School were the subject of a 60 Minutes hidden-camera investigation. An associate producer for the show walked onto the Katharine Gibbs campus and asked about its graduation rate. She was told that 89 percent of students graduated. The actual figure, obtained from the New York Department of Education, was 29 percent. “Everything was a lie,” one former CEC student told the CBS newsmagazine. When correspondent Steve Kroft asked what the biggest lie was, several graduates said it was the very figure Marsee cited — post-graduation job placement percentages.
The Department of Justice investigation ended in 2007, with the DOJ declining to prosecute. CEC attempted to sell off the Katharine Gibbs School, along with six other campuses, between fall of 2006 and February 2008. The attempt was unsuccessful, and those seven schools were shuttered in December.
Going further back: From 1992 to 1996 Marsee worked as a vice chancellor for the Ventura Community College District. In February 1996, the district’s Board of Trustees, acting in a hastily called special session, voted unanimously not to renew Marsee’s contract. When the Journal asked why, Marsee said that a new chancellor had recently been hired who “wanted his own administrative team, a common occurrence at community colleges.”
This description bears little resemblance to Marsee’s account at the time. Speaking to the L.A. Times on Feb. 24, 1996, Marsee said he’d been given his “walking papers” thanks to what he called an underhanded attempt to destroy his career. “Someone has made allegations in closed session, and they don’t have the courage or the guts to let me know in person, but they do have the guts to terminate my career,” he said. According to Times reporter Kelly David, Marsee’s critics accused him of maintaining “a centralized approach to running the district” and said he “was not a consensus builder and often ignored the recommendations of faculty.” A handful of teachers gathered outside during the board’s meeting. “Some hugged after the trustees announced their decision,” the Times reported. A district instructor was quoted saying, “I have never heard of a single faculty person or administrator be supportive of him.”
^^^^^
Faculty leadership says they’ll be faced with a difficult decision in October, when the ACCJC accreditation team returns: Either lie and pretend that decisions are being made collaboratively, or tell the truth and risk being put back on warning status. “My colleagues and I have researched, and we understand what the ACCJC is looking for — a clear and transparent process from the program level to the end decision,” Olsen said. This process is called integrated planning, and Olsen said it has become a farce. “When ACCJC comes back, unless we lie it’s going to be clear that the integrated planning [process] is dysfunctional.”
The Mendocino teacher agreed. “At some point this house of cards is gonna fall.”
Marsee’s original term of employment was three years, beginning July 1, 2008. But curiously, his contract renews automatically every year unless the Board deems his job performance unsatisfactory. In other words, every July 1 Marsee’s contract starts anew. If the board ever elects to terminate him without cause, they would be required to pay him $333,903 — 18 months salary. Asked if the Board retains complete confidence in Marsee, Emad said yes. At their last meeting, in fact, they took a vote — nine to nothing in support of Marsee.
This article appears in College In Revolt.
Solid background details and references. Well done lads.
i think the time has come to revolt against the president seeing how he is causing so many issues and i recently found out that he is purposefully attempting to take the mendocino campus and turn it into an online campus only which would screw us all.
That salary is absolutely stunning…
His disposable income could buy and sell my life many times over.
He is paid to be a leader… so why is he in Russia now.
He is stealing his overpaid salary.
Mr. Emad and the Board of Trustees have very short, very faulty memories. Indeed, I was present at the Board meeting a few years ago when Kerry Mayer (then Academic Senate Co-Chair) did express the faculty’s grave concerns about the Crabill-Bobbit administrative mismanagement–only to be lambasted by a furious Mr. Emad for daring to speak out critically. After President Crabill slipped from the Board’s pedestal, however, the same Mr. Emad instructed the faculty that it had a professional responsibility to report serious institutional problems to the Trustees. Since President Marsee arrived, though, the Board has reverted to its blind, gullible support for the very CEO it should be supervising. And if Mr. Emad and his fellow Trustees had read the recent employee satisfaction survey with any comprehension, they would see how ludicrous is the claim that the dissent at CR is a union bargaining ploy. The faculty and staff at CR are not complaining about wages; they are expressing their dismay over an abusive, dishonest management style and their fear that the President’s monomania is compromising the college’s core mission. Unfortunately, the Board members and the President neither understand nor share the values of educators, hence Mr. Emad’s absurd attempt to reduce a groundswell of protest into a simple matter of dollars and cents.
It’s so insulting of Trustee Emad to dimiss this discontent that way, so condescending and demeaning, he has the same mindset as Marsee- we are Very Important People and you are trash. I wouldn’t mind the arrogant and obnoxious personality issues, if this president could really do the job and deliver value equivalent to his pay scale. But instead, he causes turmoil, trouble, chaos, and blames everyone else. Does he actually produce anything of value? He can’t even effectively run a meeting, delegate tasks, organize district wide initiatives, etc. Employees spend a good part of their day, every day, making up for his mistakes and figuring out work-arounds for his crazy directives, when they could in fact be creative and productive. But then, any problems are made out to be their fault!
Rockin journalistic excellence!
In other words, employees are just being melodramatic whiners.
Can it be clarified if Mr. Emad actually made this statement or if it was a paraphrase based on his general attitude towards staff? It seems minor but very important since he’s being held accountable.
I don’t really know the players or the politics here, but as a community member I have to admit that I’ve been more than a little concerned about the CR trustees for a while now. The trustees are elected by us to watch over our community’s college. We “entrust” them with our college. That means, to me, that we trust them to do what is best for teachers, staff, students…..well, the whole college. But in news articles over the last year, all I hear is that the people on the ground working at the college every day (i.e. the teachers and staff) see real problems with the way the new president is doing things and the trustees respond with statements like “We support the president.” I don’t get that. Why have the trustees taken sides here? Isn’t their job is to safeguard the college and all its employees, not just a new president from Southern California or New York or wherever he’s from? Why don’t they recognize that they may drive our college right into the ground by “supporting the president” and not listening to the other employees who have lived in our community and worked at this college for a lot longer than this president? I don’t get it. To me, it seems like the trustees think of themselves more like stockholders in a company rather than public trustees. They need to be reminded that CR is OUR college, not theirs. Come on, guys. Step up and get concerned for the college not just for its president.
The atmosphere on campus is toxic. We love the students and want to make sure that the classes and the support staff and facilities will be there for them. That’s a major problem with rampant expansion: there’s no library, no counselors, no tutors, no testing center, and no disability services anywhere other than the main Eureka, Crescent City and Ft. Bragg campuses. How does that support student success?
