The MCCC Faculty Association will request that the renewal of the college president’s contract be postponed tonight at the Board of Trustees meeting.
It is on the agenda that the contract of Dr. David Nixon will be renewed for a three-year extension, although his current contract does not end until next summer.
The Faculty Association decided in a meeting Tuesday that it will seek a delay in the renewal until the final HLC report is released – expected as soon as the end of the year, barring any appeal from the college on the content.
The Higher Learning Commission sent a team to MCCC earlier this year to evaluate the college’s accreditation. Its preliminary report recommended that the college be reaccredited, but also cited a list of problems and suggested a follow-up visit in three years to check on progress.
“It’s important to have all of the information before making such an important decision. The president of the college is an important position,” Professor Tim Dillon said.
“There are a lot of things that have not been looked at as close as they should be.”
The faculty group cited a lack of communication within the workings of the administration-staff relationship – an issue that also was cited by the HLC team.
“I realize that the buck has to stop somewhere, and the decisions have to be made somewhere higher up, but there has to be feedback. What there should be is this idea of shared governance,” said Mark Bergmooser, president of the Faculty Association.
Bergmooser cites specific instances where the administration dropped the ball in receiving substantial faculty feedback, including the establishment of the Middle College and the Learning Bank, as well as the conversion to contact hours.
In a meeting with faculty about the Middle College, Nixon told faculty that he would get back with them before any decisions were made, but failed to do so before the Middle College was instituted, Bergmooser said.
“We need to understand that higher education is different than a business as we all have stakes in it, from the janitor cleaning the toilets, to the professor teaching math, to the secretaries who make sure that we have copies, to the president of the college,” Bergmooser said.
“We all have roles and responsibilities.”
Bergmooser said the problems are not new, and have lasted throughout Nixon’s time as president.
Nixon could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
