At the start of this semester, Michael Chavez, former dean of educational support services at St. Philip’s College, was moved to the college’s Southwest Campus to serve as director of counseling.
In a Sept. 15 phone interview, Chavez said he learned of the move in an Aug. 21 meeting with President Adena Loston; Ruth Dalrymple, vice president of academic affairs; and Ed Contrares of employee services.
“The move was not voluntary,” Chavez said.
“One minute I’m at St. Philip’s, the next thing you know, I’m at Southwest Campus trying to figure out what the hell happened.”
Chavez said Loston indicated the move was a result of leadership.
“She mentioned some staff members were upset due to a lack of communication,” he said.
“I take a bottom-up approach,” Chavez said. “I asked them (staff) what they wanted, and I responded based on their input.”
Chavez said he believes the only communication issue was about his attempt to streamline disability support services at the college.
“At St. Philip’s, DSS is fragmented. I wanted to combine the services and make it similar to DSS at SAC,” he said.
Chavez said he sent out a memo on the subject twice, and it was approved both times; however, Loston kept telling him to delay so he was never able to implement the change.
He said he provided effective leadership in his role as dean and scored well on all aspects of his last evaluation, which he provided to The Ranger.
Chavez’s last evaluation, conducted by Dalrymple, was for rating period August 2008-May 2009.
Section A rates performance goals and standards.
One of Chavez’s listed accomplishments reads, “Provided leadership in the development of consolidating disability support services under one department.”
In the 10 items listed under Section B, Performance Standards/Expectations, Chavez scored a six on a scale of 10 is outstanding and one is unsatisfactory.
Section C rates his overall performance as a 6.
Chavez said he did bring up his evaluation and some of his accomplishments to Loston.
When pressed about the reason for the move, Chavez said, “She (Loston) just kind of shrugged her shoulders.
“It’s just evident that she will get rid of people for whatever reason,” he said. “I don’t know what the repercussions will be, but I need to tell my side of the story.”
Chavez said he is not clear on what his new job duties are.
“I have no staff. I don’t know who I’m supposed to be directing. I don’t have a budget,” he said.
Chavez said his contract ends August 2010, and he was told at the meeting, it would not be renewed.
In response to whether he would seek employment within the district, Chavez said he was looking at other places.
Chavez said he went to work in higher education, and particularly at a community college, because he is a product of a community college.
“I’m giving back,” he said. “That’s my primary goal.”
Chavez said he understands the student population. “All of my work was benefitting the students.”
Attempts to reach Loston for comment were unsuccessful; however, Matari Jones-Gunter, director of community and public relations for St Philip’s, spoke with The Ranger Sept. 16.
Jones said St. Philip’s has two campuses and Chavez is an administrator of student services for the college.
She said Chavez was moved to the Southwest Campus because that is “where we needed him to go.”
C.L. Leonard retired as the director of counseling in 2007. Jones-Gunter said the position had been vacant because they were trying to find the right person for the job.
In response to whether Chavez’s move was performance-based, Jones-Gunter said the Southwest Campus has student and counseling services, and he was needed there.
In response to Chavez’s statement that his contract would not be renewed, she said she does not comment on personnel issues.
In response to a question about Chavez’s specific job description, Jones-Gunter said a general description could be obtained from the college’s Web site by entering the title.
Chavez reports to Karen Sides, interim dean of disciplinary programs. Messages left on her voicemail were not returned.
Formerly the director of student support services, Ruben Izaguirre is now the interim dean of educational support services. Two messages left on his voicemail have not been returned.
An attempt to reach individual staff members in the counseling and student development department for comment on Chavez’s job performance was unsuccessful.
All but two telephone numbers were routed to a phone answered by Irma Reyes-Zuniga. She said she would leave messages for all of the individuals, but no staff member responded.
A message left for counseling Chair Pearl Conyers on her voicemail was not returned, but in a second attempt, Conyers said, “I have no comment. I am very busy. I have no time for this.”
Messages were left for individual staff members in the education and educational support services while they were in a meeting, but no one responded.