Then there’s the move toward "diploma mill" status with ever expanding online classes. There’s now a link to Gatlin Education Services from the CR Community and Economic Development web page. These "certificates" being offered are not approved through the Chancellor’s office. They also cost $1995. Because they are linked from the CR web page, it is giving the false impression that students are getting CR credit. They are not.
As "Just a Voter" commented, we do need to step up. The faculty and staff at CR have done so. Now it’s time for the community to take back their college. The trustees are indeed elected officials and as such can be recalled for failing so miserably in their duties.
How utterly predictable: when faced with budget cuts the academics turn on each other. Shades of HSU.
@Nervous Staff:paraphrase.
The planning model that C. Hooper refers to was not solely a faculty design. The committee that drafted that model included constiuents from every representative group, in keeping with the law of shared governance. That committee used the ACCJC rubric for planning as their guide. However, the model that came from Marsee & co. (one month after the first model) was claimed as being "endorsed" by a committee that has no faculty members, lacks representation from other groups, and whose "minutes" do not ever record who was present. (Check for yourself, http://inside.redwoods.edu/strategicplanning/cpc/agendas.asp, although a password may be needed, just ask one of your CR friends or family) This Marsee planning model was RADICALLY DIFFERENT from the collegially developed model, and did not meet the standards for integrated planning that are clearly set out by the ACCJC in a one page statement that a bright ten year old child could understand. For VP Carson to say that the so-called "faculty model" required "refinement" is more than bending the facts, it’s completely twisting the facts. What I have stated here, in addition to the facts in the article, is the true story. Trustee Emad, is this what you call "toughness???" Why care about it? Because the planning process is supposed to be used to help us BUILD THE BUDGET.
Really sad to hear this is happening at the CR. In the 80s I finished up a degree, and we had lost some very good people even then. Sounds like the same destructive path is continuing to be followed.
"My [Emad’s] theory is that complaints are inversely correlated with how tough the president and his agenda are,"
I’m puzzled. Inverse correlation means as one goes up, the other goes down. Emad appears to be saying either that as complaints go up, the president and his agenda get less tough, or more ominously, as the president gets tougher, the number of complaints goes down. I’m hoping he simply misspoke, or was misquoted, because I would be dramatically concerned if the president of the board of trustees responsible for overseeing the budget of College of the Redwoods didn’t understand a simple math concept.
How many presidents has CR had the in last 5 years? What, like, 3 or 4? And it seems like every time I read in the paper about CR having problems, whether its budget or certification, it’s always a problem caused by whoever’s president at the time not doing their job. And then what seems to happen is whatever president created the problem bails on Humboldt and goes on to some bigger, better job elsewhere and leaves a mess for everyone else to clean up. Meanwhile, the faculty and staff at CR seem to stay at the college for the long haul. So what I wonder is this: if the other employees aren’t the ones causing problems and they aren’t the ones who bail on CR when it does have problems, why wouldn’t the board listen to them at least as much as they seem to listen to the presidents that come and go?
To "Just Rub Our Noses in It": Ryan made an understandable mistake in this article when he referred to the Program Review Committee’s Integrated Planning model as being the "Faculty" model. Agreed: it is not the faculty’s model; it is a model that was developed by a collaborative team of administrators, staff, and faculty all working together to meet the standards of the ACCJC. And we obviously did meet their standards.
I am disappointed that we have a trustee who thinks a good president is a tough and aggressive president. That if employees complain about that, it’s their fault. At the next Board meeting, Tuesday April 6th at 2pm, I fully expect the board to again lash out in anger and "shoot the messenger."
Note to George Washington: "when faced with budget cuts the academics turn on each other" is untrue- we’re not turning on each other. We are uniting against one person, who is the source of all our grief.
Meeting the accreditation standards demands transparency and broad-based coordination and cooperation from every constituency at CR. Marsee has repeatedly proven himself completely incapable of being truthful, of coordinating common institutional goals, and of cooperating with others. He is an immediate threat to our college. Board members: please do CR a BIG favor and carefully study the standards of the ACCJC: http://www.accjc.org/publications.htm
I have been told by several employees that when anyone questions what Marsee is doing, they are reminded that their evaluation is due soon.
Also if anyone goes to the board they are reprimanded and Marcee is told about it.
Almost sounds like Hitler behavior.
As far as I can see, there’s only one appropriate response community response to the mess that Marsee has created at College of the Redwoods. Citizens need to come out to their college next Tuesday, April 6 at 2 pm to the Board meeting. You need to fill out a public comment card and give the Trustees an earful of how upset you are that they have allowed this President to go so far off track and to tyrannize good teachers and staff. If you can’t make it, send Bruce Emad a pubic comment and ask him to read it aloud at the next meeting. His email is bruceemad@gmail.com Only when these public servants are reminded that they work for us to safeguard our institution will they remember that they are trustees of our institution.
It doesn’t matter who is in charge- the core of CR (and HSU for that matter) seems to be conflict between two groups of people who are sure they have the only real insight. Each group natters at the other endlessly. It’s simply teacher’s disease- comes from constantly telling people (ie students) who hopefully know less than than the teacher what to do. Leads to the notion that they should never be contradicted. That they are more important than the rest of the world. Ingrown unreality called tenure.
You all deserve each other. Any story about college affairs is immediately filled with responses as if the rest of the world really cares.
Marsee is a problem and he should be handed his walking papers. I want whoever negotiated his contract to do mine.What first time president gets that automatic reup clause??? I can’t believe the board would fall for this.
As a voter in Bruce Emad’s district I remember last time he was running for re-election, they had a debate on KEET between him & the other guy running. Mr Emad was very contrite and said he (and the board) had made mistakes and had learned from them… etc. No he didn’t. It’s the same attitude he has always had when a problem comes up – denial there is a problem, stand his ground and blame everyone else for the mess. Time for this guy to be RECALLED.
The issues at CR cannot be reduced to faculty versus the President. To do so is to underestimate the seriousness of the situation. The reason why it is the faculty that is heard from the loudest is because they are “protected” by tenure. The concerns expressed by the faculty are heartfelt throughout the District. The people who have dedicated their lives to CR (those who have been there longer than 2 years for example) are completely dedicated to its survival. Years of mismanagement has made everyone deeply concerned about the administration of CR, and rightly so. The faculty and staff want (need) to be involved because it matters to them. To be dismissed in such an off handed way not only harkens back to really bad history, it’s horribly insulting. Again, this is NOT a faculty versus the President issue. There are stories of senior administrators being silenced because their advice is counter to the President’s “vision,” staff that have been reduced to tears, not to mention people who would rather quit than work in such a toxic environment.
