CSM ACCREDITATION SURVEY—Faculty and Administration
Fall 2005
Verbatim Responses to Open-Ended Question: “Please share any other
comments you would like to make….”

The college should do more to promote online coursework
opportunities for students.

I find the CSM mission statement so vague that a number of the
above questions are hard to answer in a meaningful way. I also find
that the various elements of the college carefully avoid defining good
or poor teaching, so questions about quality of teaching are also
hard to answer in a meaningful way.

The college environment is SO dedicated to political correctness that
"controversial" comments would only be from the
Republican/conservative right. There is so much stress on "cultural
diversity" that the amazing "diversity" among individuals gets lost in
the shuffle. "Rights" are stressed, whereas there is little stress on
responsibility. SLO's assume that professors can guarantee student
success, without taking into account student preparation for
academic work, student commitment to their own success, etc. It is
the students, after all, who are ultimately responsible for their own
learning.

I would like CSM administration to be more open-minded when new
ideas are proposed and not so resistant to change and innovation.
Although we provide some excellent programs and services, we
need to consider more of a diversity of methods for teaching our
students and the community. I also think that faculty needs to take
refresher courses in adult learning theory and practice. Having a
master's degree doesn't ensure that someone is a good instructor.
Considering that faculty's principal assignment is to teach, very little
emphasis is placed on improving teaching skills.

For more than five years, my religious needs have been marginalized.
I must work on the what is for me, the Sabbath. For more than 5
years, I have been seeking reasonable accommodation in support of
my religious preferences - practically, to work a Monday shift rather
than a Saturday shift.

The support staff in the computer science lab (Building 19) is
excellent. They anticipate the needs of the faculty and respond
quickly and correctly. In particular, XXXX is an outstanding employee.

Some facilities such as the athletic trainers room is not equally
available to men and women- women have to enter the men's locker
room to get to the athletic training room. There is a disparity in how
male and female student athletes are treated.

"Faculty have adequate opportunity to participate in the development
of financial plans and budgets", yes, but they do not have the final
say, so what's the point of participating -- that seems to me to be the
problem of shared governance --- it's shared, but the administration
can always override the "shared" decision, so is it REALLY shared
governance. That also applies to #12. For #6, "Faculty have a
substantive and clearly defined role in institutional governance", I
had to disagree -- maybe these should be two separate questions. I
think the role is substantive but not clearly defined because it is
"shared" in what way, as a subordinate shares the responsibility with
the authority, perhaps? It doesn't seem clearly defined to me what
the faculty role is, particularly when the budget comes to a crunch. I
don't think faculty overall trust administration -- that's my impression.
#24 -- Yes, we offer courses, but not always enough sections,
especially of the courses everybody needs to take. Check the
waitlists at the beginning of each semester.

