Webb Will Appeal CSUN Decision on Contract

Cal State Northridge track Coach Bill Webb plans to file a grievance against the university’s decision not to renew his contract for the next school year.

Webb, 35, was notified two weeks ago in a letter from Lennin H. Glass, dean of the School of Communications and Professional Studies, that he was not being reappointed to his coaching post.

At the time, Glass told The Times that his decision could not officially be appealed by Webb due to the wording of the collective bargaining agreement between the state and the California Faculty Assn.

Jim Semelroth, Webb’s CFA legal counsel, disagrees with that assessment, however. He says that every faculty member represented by the CFA has grievance rights.

“The fact is, we are going to file a grievance on behalf of Mr. Webb over his non-reappointment,” Semelroth said. “That is his legal right. We have a labor contract with all of the universities in the California state system and everybody has grievance rights. That’s the law. They can’t stop a grievance and if they want to tell people that Mr. Webb can’t grieve, then that’s their own misinterpretation.”

Semelroth says the school probably will reject the first phase of the grievance procedure.

There are three steps to that process, the first being a formal letter of appeal that will be sent by Semelroth to CSUN Vice Provost Donald Cameron and physical education department chairman Sam Winningham. That letter is awaiting Webb’s signature.

Should no action be taken on the letter, Semelroth said he will grieve to the office of the chancellor of the Cal State system. If denied, the case could go into arbitration.

Glass, who is out of the country on vacation, could not be reached for comment. But Cameron said that Webb can only argue that he was “not given careful consideration for reappointment.”

“The grievance procedure, as it stands, is new,” Cameron said. “It is applicable in this case only in a very limited sense. Being a coach, Mr. Webb is considered a temporary full-time employee. If he was full time and tenured, then the university could not fail to reappoint unless it could show just cause. Under the current set of circumstances, all he could argue is that he wasn’t carefully considered.”

The contracts of all CSUN coaches are renewed annually. When being considered for reappointment, coaches are reviewed by an athletic department committee and Winningham. Each makes a recommendation to the dean.

In 1981, Webb successfully appealed a decision not to renew his contract. Cameron said that was under a different set of circumstances, however.

“The bargaining agreement has been rewritten,” Cameron said. “He didn’t grieve before, he appealed--which is an entirely different process. The dean (Glass) reversed a recommendation by the athletic department. It was entirely internal.”

That is not the case this time.

Webb, the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Coach of the Year, has made the battle public.

Reading from a prepared statement at a track writers luncheon last week in Los Angeles, Webb said that he felt his right of due process had been violated and accused CSUN Athletic Director Bob Hiegert of avoiding him.

“I feel my rights have been violated,” Webb said. “I haven’t received due process, and in fact, I feel an attempt has been made to intimidate me by saying I do not have a right of grievance.”

Webb also said that he thinks his contract is not being renewed because Hiegert doesn’t like him. Hiegert, who has declined to comment, recommended to Winningham that Webb’s contract not be renewed.

“A personality conflict is all I can surmise,” Webb said. “He has never evaluated me or spoke to me personally about any problem he had with my performance.”

Northridge administrators have been reluctant to go on record with the reasons for Webb’s dismissal, citing confidentiality in personnel matters.

Winningham did say this week that Webb’s expertise in his field is not in question.

“He’s made a very good name for himself in the coaching field,” Winningham said, “but sometimes there’s more to it than that. People have to learn to fit into a system and environment. Some are reluctant to do that. Every coach wants what is best for his program--more scholarships, better facilities, they’re common requests--but there are limits to what we can do. Especially at the Division II level.”

Webb has long been outspoken about the condition of the CSUN track. The track is closed to public use because two running lanes are damaged and there are holes and loose dirt in the infield. The conditions are considered dangerous.

Eleven members of the CSUN men’s track and field team are competing at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships at Cal State Los Angeles this week. In the six years Webb has been coach, the men’s team never has finished worse than eighth nationally.