Faculty Senates Sue Districts Over Hiring Rules
MISSION VIEJO, Calif.
In an unprecedented move, the academic senates of Saddleback and Irvine Valley colleges have voted to sue their district chancellor and trustees over a new districtwide hiring policy that gives more power to administrators at the expense of faculty.
Faculty within the South Orange County Community College District were particularly unhappy with new rules allowing the district’s human-resources director to change the scores awarded by committee members if she deems them too far off the norm. The rules also will allow the human resources director to unilaterally change interview questions, according to Irvine Valley instructor and attorney Wendy Gabriella, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the academic senates.