2 Mission statement - planning and decisions are linked to it, but I'm
not sure that they spring from it. 15-16 Administration/faculty
relations - varies with individuals. Some administrators are very
accessible and seek out faculty when making decisions; others seem
unclear on the concept of shared governance and confuse reporting
their decisions with collaborating in making them. 17 - Facilities Small things can be problems. During the first week classrooms with
the new whiteboards had erasers and rags provided for cleaning, but
several times in recent weeks I've been in such classrooms with
nothing to clean the boards. Also, my 8 am classroom is locked as
often as it is unlocked when I arrive. This is irritating, though on the
positive side it motivates me to arrive early. I leave comments on the
classroom furniture brouhaha to others. 23 - Community articulation.
CSM has good people who actively stay on top of community needs.
In my experience, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX come to mind, but I know
there are quite a few others. Some instructional areas (e.g. CIS and
Technology) do so as well. 24 - Course scheduling - We try, but
conflicts occur which may cost students a semester or drive them
elsewhere. Nonrandom interdepartmental consultation mechanisms
would be good. 26 - SLO assessment is a work in progress. The
extent to which it will drive change and improvement, as opposed to
just cataloging and measuring what we currently do, remains to be
seen. 28 - Instructional innovation - this has been a major strength of
CSM for years. If you want to try something new, just do it. 29 Faculty evaluation - It's well-meaning, but it's often treated as pro
forma and an unnecessary nuisance. I rarely learn anything from
classroom observations, either as evaluator or evaluee, though there
have been exceptions. I like getting the student questionnaires after
the end of the semester. Occasionally knowing who said what (from
the handwriting) helps me put responses in perspective. I have found
it useful to set aside some time once or twice a semester to open the
class up for discussion about what they like or don't like or would
change. In general, evaluation isn't the issue - improvement is. 42-44
Library. The library's acquisitions budget has been woefully
inadequate for years, while text and professional books have
become obscenely expensive. I have no solution to that. When the
college can afford to hire noticeable numbers of new faculty, a fulltime librarian would be a wise choice. The library is more than a
study hall and place to check out texts on reserve. It provides a lot of
support for students, especially now that our tutoring services are at
a low ebb. 64, 65 - Diversity in the curriculum - This is a bit of a
mystery. Yes, we have ethnic studies, foreign languages, history and
social sciences, and specialized literature courses - all good. There
is talk of incorporating diversity into courses for which diversity or
ethnic focus is not inherent in the subject, and I don't know what that
might mean (beyond pointing out that not all the players are dead
white guys.) Being willing to incorporate diversity isn't the same as
actually doing so. That may take some pointers. 67-69 - Supportive
campus. In one sense, this is a matter of perception. A few bad
apples, a few incidents, can significantly damage our reputation.
Presumably procedures are in place for dealing with these. Since I
very rarely hear of such things I conclude that our procedures are
either successful or unnecessary. In another sense, our
supportiveness can be measured by the success of our outreach.
For example, why is the number of black students on campus
disproportionately low (or is it? I haven't looked at recent
demographics.) As for "lifestyles," there's no shortage of students
with spiked blue hair and piercings, or with expensive fashionable
outfits, or of students of indeterminate gender clinging to one
another in the hallways. I'm down with that. Also I think we're good
with, for example, re-entry students, concurrently enrolled high
school students, and students with LD and DSPS needs. EOPS does
very important work. I think we're in pretty good shape. Good survey.
Thanks for providing space for comments.

The college, for legitimate reasons, has greatly reduced its number
of fulltime faculty mainly by not rehiring for a position after a faculty
retirement. Correspondingly, the percentage of part-time instructors
has dramatically increased. As such, the non teaching workload
placed on the remaining fulltime faculty has dramatically increased
to the point that they are becoming less effective, much less
enthusiastic, and less innovative. Many simply refuse to carry the
load leaving an even greater burden for the more “energetic” faculty.
I believe this situation is continually getting worse and is close to
affecting the high quality of educational service we offer students
and the community.

The campus hangs posters of the college values all over the place.
But, it does not adhere to them. Example" In Language Arts signs
say there is inclusivity and that everyone is value, yet there are
people who have refuse to speak to others, for years on end, and
nothing is done about -- no one is advised to used the Employee
Assistant Program for their refusal to treat his/her colleagues as
fellow human beings, nor are they reprimanded. Thus, such
intolerable incidents are allowed to continue - indicating to all that
CSM just mouths words - it does not walk its talk.

I have been a part-time instructor for over 7 years at CSM. Our
division has an interim dean this semester. I find communication
with part-timers within the division to have dropped significantly this
semester. I am no longer as happy with CSM as I was with our former
dean.

CSM administration supports, tolerates, and promotes racial
discrimination at all campus levels.

Re: Shared governance: Shared governance, as it is implemented, is
a pain in the ass. While faculty should take the lead in shaping
policies, we end up doing a good share of the administrative work as
well - so either get rid of some of the administration, reduce the
course load of faculty in significant committees and pay them for the
administrative work, or put the whole burden of hiring/firing/tenure
etc. paperwork back on the administrators. 2. Re: Diversity: The CSM
instructor/administration group is quite homogenous. Nor do I think
that different views are *respected.* Tolerated, perhaps (though
given some of the anonymous exchanges on the blackboard in the
faculty workroom, often not tolerated). But not respected. But since
"diversity" applies only to race/gender/ethnicity, as question 66
concedes, then sure, we promote 'diversity.'

I would like to see an evaluation process implemented whereby
faculty could evaluate the administration and staff--including
facilities. In various ways members of the administration and
facilities staff do not seem to feel answerable for the ways in which
they should be supporting the work of the faculty. Both groups can
lose sight of the fact that their reason for being here is to help the
faculty do an effective job of teaching students. Administration can
start to think of itself as management and the faculty as its
employees or staff. This model taken from the corporate world is
totally inappropriate in the academic world. Facilities can be simply
indifferent to the requests of faculty as though not answerable to
faculty whatsoever.