Board of Trustees…you are being lied to!
Dr. Marsee IS a bully, and, as someone else mentioned, uses "Hitler" behavior. Not only were Drs. Bettenhausen and Davis REMOVED from campus (read the article) for trying to get some Truth out into the open (to the Trustees and to the Community), but also, Dr. Marsee threatens staff and faculty. Just last Thursday at a so-called "Open Forum," after one staff member asked Dr. Marsee a question, that person was then used by Dr. Marsee as an example of a person he "would not" want to have to lay off…
Even though Dr. Marsee is the problem, it really is the Trustees who have been asleep at the wheel. As mentioned above, Bruce Emad had promised not to fall for this again, but these Trustees have certainly not lived up to their promises. Shame on them! They should be recalled! (Perhaps not all of them, but the Community should be hearing opinions from all of the Trustees, and has not heard from most of them.) Seems like they are scared of this bully, too, but I cannot imagine why that would be the case. They should get some tips from the people in Ventura.
Two senior administrators have already been fired, and the others live in perpetual fear of Marsee, spending inordinate hours trying to work around his irrational and destructive directives. What a shameful waste of time, talent, and the taxpayer’s money. Why did the board let Marsee silence CFO Ruth Bettenhausen at their December meeting? Why did the Board let Marsee fire her? It sounds to me like Marsee and the board are trying to cover up some sort of financial scandal, and that $1.5 million shortfall likely has something to do with it.
RE: Jeff Marsee and Bruce Emad
"It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself."
Latin Proverb
I was a student at CR from Aug 2004 to May 2009. I also worked a work study job there starting in April 05 to June 09. I have seen many changes some for the better and some not so good. But let me tell you that after Marsee was hired the employees were ok for a short while, then Marsee started making changes to what he wanted not was best for the school.His WIFE wanted cheerleaders so guess what CR got cheerleaders. Someone wanted a soccer team so CR got a soccer team. With the department fund already stretched pretty far, the department had to take on this task, given no choice. This is with the crash of the economy. Are we really thinking of looking to the future. Who gets to vote on this stuff. Should there not be sopme kind of voting system in place, some people have worked there for years and I think they have a great insight for CR. Did Marsee really get enrollment up or did Obama with the raise the Pell grant recieved. There are many schools who enrollment went up after the raise in the Pell grant. I said shortly after Marsee came to CR that he would be the fall of CR and I am just a student working a work study job. Marsee is the person who grades "HIS" office employees and no not a good grade on how they got "HIS" news letter out. That was a big job on top of all the other jobs they already do. This is just what I saw as a student.
Several of the Board President’s statements are hard to understand.
First, how could the horrendous state of morale at the college be part
of some ploy by the faculty and staff hoping to gain leverage for
their contract negotiations? I’ve tried to figure out how that would
work, but it doesn’t add up. How would making everyone really, really frustrated and sick of their toxic
work environment increase those sickened people’s
bargaining power? How will that work? I don’t get it. What logical sequence is Trustee
Emad following there? I’m totally at a loss. And when he claims the CR faculty
and staff never raised their voices in the past when things were bad, he seems to be
claiming that now that the staff and faculty are raising their voices, the reverse of the
Crabill-era must be the case–now, because people are speaking out, things must be good. Does that make sense? It
doesn’t seem to logically follow to me. This seems a little like the
2+2=5 reasoning I saw in the whole credit-default swap debacle and in
the sub-prime mortgage fiasco. Surely, the trustees of a college
should be able to put together logically sequenced arguments. If not,
where are we as a society? We may need to pay more attention the next
time some of these people come up for re-election, maybe attend some
debates and ask them some direct questions to see if they can form
logical responses. I’m very troubled by the level of faulty or
fallacious logic I saw on display. Maybe someone can explain the logic behind Mr. Emad’s statements. I haven’t been able to figure it out yet and as a Humboldt resident and citizen, that worries me.
During the writing of this article was there a single student contacted? Did no one bother to find out what the students think or how students feel about any of this? We are, after all, the REASON for this institution, are we not?
Furthermore, what else, besides the $1.5 million budget shortfall is being kept from us? Our (CR’s) library’s budget for the 2010/2011 school year is $00.00 (ZERO!?!?). How is this possible, and whose brilliant bloody idea was it?
But hey, seriously, we DO have cheerleaders and a soccer team, right?
I’ll be at the meeting Tuesday, how about you?
A huge contributor to the budget crisis at CR is Marsee’s relentless pushing for growth well beyond what the state is willing to compensate us for. This is called being "over-cap." Marsee is planning to have our district be over-cap by about 179 sections this coming fall, which will cost the district an additional $700,000. Marsee also bases his budget assumptions on our having a completely unrealistic AVERAGE of 34 students per class, when 70% of our courses are 30 and under. Meanwhile, department budgets across the district are going to be slashed an average of 23%. (With the library, evidently, getting zero money.)
Marsee also has a special, hidden fund (Fund 15) that has been designated for "growth," and that the Board does not ask him to publicly account for. This special fund is reputed to have $600,000-$700,000 in it. Will this money be used to fund those extra sections that Marsee is demanding, I wonder? I’ve heard that he’s got other plans for this money.
Also: last fall, Marsee himself miscalculated the cost of part-time salaries by $1 million–this is what Ruth Bettenhausen was trying to warn the Board about, and explains the million that CR is missing now.
We must stop pushing our enrollments over what the state will compensate us for. 97% of Community Colleges in California are balancing their enrollments with their revenues right now, and CR must do this as well or things will get really ugly really fast.
Dr. Marsee: if you really want us to be 541 FTES over-cap this fall, please use your Fund 15 money to buy this, and don’t take it out of the hides of already incredibly strained department and instructional budgets, or by laying off hard-working employees, or by denying our children their health coverage.
Bruce Emad’s Occupation: Senior Vice President- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. No wonder he acts the way he does. Bankers take the gains put losses on the people. They probably saw the 60 minute aired on 01/30/05 said this is our guy. The Trustees should refund the the losses to the people. Rural America has no BANDWIDTH and costs way to much money for students to afford. Looks like Marsee’s has been caught in the act once again. Thanks to the good teachers and staff maybe they will be able to bail CR out.
