Pima Community College’s accreditor says there’s not enough evidence to warrant further review of two complaints some faculty members filed against the college last month.
In early October, PCC’s Faculty Senate voted to endorse a complaint the All Employee Representative Council filed with the Higher Learning Commission. The council is composed of employee representatives from all job classifications at the college, and it is charged with advising on employee policy.
The complaint alleged that administration did not properly consult the council in a recent decision to change employee pay structures. PCC’s governing board — which will replace three of its five members in January — approved the change this past summer.
Within two days of the council filing the first complaint, the board of the Pima Community College Education Association, an affiliate of the Arizona Education Association that represents some full-time faculty at the college, filed a second complaint with the HLC.
The second complaint alleged the college’s administration sowed “fear and hopelessness” through “character attacks, intimidation, and retaliation” of people who criticized the institution. The complaint alleged that faculty who spoke up about restructuring the pay scale or raised questions about the release of an entirely separate HLC report faced backlash, and that the college’s Office of Dispute Resolution was ineffective in handling faculty grievances.
(Separate from these complaints, a previous series of now-settled complaints has already resulted in the HLC asking the college to more clearly define “the roles of the Office of Dispute Resolution and Human Resources and the processes by which employees may register a complaint and receive resolution of the complaint” in its next comprehensive evaluation, which is slated for the 2024-25 academic year.)
After faculty groups filed the two complaints in early October, the HLC told PCC Chancellor Lee Lambert in a letter dated Oct. 17, 2022 that based on its initial review, the two complaints “raise potential concerns regarding the institution’s substantive compliance” with its mandate to establish and follow “policies and processes to ensure fair and ethical behavior on the part of its governing board, administration, faculty and staff.”
The college had one month to supply a response to the HLC, which it did on Nov. 16, 2022. Once the HLC received the college’s response, which included more than 450 pages of supporting documentation, it considered whether it should pursue further action.
“Upon review of the institution’s response, it was determined that the institution provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the matters raised in the complaints do not indicate substantive noncompliance with the HLC requirements noted previously,” said Robert Rucker, manager of compliance and complex evaluations with the HLC, in a letter addressed to Lambert on Monday. “Therefore, no additional review will be conducted by HLC regarding these matters at this time.”
In response to the HLC’s dismissal of these complaints, the college said in a statement Tuesday it “remains committed to improving dialogue and collaboration with all our employee groups.”
Makyla Hays, a PCC faculty member who is president of PCCEA and backed both complaints, said in an email Tuesday that the HLC’s decision is “disappointing and PCCEA strongly disagrees with arguments made by the college that no policy violation occurred.”
But, Hays added, “PCCEA wants to move forward in a constructive manner,” and is “committed to working with the administration to improve shared governance, policies, and working conditions.”