3 comments: 1) the Speech Lab has spotty hours of operation 2) I'd
like to see more training to increase our awareness and ability to
work with different demographic groups of students and with
students who have different learning styles 3) I like the changes in
our facilities. I wish they were maintained better. For instance, no
one cleans the Speech Lab during the semester

I feel our grounds could look better, although I always see the crews
outside maintaining the trees. Our bathrooms are awful. They look
dirty and worn even after cleaning. The bathrooms in Bldg. 5 and 1
are not accessible.

I work the equivalent of full time in two different districts, working
longer and harder for fewer benefits. It is clear that saving money on
the backs of part time instructors harms the instructors, the students
and the institution.

Despite some renovations, the classrooms and bathrooms are still
shabby, and the faculty office buildings are in a sad state of disrepair.
The monitors, VCRs and DVDs are in terrible shape and the delivery
system often fails. One calls to request equipment and is assured it
will arrive. It never does or the equipment doesn't work. This
happens repeatedly.

The District, particularly Facilities but also all other areas, does not
understand shared governance. This has been of particular concern
during the improvement projects at CSM. The decisions that the
district and its consulting companies are making (and have made)
have a direct impact on education. The District needs to be evaluated
regularly by faculty because its actions have a direct effect on
student-centered education and our ability to meet our college goals!

Student Services' policies, procedures and especially practices with
respect to supporting faculty efforts to combat plagiarism, cheating
and other forms of intellectual dishonesty are inadequate.

Overall my experience at this institution has been very positive. As
adjunct faculty there are certain things that I am unaware of simply
because of the time of day I work and number of hours. However, I
do feel that CSM tries very hard to keep all faculty abreast of policy
change, events, workshops etc on campus through email.
Furthermore, this campus is very sensitive to cultural and ethnic
diversity and the services offered to the students are solid and very
accessible. This institution definitely strives to support the needs of
its student body. Finally, the campus is safe and beautiful. I do enjoy
walking around campus when I have a bit of a break between classes.

I think the most demoralizing and obsolete entity on campus is our
union. They abuse release time and take our money for activities that
not all of us believe in or support.

As a first-year, full-time faculty member, I do not have enough
information/experience to evaluate some of the above questions.

The administration supports the worse teachers at the expense of
the most committed ones. The administration has a long ways to go
before they can claim equal support of men and women, and
different cultures and races on campus.

There is no good, clear line of communication about budget and
finance as it relates to the college and its faculty, staff and students.
Most of the information we receive comes from the AFT, which tends
to be biased, or from the San Matean, which tends to be incoherent,
and no real information is forthcoming from either District or College
administrations. The college budget committee could be a source
but it appears neither to represent college faculty and staff or to
provide any kind of information to these constituencies. We are
operating in an "financial information vacuum," which is particularly
ironic given the state of our technology and the ready availability of
the Internet/Intranet/Extranet here. The mystery surrounding the
"basic aid status" of the District is a good example. Much of the
information on this was rumor or innuendo until an AFT Advocate
informed us about an ill-chosen attempt by District to reduce
enrollments to fall into basic aid status which had failed. Many of us
would have advised the administration that this was a dangerous
gamble to eliminate this inequity in state funding for a few K-14
districts. I am embarrassed for us and our institution when I hear
these kind of stories.

Shared governance is a good idea, but faculty should be given some
released time to cover the work load.

I feel that CSM does a good job in keep the status quo going, where
it fails is in keeping up with other learning institutions. Rigor is often
compensated with traditional approaches which keep us off pace
with our educational competitors. My concern is that the current
form of governing will limit the decision making process to avoid
making the hard decisions. More effort is necessary in making CSM a
distinctive institution that is able to differentiate itself in the world of
education. This is the long term key to making CSM economically
viable and grow. We must seek out new areas for different student
needs more attractive funding resources. The traditional track we are
heading down seems to yield only less of the same old thing. I have
a deep compassion for CSM, and I am concerned that the people
steering the ship are using a map that is printed in the 1950's. The
world is different out there and we must incorporate its change into
how and what we teach. Online classes that are uniquely crafted into
a strong career path should be aggressively pursued. I have been
told by many that CSM and the community colleges are the last
resort for students; therefore, we should not push the envelope. I
strongly disagree with this and feel that our students can be made
into a wide variety of successful contributors. The weakness see is
that CSM is leery of comments from the outside and force
unrelenting discussions whether what is being presented is real. As
a part time instructor, I have to seek employment at other institutions.
I see a marked difference in the way that CSM is managed. It is
behind in rigor and control of what is taught in the classroom. To me
the management is too loose and little is reviewed by the
administration from the classroom stand point. To raise standards
and performance a more aggressive approach is needed in setting
the course of studies. In some areas this is being done and with
great results, but it is at the initiative of the instructors. The type of
governing policies work against leadership efforts, and result in a
slow process of consensus which is behind the curve. We need to
make CSM more marketable in the educational learning process. If
not, it may not exist in the future.

