Wednesday, January 21, 1998
MEChA upset over administrative changes
FACULTY Students claim academic counselor laid off without their
input
By Emi Kojima
Daily Bruin Contributor
A group of loud, concerned students from MEChA and La Familia
met Tuesday to discuss recent administrative change at the
Chicano/a studies center.
Raymund Paredes, interim head of the Cesar Chavez Chicano/a
Studies Center and associate vice chancellor for academic
personnel, laid off an academic counselor on Dec. 12, leaving some
Chicano/a studies students very upset.
Jovita Cardenas, former full-time counselor of the center, was
replaced with a part-time counselor, graduate student Elia
Hernandez.
"I take full responsibility for the decision. Teaching is the
No. 1 priority. Counseling is not the same as teaching," Paredes
said.
As an alternative to the full-time counselor, Paredes suggested
that students seek counseling through the Academic Advancement
Program (AAP). Although students claimed that AAP counselors are
all booked up, Paredes said that AAP will make room for the extra
students.
But students maintain that they were unjustly left out of the
decision.
"Paredes’ decision was premature without student input. The
bylaws he agreed to guaranteed student and community input in all
decisions made," said Lina Velasco, third-year history and
Chicano/a studies major.
Paredes said that he consulted with some of the staff at the
Chavez center, the dean of social sciences, the vice provost of
undergraduate affairs and the head of AAP, among others.
Paredes made the decision to lay off Cardenas in reorganizing
the Chavez Center. "The budget was not cut," Paredes said.
Instead, Paredes terminated the position of the full time
counselor to allocate more funds of the Chavez center to
instruction and toward hiring more TAs and guest speakers.
Members of MEChA, however, said that Paredes violated the
agreement he signed when the center was formed, after a hunger
strike organized by MEChA in 1993. The center provides for the
services of a Chicano/a studies department.
"Additional funding will be provided for counseling and student
support services, as determined by the faculty and dean," the
framework for the Chavez Center states. The students claim that
Paredes violated this provision because he terminated the full-time
counselor without consulting the faculty.
MEChA chairperson Hugo Maldonado said that the layoff of
Cardenas raises larger questions, because it undermines the
students’ role in controlling the Chavez Center.
Velasco agreed that the layoff was symbolic, because the
counselor was one of the concessions gained by the hunger strike
agreements.
Students also said that Parades has violated the agreement by
delaying to fill the position of head librarian in the Chicano/a
Research Center Library and not providing any classes at the Chavez
center on indigenous cultures and language.
MEChA is circulating a petition asking for the resignation of
Paredes as chair of the Chavez Center and the reinstatement of
Cardenas.
"If (the restructuring) doesn’t work, I’ll take the heat for
it," Paredes said. "I will resign for this if the program is not
successful."
With reports from Gregory Mena, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.