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STEUBENVILLE — Eastern Gateway Community College’s Education Association Wednesday said it has no confidence in Interim President John Crooks, Associate Vice President of Financial Aid Kurt Pawlak or the board of trustees, complaining they’ve been unwilling to collaborate with the union to complete the U.S. Department of Education and Higher Learning Commission’s checklists.
Crooks disputed that, saying that “At Eastern Gateway, our doors are always open to discussing issues, thoughts and finding solutions.”
“We are committed to a transparent and inclusive process to advance the success of our students, faculty, staff and the communities we serve,” he said. “While this has been a trying time for the greater college community, and as we address our declining enrollment, we believe we can persevere by working together.”
But Jim Corrin, president of the association, contends the union has reached out “multiple times” offering to work with the administration to address the issues raised by DOE and HLC. DOE’s “must-do” list focuses largely on financial aid issues.
EGCCEA’s announcement referenced “a string of recent failures in leadership by Eastern Gateway Community College’s associate vice president of financial aid, interim president and board of trustees.”
“This action comes as a result of the ongoing failures of the college to resolve the systemic problems identified by the U.S. Department of Education at the college, although the employees throughout the college have been working collaboratively with all offices, such as financial aid, admissions and registration, to process students,” the EGCCEA statement said. “Each area of the college works collaboratively to ensure compliance with the Department of Education guidelines. Unfortunately, the associate vice president of financial aid has not shared in the same priorities and has been unable to complete the accurate and timely submissions that the Department of Education requires.”
The EGCCEA statement also claims Crooks “(failed) to engage in the collaborative resolution of problems through shared governance structures.”
“Different administrators at different times have issued decisions without consultation or concern for shared governance. Crooks has failed to define lines of accountability for his leadership team,” EGCCEA charged, complaining also that the board of trustees has “(failed) to oversee and correct these failures of senior leadership at the college.”
“Our concern was, and is, based in the immediate and ongoing impact that these issues are having in our ability as educators to adequately serve our students,” the EGCCEA statement said.
Corrin said the no confidence votes are a last-ditch effort to get the administration’s attention, adding his members “spoke loud and clear.”
“To be honest, it was very difficult,” Corrin said. “We want what’s best for the college, we want what’s best for our students and for our community. We’re just not getting it with John Crooks: Weve asked multiple times for meetings, we’ve asked (him) to work with us. Multiple e-mails have been sent and he does not respond. We’ve tried to work with him, we’ve tried to work with the deans and they, for some reason, refuse to acknowledge us.”
Corrin said EGCCEA is “not a typical union.”
“We’re not argumentative, we’re not combative, we’re willing to work, we want to help,” he said. “We want to be part of the solution and not the problem. We’ve asked multiple time to set up a meeting to work on problem-solving and solutions … and he flat-out ignored the request for a meeting on multiple occasions. And our support staff who work with the financial aid department … the same thing — he won’t discuss it with them, won’t talk to them, won’t engage but then (he) continues to send incomplete files to the department of education.”
Corrin said the EGCC staff and faculty “are working hard to be compliant, working hard to meet the obligations of those agencies.”
“We want to work with the president, we want to work with administration, they just won’t work with us,” he said. “I think it’s very important that the community understands that our staff and faculty have the best interests of our students, our community and our institution at heart. I think it’s important that it resonates with DOE and HLC that we’re trying, our faculty and staff are doing our best to comply with (what they want), and we’re just being met with resistance.”
Crooks, however, said EGCC, the board and administration “are committed to putting the student first.”
“We have been addressing the issues from the Higher Learning Commission and the U.S. Department of Education. We continue to provide updates to all of our staff and faculty as we re-establish the importance of Eastern Gateway in the communities we serve, most important in our service district of Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Jefferson counties.”
Crooks said EGCC has been serving the Ohio and Mahoning valleys for more than 60 years, “and the board of trustees and administration is committed to providing a high-quality, affordable education opportunity to our students for the next 60 years.”
“Although shared governance is core to the values of our administration, the institution must manage its limited resources effectively,” he concluded.