As CSUMB breaks ground on business school, some faculty worry about decision-making process.

The times they are a changin’ – too quickly for some California State University Monterey Bay professors.

Some faculty members are up in arms over university decisions they feel are being made too rapidly. One sticking point: A plan to create a business college, a move some say was made without input from the school’s community.

“While [forming a business school] may be timely and even a good idea, there was no consultation with the faculty at large,” says Mark O’Shea, a professor of education. “This decision was made in the form of the announcement.”

Groundbreaking for the building that will house the College of Business and the School of Information Technology and Communication Design is scheduled to take place Tuesday. The $43 million Business-IT project is the first major construction to take place on campus since since the school’s library opened in 2008.

On Oct. 28, O’Shea co-moderated a town hall discussion on how the school can better share the responsibility of governance and decision making. About 35 faculty members attended, though administration officials had prior obligations and couldn’t make it.

O’Shea notes the business school announcement was made shortly after President Eduardo Ochoa began his interim presidency, though he doesn’t know what role the president had in the plan. But in general there’s a feeling of cynicism toward administrative power, he says.

Ochoa, who will formally take office Nov. 15, says in an email via university spokesman James Tinney that he saw establishing the College of Business as a way to launch an initiative important to the university. He says he consulted extensively with faculty members within the then-existing School of Business before moving ahead.

“The provost and I regularly meet with faculty and attend Faculty Senate meetings to hear any issues or concerns our faculty members might have,” the email states. “We believe shared governance is vital and will proceed with that principle firmly in mind.”

“ARE THEY REALLY TRYING TO HELP BUILD OUR FUTURE?”

O’Shea says one issue the school faces has little to do with Ochoa – the fact that CSUMB has had three presidents and five provosts in its brief history.

“That results in a sense that we’re a place that people pass through in career advancement,” O’Shea says. “Is this person’s next new idea there to help their resume, or are they really trying to help build our future?”

Another concern is the university’s push toward online courses, which Ochoa has advocated. Some of these courses are being taught through the school’s extension division, which O’Shea says charges higher rates of tuition. He’s worried continuing in that direction for online programs could leave behind local students who can’t afford the classes.

“It makes [classes] accessible to a wide audience, but are we not neglecting the students who cannot afford to take such expensive offerings?” he asks.

O’Shea says he hopes the school’s government will pass a resolution promoting shared governance, and enact policies that give stakeholders more power in decision making.