EVERETT – As fall classes began this week, Everett Community College President Charlie Earl still feels the sting of last spring.
His leadership and personnel decisions, particularly the reassignment of the college’s vice president of instruction, was criticized and some faculty called for him to resign.
Three months after a censure vote, a message of discontent that carries no consequences, Earl, 56, is upbeat and vows to make changes.
“I’ve given a lot of thought to the recent criticism of my performance and the needs of the campus,” Earl wrote in a July 30 memo to college employees, pledging to be more accessible and visible, improve his communication and involve staff more in decisions of college-wide significance.
Many faculty members – supporters and critics – say the campus community will be watching.
“I think people are waiting and seeing,” said Al Friedman, dean of science, math and occupations. “I think Charlie has done a good job of letting people know he has taken a lot of the criticism to heart and is going to do something about it.”
“Charlie seems to have made some changes in terms of communicating with us better,” said Mike VanQuickenborne, a philosophy instructor and president of the American Federation of Teachers chapter representing college instructors.
Even so, VanQuickenborne said, “I think people will be looking at him more closely.”
The scrutiny will start early with the decision to hire a new vice president of instruction.
It was Earl’s decision last May to reassign Stu Barger from that post that triggered a censure vote by about 30 percent of the college faculty.
The reassignment caught them by surprise and touched off a series of department meetings, including a call for Earl’s resignation by math, science and occupations instructors and a no-confidence vote by communications and social science staff.
Barger and Earl spent more than a year trying to work things out, but their differences in working styles couldn’t be resolved.
Besides Barger’s reassignment, instructors criticized a reorganiz-ation that cost former vice president of college relations Pat McClain and foundation director Chuck Morrison their jobs, and the hiring of an associate dean of diversity and vice president of technology without a search.
Those reorganizations took place partly in an effort to try a different approach to raise money for the college.
Many faculty say the hiring of Barger’s replacement could be Earl’s most important decision this year.
“As much as the position is important, I think the process this time around is equally important,” said John Olson, a speech instructor and former dean. “I’m personally pretty confident with what Charlie has outlined and what he said he is going to do, he will do.”
The turmoil last June, the first since Earl became president in 1999, prompted renewed interest among some instructors to form a faculty senate.
“I think what happened in the spring showed us that the faculty would like to have a more formalized way of getting together across departments and divisions … to discuss issues of interest,” said Jeanie Goodhope, EvCC media librarian.
“There hasn’t been an avenue to get the voice of the faculty as a whole,” she said.
The college’s Board of Trustees has been solidly in Earl’s corner, passing a resolution in June fully supporting him.
Earl’s backers point to several accomplishments since he took over as president:
* The college has a reserve account of $2.5 million, about 8 percent of its annual budget. When he took over, the reserve was about $1 million.
* EvCC will soon begin construction of a $7.3 million arts and science building. It also has received money to begin planning for a $29.7 million undergraduate education center while leasing eight classrooms at its new Broadway Center.
* College enrollment has grown in the past five years, while performance indicators, such as surveys and scores on professional exams, show the college has maintained quality instruction.
* EvCC doubled its nursing program enrollment over the last two years and has experienced rapid growth in a medical assistant program.
* The college has experienced growth to about 300 students at a satellite campus in east Snohomish County through an agreement with the Monroe School District. A similar partnership has been formed with the Arlington School District.
Earl said the college needs to decide its role in increasing bachelor degree opportunities in the state. Statewide, options include more partnerships between universities and community colleges, a new university and the possibility of community colleges offering four-year degrees.
“We can, and should, influence the solution locally for the best of our students, as well as all citizens,” he said.
Earl is developing a long-term plan on how the college can better help students get a four-year degree. In the past he has supported establishing a four-year college in the county and built partnerships with existing universities.
Internally, other challenges exist, including the changing needs of students. As grant money dries up for laid-off aerospace workers for retraining, record numbers of high school seniors will graduate in the next few years.
Some faculty were alarmed last year when EvCC trustees passed a resolution detailing goals for the kind of programs the college wants to emphasize. The document stressed the importance of two-year degrees, causing some staff to worry that nondegree certificate programs would be lost.
Earl insists that isn’t the intent and said the resolution will be revisited this year with faculty encouraged to offer ideas.
“It isn’t a wholesale shifting from the complex comprehensive mission the college undertakes,” he said. “It’s more a striving for providing as much education as we can.”
Barger, whose reassignment led to the faculty protests, hopes for a smooth beginning for EvCC. He will serve as executive assistant to Earl when a new vice president for instruction is hired.
Barger said he sees Earl making a conscientious effort to be more visible on campus and meeting more frequently with administrators and staff.
“He knows he needs to spend the time to build the relationships again,” Barger said.
Last week, Earl made the rounds, visiting different academic divisions.
“I have felt that I have been listened to, and I have received some good feedback,” he said. “Some of it positive, some of it things we still need to work on. Yeah, there is communication happening, and I am excited about it.”
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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