Thanks Ryan for great investigative reporting. College "politics" can be confusing and you were able to present it in a clear straightforward way. I am accurately quoted or paraphrased, confidentiality was respected when requested, and I appreciate that. So many people here have either gone to CR, worked at CR, or knows someone or is related to someone who has. We all have some personal and emotional investment here. And, the news about CR has not really been objectively reported on for some time. The community should be informed. The community has a right to have a say in what happens at CR. The community has the right to tell the college leadership what they want and expect from their college.
In reading this article and the many comments, I believe the anger is rightfully being directed at the Trustees. For it IS the job of the Board to ensure the long-term health of the college. Doing so requires that Trustees LISTEN to all constituents (rather than making arrogant, dismissive remarks about rank-and-file employees who happen to be the people who REALLY know what’s going on). Trustees must take measured, carefully considered, appropriate action which, if need be, might include putting a pink slip in Marsee’s hand. Please show up at today’s BoT meeting and remind the Trustees of their obligation to the constituents whom they serve.
What you have to look at is the buisness model that Marcee comes from, its safe to say like in any traveling sales buisness, the idea is to swoop into town, promise huge dreams and much excitemen, then cash in and leave the local folk to pick up the shattered pieces. The best bet here is to get Marcee out, look at the consumer reports from the Katharine Gibbs college, all promised good jobs and then swoop, the rug is pulled under and the school closes. We can’t let Humboldt become a victim of the hard selling Russian with a paper fist.
This is a serious issue at hand for the community and county in general. THERE IS AN ONLINE WALKING CLASS.
THe educational standards for America are disgustingly riddled with bulbous warts and its time to freeze dry them off.
Don’t let our future be bleak bean counting.
The board of trustees needs to be serious about their roles as trustees.
There are many stories to be told by many students, faculty, staff and members of community . We have been watching you for many years. Now that the record is out there, the community will be hearing from all the employees of cr daily, as life continues at cr.
Many cr and community members also remember your past track record, much like dr. marsee, lots of not so good moments in history. Board of trustees, it’s time to step up for the communities’ college of the redwoods or STEP OUT!
CR is such an important part of our community. I hope these recent articles spark constructive conversation and this matter is dealt with keeping the students and the faculty not just in mind, but informed.
So what all happened at the BOT yesterday? Update please?
I was there, I read a statement of support for our classified staff, from the faculty union. 25 – 28? others made statements, including 3-4? students. Each comment got applause. Over 100 people were in the audience, many with signs. The Board took a break and returned with some very mild comments, then continued with their meeting agenda. Most of the press had left when the staff union president read into the record the "Vote of No Confidence" in the BOARD- not President Marsee as was incorrectly reported in many media, including T-S. A good sized crowd stayed to the end, but I had work to do so don’t know how the meeting closed. I am using my real name so my comments can be confirmed.
Looking at posts after an article can be fun. It looks like most of the respondents to this article are CR staff. I wonder about a few things.
Maybe CR should collapse; maybe the cultural sickness is too institutionalized to be changed.
The CR swimming pool has not been fixed in HOW long now?
The old and outdated (and in some cases broken) equipment in classrooms and labs has NOT been replaced, as was promised with Measure Q which was voted on in 2004.
There are NO student services open on weekends. Note: At a College, the Library isn’t open on the Weekends, even though there are plenty of weekend classes, and there are students who live on-campus in the dorms.
There is one tutor (not even full time) for thousands of students and only at ONE of the numerous locations.
The number of classrooms and locations with more technical equipment to install and maintain keeps increasing, but the technical staff department has not been increased (in fact, may have decreased).
The number of classrooms and locations with furniture and floors and bathrooms to maintain keeps increasing, but the maintenance staff has not been increased (and may have decreased).
There are many cases where many people worked hard together to formulate carefully-thought-out plans and recommendations, only to have them completely disregarded and ignored.
Funds from different funding sources are being spent based solely on the decision-making of one individual, without any objective criteria.
Policies are changed seemingly on a whim, with no input from interested parties, and with no communication whatsoever.
Duties and responsibilities of different individuals seem to change from day to day, based upon whim, and without communication nor negotiation.
Laws (Education Code) have been broken many times.
Lies have been told many times.
This list can go on and on!
The problem is NOT just the survey results. We can FORGET the survey results and still have major problems to discuss. The staff and faculty are VERY serious about academics and education and it is exactly academics and education that are suffering at the hands of the current administration. And unfortunately the current Board of Trustees has been allowing it to continue to happen.
I am the future. My destiny is not promised. The past and the present built me. Where I go now is up to everyone; where I go now is up to you, if you’re reading this … if you talk to a friend about this.
I can be anything. Like a mighty redwood, I can drink from the sky when rainfall isn’t plentiful. Still, I yearn for what makes me grow. Give me light. Give me knowledge.
Save our schools! We’re all part of this community.
Wow! I was so relieved when I heard that the CR president resigned! That’ll save a lot of people a lot of anguish.
Re:outsider looking in
As former CR faculty and a member of program review committee during the accreditation process I can attest that the accreditation commission consistently praised the faculty for their work at the college, their dedication to the students, and their bending over backwards work ethic on behalf of the students, the school and the community. The accreditation commission consistently cited administrative misdeeds that were (are) responsible for the plethora of problems at the school. The accreditation reports should be public and can be verified by any outsider looking in who may be interested in doing so. The most notable citation of the faculty in those documents was their failure to notify the accreditation commission of the administrative shuck and jive. Such is their duty. The faculty heard the criticism and remedied that problem immediately.
There are a handful of faculty though who have in the past buddied up with the admin to do their bidding. Those faculty have since been exposed,censured,and publicly disgraced. They have been rendered impotent as tools of the administration(save Mike Wells).
Thus, the faculty are the harbingers of truth in this case and should be heard out as such.
I’m just so thankful I left when I did. While I miss many of the students and many of the faculty, the place is absolutely toxic. For the faculty, it is their life. For the administrators, it is simply a stepping stone. The students, faculty and community are their stones of ascension. I truly hope the people of Humboldt take their electoral responsibilities very seriously by researching the board, the upcoming candidates for board service and vote en mass from a position of knowledge. The community, now informed, have work to do if they truly value their educational institution.
