Tomorrow CCC Board Meeting - We Will Be Heard!

Thursday morning, June 16th, the Board of Trustees is set to approve the new presidents.  We're concentrating our forces to show the Board that these sorts of decisions are not acceptable to the people! It's time they responded to our demands, so bring your co-workers, families, neighbors and friends.

8:45 am - RUSH-HOUR RALLY @ District Office 226 W. Jackson

Bring signs and anything that makes noise!

9:00 am - PRESS CONFERENCE

10:00 am - JAM the Board of Trustees' meeting, 226 W. Jackson Room 300 

*Remember to send an e-mail to requesttospeak@ccc.edu with your name, who you are, and the general subject you will raise to the Board -- you'll be sent a confirmation e-mail.

Chancellor Hyman Fires College Presidents...

Save City Colleges has learned according to Ron Anderson that the Chancellor and Board Chairman have decided to fire the College Presidents at Wright College, Malcolm X College and Truman College. They will keep the President at Daley College despite the fact that he was the only President whose faculty was poised for a vote of No Confidence in his leadership ability.

The Chancellor and Mayor are scheduled to be at Harold Washington College today to make a "major announcement" Wonder what it will be. Yesterday salaries were released in the Mayor's effort to create a "new transparency". Transparency however, does not extend to the City Colleges. CCC salaries were not released, so let's start at the top: Chancellor Cheryl Hyman who has no educational background, who is unable to speak standard English, who feels that our 1708 staff are asking for too much when they request a fair wage, Chancellor Hyman who got her job based on her connection/relationship with Mr. Frank Clark from Commonwealth Edison, with perks and benefits makes well over $275,000 a year. Why was this salary not released?

Stay tuned for the political appointments of individuals connected with the Civic Consulting Alliance, displaced workers from City Hall and other FOC. (FRIENDS OF CHERYL)

Once Again CCC Leadership Fails to Act in Good Faith... Prepare for more budget(people) cuts at your campus.

Although he scheduled the meeting, CCC Board Chairman Martin Cabrera and Chancellor Cheryl Hyman were both no shows as concerned members of the Save City Colleges Coalition were asked to leave Malcolm X College. (See video below) It appears that the Chairman and Chancellor believe that they can continue to remain silent, that the concerns of the students, faculty, staff and the community do not need to be addressed.

In the meantime the Chancellor continues with her frivolous spending on new logos, school color changes and Reinvention and Presidential Search Consultants when she knows exactly who she wants to be President at each of the six colleges.  After making her "case for change" and manipulating data to tell anyone who would listen that the City Colleges only has a 7% graduation rate, the Chancellor now wonders why enrollment across the entire district is down. Now all of the sudden (after Mayor Emanuel lends his support to remediation) the Chancellor and her Reinvention consultant from Mckinsey & Company, Dr. Alvin Bisarya publically admit to the Chicago Sun Times (May 29, 2011) that more than 30% of students entering colleges do not meet the basic standards in math, reading or English. WOW! You mean to tell me that students are coming to the City Colleges from CPS unprepared???? Go figure! The City Colleges needed to spend over five million dollars in new executive hires at district office to make this discovery?

Hopefully the new Board members will look critically at the actions of the Chancellor and the Board Chairman and put an end to the mismanagement that has been allowed to flourish under Cheryl Hyman's "LEADERSHIP".  Please plan to attend the next CCC Board meeting Thursday June 16th at 10:00 a.m. in the new lavishly remodeled Board Room at the City Colleges district office 226 West Jackson room 300, arrive early to secure a seat. The CCC Board of Trustees needed this room remodeled; after all they meet once a month for 2 hours, another waste of taxpayer's money while our students continue to suffer from lack of resources and our campuses are in disrepair. Look at your campus, notice the weeds, the peeling paint, the lack of adequate lighting, this list can go on and on. Send this blog photos of your campus; let's ask the Chancellor how she can justify the funding of a new Board Room at district office when the campuses need so much. How many millions did this new Board Room cost?

