Facing a possible no-confidence vote by the end of next week; big issue focuses on challenge to faculty authority
Chancellor Maria Harper-Marinick
The Arizona Republic, in an article by Anney Ryman published April 11, reports that the Maricopa Community Colleges Faculty Association is asking representatives at all 10 colleges to cast a “no-confidence” vote in the leadership of Chancellor Maria Harper-Marinick. The faculty leadership claims that the chancellor has failed to provide effective vision and oversight and accuses her of being “complicit” in governing board actions last year to limit faculty authority. The leadership also claims that she failed to demonstrate leadership at “pivotal moments.”
The main issue appears to involve the authority of faculty to meet and confer about pay and benefits. The Maricopa Governing Board in February 2018 voted to end a long-standing process used to negotiate faculty pay and benefits called “meet and confer.” However, that decision was reversed when three new governing board members took office in January.
The Maricopa Colleges faculty association points to a report critical of the college district by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) that was released in March. The AAUP said it found evidence, obtained through public-records requests, that strongly suggested the Governing Board’s motivation for ending meet and confer was “union busting,” or mischaracterizing the faculty association as a collective-bargaining group and then attempting to destroy it.
The report was also critical of the chancellor, saying Harper-Marinick chose not to provide an opinion on the February board resolution that ended meet and confer. A AAUP committee that wrote the report said, “in the view of this committee, that decision was a profound dereliction of her duty.”
You may read the entire article by Anney Ryman in the Arizona Republic by clicking here.