Ever notice how CR’s "You’re Worth a Million Bucks" ad campaign rolled out about a month before Ruth Bettenhausen tried to warn the Board about the missing million? It looks like Marsee was making excuses and covering his tracks for his "million dollar mistake" as early as last semester.
Actually, there was a time when the ENTIRE COLLEGE worked together to solve their problems. Dr. Tom Harris was the Interim President, and Dr. Keith Snow-Flamer was the acting VP for Academic Affairs, and VP of Student Services…
Relieved: Please do not spread unsubstantiated rumors.
The year that Tom Harris was President undeniably demonstrated that we could all work together towards a common set of mutually agreed upon institutional goals. BRING BACK TOM!!!
Reply all.
I really wish I knew more about the history of CR, perhaps better understand why there is so much animosity the staff has for the administration.
As for the Accreditation commission reports. I have found ACCJC Visiting reports and ACCJC Action letters as far back as 2006. It is some heavy reading and I’ll get through it this weekend. What I have noted immediately is that the ACCJC put CR College on Probation in July 2007 before the current president was appointed April 2008. Hence the problems at the college appear to predate President Marsee.
But I have a few observations to make which really come from the above article and comments posted.
a. Can I as an outsider looking in take someone seriously that “…exposed, censured, and publicly disgraced.” faculty because they were “buddied up with the admin.” It sounds more like dissenters will not be tolerated, the same accusation made against the administration towards the staff in the article above. Can I honestly believe all communication from the staff to the admin has been open and constructive?
b. An Interim President is more like a substitute teacher. “Get along with everyone; I’m here for a short period of time. Don’t start any major projects; I won’t be here to finish them.” Saying bring back in Interim President is like saying bring back a likable substitute teacher. He may have been a great administrator, but he was still temporary.
c. Someone has provided a list of tangible corrections; a broken swimming pool, closed libraries on the weekend, and etc. This individual has provided a focus which I think is probably the most constructive comment made on this website. Most of the items on the list appear to be budgetary, they cost money to enact. How would the staff address these problems, assuming something has to be cut from budget to cover the addressed problems? From this point forward, how would things get fixed?
d. Conspiracy theories are easy to believe because they feed more on emotion than fact. Assuming that phone lines are tapped, claiming that reviews are used to silence others. It is the lack of facts and the abundance of assumptions, and “I’ve heard”, that I find most discrediting of the above article. This is a repeat of my earlier statement with greater emphasis on reality. Facts are needed to substantiate claims.
I can’t say that the administration has been saint like, other wise there wouldn’t be such a polarization in opinion. But it certainly doesn’t appear that that staff has been saints either. Fears are perpetuated with articles and can give legitimacy to juvenile behavior.
As a professional I am a change management consultant. I change business software in businesses to become manageable and healthy. I hear how my product sucks, how the old way was better and doesn’t need to be changed. Sometimes they are right, but one thing is universal. People don’t like change and will sometimes fight tooth and nail so they don’t have too. It’s not me, it’s not the product, it’s not about legacy, it is about fear of change. That’s why I question the validity of grievances when the visceral emotion of dislike is so strong. Maybe your president is not as good as he should be, but I bet few have actually looked into themselves for their own motives.
Whether or not the survey should have been released publicly, colleges and universities need to realize that once negative information is made public, removing it only make matters worse. What may have remained an internal matter is now up for national debate and judgement. Removing unfavorable criticism as a means of damage control only results in the need for more damage control. A more reasoned response would have been to address the issues openly.
(http://chronicle.com/article/No-Satisfaction-College-Yanks/65004/)
Why is it that twice in a year now, I have seen stories where long-time higher level staff, who have served with integrity are dismissed summarily by their presidents after a visit from Noel-Levitz. First up at Seattle U and now at COR. While I’m sure there’s a non-disclosure agreement somewhere, I am curious as to what they’re saying that can bend a college president’s ear so far.
(http://chronicle.com/article/No-Satisfaction-College-Yanks/65004/)
http://www.advocate-news.com/local/ci_14844355 (Read some of the survey comment here.)
Out-sider #48 & 49: Send Marsee your resume, he would love to hire you as he has already spent close to the "missing million" on various consultants already. Your item a. quotes Marx, who misinterpreted, or misunderstood, or simply didn’t know anything. There was some buddying up, but there was no public disgrace or censure of faculty by faculty, ever. Marx, you’ll have to show me your documentation.
Want to read some of the employee satisfaction survey comments that Marsee removed and put Institutional Researcher Martha Davis on administrative leave for? Check out the Ft. Bragg Advocate-News article: http://www.advocate-news.com/local/ci_14844355
Ironically, if Dr. Marsee can weather this storm, it may mean he’s exactly the right guy for the job. After this, who else is going to want it? Only someone who can weather storms.
I know others might disagree with me, and that’s fine. I admire the effort and level of journalism that’s gone into this well-researched article. I am shocked at the money missing. I also think that writing an expose on a school in weakened condition that so many members of the community rely on is an ethic that needs to be considered, too. Yes, there’s freedom of the press, but just as I have freedom of speech, I also have the freedom to exercise judgement of what I do and do not speak aloud, and someone has the freedom to exercise judgement of what does and does not go to print, and for what reasons. Maybe if the school hadn’t just come off of a long probation. What if NCJ’s willingness to be a vehicle for this debate shuts the school down? I’m glad folks who seek to be heard have an outlet, but what about the school, and the students relying on it just being here?
The things going on at CoR, from this article, sound uncool, and thanks for the info. But I think damaging the survival of the school is also uncool. Please have that on your conscience the next time a story like this comes around.
Re:Almond Joy
You are correct.
The disgrace wasn’t public, or not made available to the larger Humboldt community. The censure was internal and the public I should have acknowledged includes the CR public. New administrators were warned of their tactics and history. Harris made it clear to Marsee who to watch out for. Once Crabill left and during CR’s time with Harris, the cadre of offenders were slowly moved out of positions of influence. Some retired and the others were put back in the classroom which is where they really want to be anyway. The only documentation would likely exist in the form of legal files and the testimony associated with past settlements. I don’t think that would be available to the public outside of a freedom of info request.
My apologies for the mis-characterization.
To outsider Part 1:
The Interim President, Dr. Harris, did way more than just act like a substitute. He cleaned the house. If you examine what happened during the time he was here, nearly every senior administrator was either removed or reassigned. Dr Snow-Flamer took on the responsibility of two or three full time jobs, and EVERYONE at the college pulled together to get the accreditation mess straightened out. Because of all the work that was accomplished during that time, the college eventually was removed from warning.
