By Betty Abate
Multiple professors have expressed frustrations in communicating concerns with the FRCC administration. They've said that the administration has made it difficult to get answers to their apprehension about the one-college move.
By the fall of 2023, Front Range Community College will have executed an administrative restructuring of the college. The changes on the agenda include centralizing the three colleges by having one Dean per department college wide.
This is only the beginning.
Mike Smith, an instructor in the Larimer science department, said that the new president, Dr. Colleen Simpson, and vice presidents set up meetings with the faculty – but said they’ve turned out pointless for addressing concerns.
“The meetings consist of the administration giving us pre-scripted questions and not allowing us to ask our own questions,” Smith states.
The meeting, which was held on Oct. 14 called “Listen & Learn with Dr. Colleen Simpson”, was created with the purpose that faculty would listen to the administration on what they believe could better serve FRCC in the future.
According to a source who was at the meeting, Dr. Simpson’s assistant read the pre-scripted questions to the administration.
Following up, faculty held their own Q&A meeting on Oct. 31 to ask Dr. Simpson their own questions.
When asked by a faculty member, “What are the barriers we have that you’re hoping to break down first?” Dr. Simpson said, “Our business process, removing the duplication for admin efficiency.”
She explained that all three campuses have different processes, and this could harm efficiency for student prosperity.
Smith said that the process overall may do more harm than good. The new deans and vice presidents may have to drive back and forth between three cities and schedule countless zoom meetings.
A professor, who would asked to be unnamed, stated that the reorganization could only benefit the chair members and would be harsh on faculty.
“This is my 6th dean in the 10 years I’ve been at FRCC,” she continued on with saying that the process has been very frustrating, and that part-time instructors are dis-included from the conversations.
The professor also stated that the only promises made by the administration were that employers would retain their positions for the rest of the fiscal year.
She said that this created tension for faculty and many instructors and leaders were upset with the unwillingness of chair members to provide answers to their questions.
One question that Mike Smith wants answered is, “What problem is being addressed by doing this (restructure)?”
As the reorganization is underway, many changes will be implemented alongside having one dean and multiple college wide vice presidents per department.
In an email shared with The Reporter, faculty members and part-time instructors have been feeling uneasy about the process, hoping that their questions can be answered.
“The idea of a reorganization is not an inherently bad idea, but the thing is, faculty has been almost completely excluded from any decision making,” Smith said, stating that staff has pointed out problems but feel ignored by the cabinet members.
The reorganization will continue to progress throughout the school year and new developments will unfold.