College Faculty Votes No Confidence in Chief

Instructors at Irvine Valley College approved a vote of no confidence Friday in the campus’ president, who has been at the center of a yearlong struggle between the faculty and trustees of the South Orange County Community College District.

The faculty voted 72 to 23, with two instructors abstaining, to approve the no-confidence vote, the culmination of complaints that President Raghu P. Mathur has been ineffective at the 11,000-student campus.

Lisa Alvarez, an instructor and the Academic Senate recorder, called the 86% turnout in the campuswide faculty referendum “decisive.”

Kate Clark, an English instructor and president of the Academic Senate, said the vote was requested by faculty members and should refute administration claims that campus strife has been caused by a small group of disgruntled educators.

She said the vote will be presented to the district Board of Trustees at a meeting Monday.

Mathur, a former chemistry teacher, denounced the vote as the work of “an obstructionist group” and pleaded with teachers to work with him.

“In this spirit, I’d like to initiate the healing process by apologizing for any mistakes I have made or feelings I may have hurt, albeit unintentionally,” he said Friday.

John S. Williams, president of the district board, said the referendum was the work of “a very small group” of teachers who are angry over district cost-cutting moves. He said he stands behind Mathur.

The district’s acting chancellor, Kathleen O’Connell Hodge, said the faculty vote has no legal weight, since the president reports to the chancellor and district board.

“The district is in a period of profound change,” Hodge said. “Anyone in a leadership position is subject to institutional criticism in times of change.”

The college’s Academic Senate last month authorized the campuswide referendum among 112 full-time teachers and representatives of part-time instructors.