We all pulled together that year under Tom Harris’ leadership. That academic year (2007-2008) PROVES that we can move forward in unity as an institution, if only we had the right leader.
This is from the T-S discussion thread and it is completely accurate:
1) The million dollar deficit is a direct result of Marsee miscalculating the rate at which associate faculty are paid. Bettenhausen tried to tell this to the Board, and he tried to have her fired for that sort of behavior. The Board didn’t go along with that. She’s now on paid administrative leave until June 2011.
2) Marsee wants bonds. He’s said that several times at open meetings. In fact, back in the fall, he tried to pull a fast one on the Board by providing them a document to vote on that would have split the district into counties (for the purposes of future bond elections). Someone tipped them off though, and good thing. Had they approved that document, it would have obligated them to a no bid contract with Dale Scott, Inc., the bond consultant that Marsee wanted. And then if the bonds passed, every time that the district spent monies out of the bond, Dale Scott would have received a percentage. No bid contracts are illegal.
3)Marsee misspent a federal Title III grant. As a result of using the monies for items and salaries that weren’t allowed, he had to reimburse the grant nearly $160,000.
4) Marsee hired a local architect in violation of the law. The law requires that when you hire an architect for a bid over 15K, you need to do a competitive review of qualifications, but when Marsee hired John Ash (JAG), he just hired him. That’s no legal. Also, it’s convenient that the Board President, Bruce Emad, is a good friend of John Ash’s.
Average Bob, #54, I would agree with you except that it’s a storm that Marsee created, that did not have to happen, that never would have happened if we had a president that followed procedures, laws, contracts, and the norms of common courtesy and professionalism.
Marx, #55, I think I know what incident you are referring to most cryptically, but I doubt that there is any evidence of even an internal censure. That problem was caused by a structural flaw in the process, not by any unethical behaviors of the individuals involved.
Now, to all the Harris supporters out there: Tom Harris negotiated and signed the current president’s contract, and the Board approved it on his recommendation.
Tom Harris is now retired. At the time of his service as CR interim, he was one of the consultants at the CA Collegiate Brain Trust (http://www.collegebraintrust.com/index.html) now owned by the McCallum Group, Inc, a lobbyist firm. (http://www.mccallumgroupinc.com/) So, he wasn’t about to do anything to really jeopardize his relationship or his standing with administrator’s professional associations or network groups like the ACCCA, or with the CCBT, which directly serves administrators. NOT faculty, NOT staff. Harris was a capable and competent administrator, much respected and admired. But I think he looks much better now than he really was, in contrast to Marsee.
At the end of the article, Ryan Burns writes: "If the board ever elects to terminate him without cause, they would be required to pay him $333,903 — 18 months salary."
That would be a bargain.
"Asked if the Board retains complete confidence in Marsee, Emad said yes. At their last meeting, in fact, they took a vote — nine to nothing in support of Marsee."
This is not recorded in the minutes. If in closed session, it was not reported out.
If a vote by the Board was not recorded in the minutes and not reported out, would this be a violation of the Brown Act? Has CR’s Board violated the law?
That is a very good question. One that I would ask Trustee Emad. One of the many kinds of questions that faculty and staff have been asking of Jeff Marsee and getting dissed and brushed off. For example: Who are the members of the ‘Skunkworks’ and why are they setting the future direction of the college? Why are their meetings secret? What happened to the complete report from the Brain Trust? Why was it not released on the request of the Academic Senate? Quote, from Marsee, "that report was for me." Why did Pam Fisher, ACCCA facilitator, enthusiastically advise the Board, as publicly recorded in their minutes, to consult regularly with the president prior to each meeting? and not one peep about Brown Act. What about this new process of evaluating the president? Why do we not see any speck of it anywhere, and when do employees and the public and students get a chance to participate? What about all those other consultants? As an expenditure of public funds, shouldn’t their reports and findings be a matter of public record? What about fund 15? Why does a full accounting of that fund not appear for review by the Board and the public? What about integrated planning, why is that being under continual revision but never being implemented? Why is it that Marsee’s "Goals and Objectives" that he sold to the Board, that were the primary reason they hired him, never made public? Marsee gave one copy to the Senate co-presidents, after they requested it when he cited it as the reason for all of these changes. His plan. His vision. No one but the Trustees ever even saw it.
Who are the members of the "Skunkworks"? Does anyone know? Where are their minutes and reports, and how do they influence the direction of the college?
Where is complete report from the Brain Trust, and why can’t CR and the community see it? (I’m assuming that this report was funded by public money.)
What about the money in Fund 15? Why can’t we find any published Board report about how this public money is spent?
This alarming lack of transparency surely demonstrates that Marsee, the Board, and perhaps even local businesses are trying to hide something from CR and the community here. What is happening to our college? Is this what the Board was talking about when they informed us at their last meeting that "we are part of it, but not all of it"?
Has Marsee and the Board let local businesses unethically (and maybe even illegally) feed at the public trough?
I don’t have the answers to those questions. those are just some of the questions faculy have been asking, and have been insulted, accused, and demeaned rather than answered.
Here’s a few more questions: Why did he quietly increase administrator’s salaries a few months ago, and then write the comment in the budget that all administrators will forgo COLA and step due to the budget pinch?
Why does this same budget, have a full paragraph of editorial comment that the district will not, in future, be able to pay for dependents’ health insurance?
Why balance the budget by increasing class sizes?
Why protect classes of less than 20 if they are at one of the "new" sites, online, or evening, yet cut classes of 20 or more at Eureka?
Why did administrators hire many new, untested, and possibly unqualified part time faculty last summer?
Why do we not have a Basic Skills Coordinator, as is recommended by the state to receive the Basic skills funding? If no coordinator, and no program, where is that money going?
Why the massive class cuts at Mendocino? So that enrollment will decline, more classes can be cut, and finally the campus shut down? Then sell the real estate at a whopping profit to invest in more buildings along the (in)famous "101 corridor?" And of course have a Marsee Auditorium, so he can be as good as or better than his dad.
Why is Marsee really contracting with National and JFK University, and other "for-profit" online colleges (remarkably like Katharine Gibbs)that earn their high profts primarily in high interest private financial aid loans, based on the so-called "high-fee high-aid" model promoted by Shwarzenegger and the Red Hot Republicans. What college constituents did he consult before signing those contracts? He’s promising them a ready pipeline of our two year transfers, and they are paying him how much? with what strings attached?