I am happy with my employment at csm and feel that the Staff is
doing the very best they can to make this institution one of the best
for both our faculty and staff.

If question #69 is intended to refer to "sexual orientation," the survey
should use that term. Sexual orientation IS NOT a lifestyle; "lifestyle"
sounds like a kind of secret code for those who are uncomfortable
with the term "sexual orientation."

I highly value CSM's collegial approach to educating and serving
students.

Where I work, there is no support, encouragement or respect for me
as an employee. My supervisor speaks with me only when there is
something negative to say. Within the context of the SMCCCD, my
personal and professional needs go thoroughly unmet. I am in a
shocked state of disbelief from my situation. In 2000, my District
work was cut by some 70%. I have been programmed out of one
campus and completely kept out of another one. As a longtime
adjunct faculty member, I have not received equal opportunities. In
the last several years, there have been NO opportunities. I love
teaching and working with students; however, find the college
workplace to be an intensely hostile environment where I am
marginalized both, as a person and a professional.

ITS makes decisions (about grading forms and other record-keeping
materials) without consulting with faculty about what works best for
them and is always pushing technology. This has the effect of
actually increasing faculty workload as it decreases their own. This
issue is also evident in the Admissions and Records office, which
ignored faculty concerns about the issue cited above and was
unresponsive and arrogant about it. The Dean was essentially
censured for this behavior by a unanimous resolution passed by
Academic Senate's governing council. Neither ITS nor Admissions
and Records seems to understand the concept of shared governance
and ignore faculty who are stuck with their decisions. In terms of the
District, it is clear that there is money for an unnecessary (and
ridiculously expensive because of all its bells and whistles) new
phone system. Most of us turned off all the features because we
didn't need them. There is also what seems to be tons of money
available to faculty for new computers--laptops galore! Even to
faculty who have relatively new computers and have not submitted
requests for new ones. But there seems to be no money (or very little)
for full-time staff: each year we go begging for the very few positions
we get. My department has at least twice as many part-time staff as
full-time staff. We'd also like more literature classes--but there never
seems to be money for that either. Our priorities about budget seem
skewed.

By lumping things together (Question 21 for example) I'm unable to
express that the tenure review process is not timely but it is fair.
Question 53: On the whole, I think counseling does a poor job but I'm
unable to express that without dragging down the other programs.

Although promoted by administration at CSM, diversity as a
teachable subject to integrated(where possible) into courses across
the disciplines is still not very important to the majority of faculty
members at this time.

Of course we are making the best possible effort to run our schools
in spite of limited(or no) funding. The new facilities and equipment
are long overdue. Still, we can definitely improve efficiency and
communication using what we have. Among a number of problems:
Administration has not been straightforward about budget, salary,
and policies over the last few years-redirecting equity funding, laying
off at least 20% of faculty(part-timers) and not acknowledging it,
misrepresenting revenue to the union, increasing some class sizes
over negotiated limits, telling students to ask the profs to provide
extra services for which the prof is never compensated(tutoring and
makeup work, helping ill-prepared high school students, e.g.), not
inviting faculty into new facilities and IS planning until they
complained, assigning classes to inappropriate rooms(such as ESL
to laboratories, and 60-student classes to room with only 53 seats),
covering for a student committing assault and battery during a
class(not acceptable), inter alia. This has only fostered mistrust and
disgruntlement. We have far too many adjunct faculty and no reliable
method to disseminate important information to them-including
emergency response procedures. Few know about the online portal
for feedback and facilities requests. Adjuncts need compensation for
training, information, and division meetings; otherwise these are too
costly(time, travel) to attend. Hiring a full-time Security head
improved these services, but that department remains woefully
understaffed to handle safety and parking on our sizeable campus.
We suffer too much open drug use, theft, fraudulent postings,
parking lot altercations, and gang vandalism. I am not the only
person witnessing some of this; my students regularly complain.
Also, in every classroom, we need to post a map(with a highlighted
route) and a bullet-list of simple instructions for exiting/staying in
buildings during fires and emergencies. Suggestion: Regularly
survey the faculty-at-large for problems and improvement ideas, not
just Academic Senate and the union offices.