Attend the meeting, discover the Chancellor's new Presidential Picks, and let your voice be heard regarding upcoming budget cuts that are now planned for every campus to the tune of millions. There is a reason why the 1708 contract is being stalled. Let's ask that the cuts be made at district office, where NO students will be impacted. This is how it was done recently at CPS.

See video below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PrxVy_QYY8

Important Meeting Thursday May 26, 2011

Say NO to the corporate takeover of the City Colleges of Chicago!

Say NO to the dismantling of public sector unions!

Say NO to layoffs of 1708 and 1600 staff and the cuts to programs and services for students and our communities!


Defend union rights and civil rights! Join  coalition efforts to halt the assault on the City Colleges of Chicago.

             May 26 6:00pm Meeting

Malcolm X College - 1900 W. Van Buren St.

on the "reinvention" of the 7 City Colleges

CCC Announces First Presidential Replacement. Is This What Our Colleges Have to Look Forward To?

On Friday the City Colleges of Chicago released a special announcement indicating that the replacement for Kennedy-King Colleges departing President John H. Dozier would be none other than Mr. Derrick Harden.  While we understand the District’s March 21^st appointment of Mr. Donald Laackman at Harold Washington College based on his connection to the Civic Consulting Alliance and other notable high profile connections that would lead to a Presidential appointment with no experience in higher education, all are perplexed at this recent appointment.

When the Chancellor made the decision to require all President’s (except Don Laackman) to reapply for their positions it was clear that she wanted to rid herself of all experienced leadership. The City Colleges allegedly paid a firm over $330,000 to conduct a National Presidential Search.   

So why the push for another inexperienced Presidential Seat Filler?  Mr. Derrick Harden began his tenure at CCC under former Chancellor Wayne Watson as an Internal Auditor. Receiving vigorous support from Chancellor Hyman’s Chief of Staff Mr. Ron Anderson, Mr. Harden was promoted to Vice Chancellor of Human Resources and Staff Development on December 6, 2010.  Being woefully ill-prepared for the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources position, on January 12, 2011 Mr. Harden was moved to yet another position, Managing Director of Special Projects (whatever that means).

On April 7, 2011 Mr. Harden was then moved to Kennedy-King College as Interim President. With no higher education administration experience and the very transient nature of Mr. Harden’s work history, it is clear that the Chancellor and her Chief of Staff are working very hard to find a place for Mr. Harden. This appears to be just another case of “Positions for the Friends of Cheryl”.  During the recent Presidential search process the committee selected by Chancellor Hyman and charged with selecting candidates to move to the second round of interviews with the Chancellor; did not think very highly of Mr. Harden, in fact of the multiple committee members voting, Mr. Harden only received one vote.

Again to the rescue, the Chancellor’s Chief of Staff Mr. Ron Anderson who insisted that Mr. Harden be sent to the next round interviews despite the fact that he received only one vote.

It is clear that the Presidential search process was merely a sham, a way for the Chancellor to continue her patronage hiring.  It is also clear that there have been numerous CCC ethics violations and CCC Board Rule violations. What is not clear is who will throw whom under the bus once the subpoenas and Freedom of Information Act requests are issued.  The new Presidents should be announced in June. If this appointment is indicative of what the colleges have to look forward to; we are all in very serious trouble. Stay tuned.

Stop CCC Fraud, Patronage Hiring, Academic and Fiscal Mismanagement!

Join the Protest

Monday May 16, 2011

Join faculty, students, CCC staff and members of the City Colleges of Chicago community on Monday May 16^th at 9:00 a.m. we will meet at Roosevelt University

430 South Michigan Avenue. 

At 9:30 a.m. we will march to the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

Join us in letting Mayor Emanuel, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Vice President Joe Biden know that we are collectively taking a stand to

SAVE CITY COLLEGES

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