This article is just the tip of the iceberg. We should all be asking these, and many more, questions.
Last questions: Who will get fired first when Marsee comes back to town? Who will he blame?
We must demand that Marsee and the Board be held accountable for all of this. Marsee can no longer blame anyone (or fire anyone) for his own incompetent and unethical actions. Entire CR community: are you prepared to stand in unity with one another, and to defend each and every one of us from Marsee and the Board? I am prepared to do so.
Forgot a few: WHY did Marsee contract with the tribe to offer the same services that the college had been offering at the Klamath campus, then fire the college employees who had been offering those services to students; which the tribe then hired the same employees to offer the same services?
Why is he pressing for a classifed staff council (or senate) with such force that he would publicly reject, at a Board meeting, the report from the staff union? Even tho the union has given the report to the Board for years?
WHY would he, and Trustee Truett, each provide public rebuttal statements to the faculty senate report? Why do they repeatedly discount the authority of the senate report? The senate is reporting to the Board what the faculty think about issues. Why this urge to discredit faculty ideas?
Outsider looking in Pt.2:
An example of Pres. Marsee’s authoritarian tactics that you may or may not agree with: the so-called ‘Summer Surprise’ that was referred to in an earlier post was the change from BlackBoard to the Sakai system. It was done with little or no input from anyone concerned, and unilaterally, just before the Fall semester started.
Instructors and students had to ramp up to a brand new system with no lead time – it was a real problem.
Many changes need to be discussed with faculty and staff before they are implemented – Pres. Marsee regularly uses the tactic of implementing changes without collegial input and then cites interpretive differences of legal and contractual obligations. This forces the faculty or staff to appeal the decisions – a lengthy process. Meanwhile, his implementation becomes de facto, the new interpretation.
Given some of his recent statements and moves, I have some predictions:
watch for a move back toward a quarter system with no extra pay for the instructors.
Watch for instructors who are hired to teach only basic skills. They would be a scheduling nightmare for the departments.(in fact, this one is dangerously close: the wording on a recent call for submission brochure for a Mathematics Instructor calls for A Basic Skills instructor – implying that this should be the narrow extent of the applicant’s workload.)
Watch for him to try implementing ‘legacy’ type projects: big ticket projects he can point to in future employment placements as huge accomplishments. (regardless of the economic and academic quagmire he leaves behind surrounding them.)
Just my predictions….we’ll see….
Oh, and has anyone asked about the whereabouts of the artwork by a certain legendary Ferndale resident?(or failing that, the $20,000 to purchase it?)
I predict that Marsee will be long gone (as will all of CR’s money, unfortunately) before he has the chance to implement any pricey "legacy" projects. He is far too intellectually scattered to concentrate on any one project for too long, and all of the lawsuits and illegal behavior will catch up with him very soon. Like in the classic Dr. Seuss tale "Yertle the Turtle," Marsee’s delusional empire is on the verge of collapse.
By the way: I heard that the sculpture he pressured our students into buying with their own money is now sitting in storage.
Seems like you guys should start your own CR blog and stop filling up the NCJ space. Sounds a lot like the same 3 or 4 people talking to each other and a lot of preaching to the choir . Do you think many other people are reading this on a daily basis? Just email each other, it would be quicker.
Nonsense. NCJ space is infinite, and anyone who can stay on-topic is welcome to it.
Thanks, Hank, and for those of us interested in the discussion, this is one of the few forums where we can safely air our views without threat of harassment from the big boss. BTW, the survey results were posted back to the website:
http://redwoods.edu/Accreditation/CESS.asp
Does this guy know that when you YANK an Article that has been linked through social networking, it brings attention to that article and the reason why it was YANKED. The median Household income in Eureka is 23,000. dollars why does his income have to be 10 Times better than the Median Family, I think he is taking his past frustrations(Ventura)out on our County and we are going to pay when he is gone. Plus how can he claim that he is the reason for 13% increase enrollment when it is the Unemployment office that is sending them to retrain for benefits in this depressed economy, the unemployment office is doing this to lower their numbers through gov. Funded programs.
This Guy is BAD NEWS and it is going to have a Butterfly Effect, mark my words. Critical thinking requires, thinking passed your nose.
Dear Hank: we are very grateful that the NCJ has given us a forum to speak out about the extreme problems CR is having with Dr. Marsee, and I’m glad to see that journalists are apparently still listening to us. The Board has been ignoring us for a year and a half, and we don’t know at this point whether they will finally help us now. Someone needs to continue to investigate all of these violations of ethical governance and the public trust. We can only hope that CR can be rescued before a vindictive Marsee comes back from Russia, ready and willing to intimidate and/or fire those people who have honestly spoken out, or those he perceives to be critical of his autocratic and unethical management style. He regularly uses, for example, the intimidation tactic of threatening lay-offs in order to balance a budget that he himself managed to ruin. Please keep monitoring this story closely. We still need the public’s attentiveness and help.
http://www.redwoodtimes.com/ci_14081162?source=most_viewed
On doing reaserch on the all so familiar good old boy network in action I saw these articles in RT. Question how much money did the realtor make/ 6 percent on 200 grand? Where is the million dollars going to come from to repair building? Is the building asbestos free? Could they not bought a bus instead.
On another topic the CR swimming pool. Cant they get a rubber liner from Dam guy in Carlotta? Seems like in the ground pools in earthquake country would need some liner.If the public is paying for the bonds the pool should be fixed. On the bonds did Trustee Emad handle them? Has the DA see any of this?
This online stuff reminds me of Niel Bush and his Insight lower schools software products.
I pray that someone hears us. Emad and Truette are in co-hoots and at the helm w/Marsee. No response is affirmation of status quo.
"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.”
Abraham Lincoln quotes (American 16th US President (1861-65), who brought about the emancipation of the slaves. 1809-1865)
"Oppression can only survive through silence."
Carmen de Monteflores
"Silence gives consent."
