Webb May Win Right to Grieve : Fired Track Coach Given CSUN Hearing

Bill Webb, the Cal State Northridge track coach fired in May, has been granted a hearing with CSUN Vice Provost Donald Cameron and physical education department chairman Sam Winningham.

The proposed meeting, to be held after July 9, may be a big step in Webb’s effort to regain his position through a grievance procedure.

In May, Lennin H. Glass, dean of the School of Communications at Northridge, said that Webb could not file a grievance under the collective bargaining agreement between the state and members of the California Faculty Assn.

In late June, after filing an appeal, Webb learned he would be contacted by Cameron after the vice provost returned from vacation.

“I guess this means I can grieve,” Webb said Tuesday. “I don’t know what to think anymore. We’re going to talk. That’s all I know.”

Webb, 35, who coached the Northridge men’s track team to Division II top 10 finishes in each of his seven years as coach, was fired by Glass at Winningham’s recommendation.

Contracts of CSUN coaches are renewed annually. During consideration for reappointment, coaches are reviewed by the physical education department’s personnel committee and Winningham. Each makes a recommendation to Glass.

In 1981, Webb successfully appealed a decision not to renew his contract. Since then, however, the collective bargaining agreement has been rewritten.

Don Bethe, chairman of the physical education department’s personnel committee, said the new agreement denies coaches due process. Under its provisions, full-time coaches are considered temporary employees.

“There appears to be a change in the way things like this are being handled,” Bethe said. “We’re operating under a new CFA agreement which says temporary and part-time faculty do not have the right of grievance. In other words, it basically says that coaches are not regular members of the faculty.

“I think our department has always fought hard to make sure no such separation was made. We’ve always tried hard to make sure that coaches were treated as fairly as any other faculty member, even though they are not tenured.”

Bethe said that the personnel committee is drafting a letter to university president James W. Cleary that asks the university to review the grievance process.

“I think the university must consider whether coaches should have the right to grieve,” Bethe said. “Right now, if a person doesn’t like you and wants you fired, you have no recourse. In my opinion, and in the opinion of others, that’s wrong. Not only for Bill Webb, but for all the coaches.”