Pope Boniface VIII
IF you have been harassed, silenced, insulted, demeaned, belittled, denigrated, slimed, by "DR" Jeff Marsee, now is the time to come forward and file your complaints with EEO. "If you believe that you have been discriminated against at work because of your race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information, you can file a Charge of Discrimination. All of the laws enforced by EEOC, except for the Equal Pay Act, require you to file a Charge of Discrimination with us before you can file a job discrimination lawsuit against your employer. In addition, an individual, organization, or agency may file a charge on behalf of another person in order to protect the aggrieved person’s identity. There are time limits for filing a charge." IF you have direct observation of information of an improper act by a government official, including "DR" Jeff Marsee, "The California Whistleblower Protection Act authorizes the California State Auditor to receive complaints from state employees and members of the public who wish to report an improper governmental activity. An "improper governmental activity" is defined as any action that violates the law, is economically wasteful, or involves gross misconduct, incompetency, or inefficiency. The complaints received by the State Auditor shall remain confidential, and the identity of the complainant may not be revealed without the permission of the complainant, except to an appropriate law enforcement agency conducting a criminal investigation."
This is the SECOND time you’ve let CR down and taken the side of a self-serving, fiscally irresponsible carpetbagger over the needs of the entire college and community. You staunchly defended Crabill too, and we all know what she did to CR’s accreditation and financial stability. Next year, I predict that the voters are going to remember your long-standing dereliction of duty as a board member.
There is something seriously wrong going on at CR. Is there no public agency, other than ACCJC or the Chancellor’s office that can look into the alarming illegal activities being reported from this highly disfunctional college? Is this debacle not enough concern for our community members to demand an investigation into the allegations against Emad, Truett, Marsee, et al?
Well now the president is back on campus, wandering around and issuing seemingly contrite emails that on closer examination are models of disingenuousness. Words are all well and good, but it is by his deeds that we will know him. What will happen with the BUDGET? Will we have a "cash flow" problem, as they did at Ventura when Marsee was CFO and the college had to borrow from the county to make payroll? Will he hire one of his old buddies as a "consultant" to pretty up the books? Will he continue to ignore, delay, obfuscate on upcoming accreditation responsibilites? Work on that project should have started last Fall, yet nothing has been organized, and now faculty are expected to work thru the summer to make up for it. What about the lawsuits, up to 12 at last count, that have been authorized as legitimate and are now moving towards a hearing? What about those illegal "no bid" contracts? What about the students who were so unhappy with "student life" autocratic behavior that they quit student government? When will we see the full analysis of the Noel-Levitz survey, that supposedly justified pulling the "raw" data? Why is Marsee changing our commencement ceremony, trying to remove the faculty of the year award and speech? Why bother to have a committee if Marsee is just going to step in and say, "No, don’t do it that way, do it MY WAY."
Marsee will go down in CR’s history as the "Great Unifier": he has single-handedly unified the entire staff, faculty, and students in their total opposition to him.
A comment regarding the Measure Q issues. The amendments to the California Constitution Article XIII A are very restrictive regarding expenditures for capital spending. The bond money must be restricted to:
Construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of SCHOOL FACILITIES.
Furnishing and equipping of SCHOOL FACILITIES.
Purchase or leasing of real property for SCHOOL FACILITIES.
And it says that the bond monies shall be spent for the above-listed purposes, AND FOR NO OTHER PURPOSE including administrator and teacher salaries or other operating costs.
If a District spends money on something not directly related to these constitutionally list purposes, it is an unconstitutional expenditure of funds. School district officials have taken to writing VERY LOOSELY described project lists. The taxpayers can attack loosely written items on the project list by claiming that those items on the project list that are not “a list of specific projects” as required by the California Constitution, are unlawful items on the project list for failure to SPECIFY a project.
Thus, Marsee may be able to find a lawyer who says that “improvements to college buildings” is compliant with the Constitutional requirement of specificity. But a taxpayer can file a lawsuit challenging this. A citizen or group of citizens can file a complaint with the Civil Grand Jury to ask for review of this claim and prosecution for malfeasance in office. Or, a citizen or group of citizens could work to get the State Controller’s Office to conduct a special audit of the Bond program.
For the last item, Google “San Joaquin Delta” and “State Controller’s Office” and “project list”. You will see how the Grand Jury and State Controller can put an end to Marsee’s expansion beyond the meaning of the words in the Measure Q project list.
From: Marsee, Jeff
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 4:20 PM
To: All
Subject: Special Board Meeting on Friday, May 21 at 9:00 a.m.
This is a reminder that there will be a Special Board Meeting this Friday, May 21 at 9:00 a.m. in the Board Room.Dial-In information and Web streaming information can be found at the end of this email.
Dear Colleagues,
During the presentation of the draft (first reading) tentative budget to the Board of Trustees last Friday, May 7th, it was requested that alternative “worst” case budget scenarios be identified so that CR can be prepared should the projected (2010-11) revenue not be correct. As you may know, CR will not know what the final state appropriation will be until late August or September. Given the emerging bad financial news from the state, this planning strategy makes very good sense. Therefore, while hoping that our current draft budget will be accurate, two additional budget scenarios were requested by the Trustees, including:
• a zero state appropriation increase ($599,000 revenue reduction); and
• the elimination of the retiree benefit Fund 79 budget deficit ($515,305 increase in expense/transfer).
With the addition of several expenses, it is anticipated that we may have as much as $1.2 million in budget cuts should the state defund our district’s allocation next year. Again, this is an anticipated worst case scenario, not a reality as of this date.
Therefore, before reviewing the three budget scenarios at the June 1, 2010 board meeting, a Special Board of Trustee meeting has been scheduled for Friday, May 21, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. at the Eureka campus Board room. The purpose of the meeting will be to provide for the employees and public an opportunity to share with the Trustees possible alternatives for allocating revenue/expenditures in the proposed tentative budget and for providing suggestions for reducing the budget up to $1.2 million, if necessary. To facilitate discussion, staff will prepare a number of options with quantifiable expenses for each action item. I understand that the Trustees are willing to look at all options including, but not limited to: benefits (employee and dependents), step/salary increases, reduction in classes, reduced operating hours and days, and any other ideas that you may have that would help keep the budget balanced should the state’s funding result in dramatic reductions.
Again, while not wanting to panic anyone, it is believed that thoughtful and early planning can help avoid bad decisions later. The May 21st meeting is intended to bring the college community together to discuss the current financial situation and to provide input and suggestions as to how the district should respond to a worst case budget situation before a potential crisis occurs. This is your opportunity to participate and thus take part in the development of possible responses to a potentially bad state financial situation.
I hope you will take the time and make the arrangements to participate. I have asked all managers to provide release time for their staff to participate. There will be additional information and materials sent to all employees next week as staff complete the necessary financial schedules.
I am looking forward to hearing your ideas on May 21st.
PARTICIPANT CALL-IN DETAILS