Revised resignation procedure penalizes those who fail to give proper notice.
By Kyle R. Cotton
kcotton11@student.alamo.edu
The board of trustees unanimously approved two new degree programs for Palo Alto and St. Philip’s Colleges and a revision to the employee resignation policy.
District 7 trustee Yvonne Katz and student trustee Sami Adames were absent.
Anna Bustamante, District 3 trustee and board chair, left at 7:17 p.m. to be with her family at a rosary after a death in the family.
District 2 trustee Denver McClendon left prior to executive session at 9:05 p.m.
Board liaison Sandra Mora said Adames was absent because she had a class that Tuesday.
Hannah Mahaffey, student trustee alternate and web design sophomore, filled in for Adames.
The board unanimously approved reactivating Palo Alto College’s revised industrial technology associate of applied science degree program, which was deactivated in 2010 because it failed to align with Alamo Manufacturing Academies, leading to low enrollment and a lack of “synergy” with local business.
Alamo Manufacturing Academies is one of five academies that are part of the non-profit Alamo Academies Incorporated, which partners with the Alamo Colleges and surrounding cities, schools and industries to meet the demand of science, technology, engineering and math occupations.
Palo Alto officials have been working for two years with members of the industrial technology business community, including the San Antonio Manufacturing Association and Toyota, to redesign the program.
The program will teach future technicians to maintain, assemble, plan, design and assist engineers with industrial technology systems that include hydraulics and electro-mechanical control and digital control systems.
The other program the board approved is Mexican-American studies at St. Philip’s.
The associate of arts degree program’s mission will be to strengthen students’ knowledge of Mexican-American communities and sharing that knowledge across social, intellectual and geographic boundaries.
The board also approved an amendment to the Alamo College’s voluntary resignation procedure to clarify notice requirements for both contract and non-contract employees.
Under the approved revised policy, a notice of resignation must be provided in the form of a letter — unless the employee is on medical leave or unable to work — or risk loss of payout for any accrued vacation benefits as well as being ineligible to be rehired by any department of the Alamo Colleges.
Non-contract employees are required to give two weeks notice while contract employees are required to give four weeks.
Faculty members are required to give at least four weeks notice and coordinate the separation date with the end of a semester.
Employees and faculty who are resigning would be required to return all property, including ID badges and keys, to the immediate supervisor or have the value deducted from the final paycheck.
In other business, the board approved adding accreditation to Dr. Thomas Cleary’s job title, which formally acknowledges Cleary, vice chancellor of planning, performance and information systems, as the district’s lead adviser for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Cleary, who also is serving as interim president of Northeast Lakeview College, will have the title of vice chancellor of planning, performance, accreditation and information systems.
Cleary said he has 20 years of experience in dealing with the accreditation agency and the addition of responsibilities is simply formalizing what he has been doing the last few years when the board and presidents ask for advice on any accreditation or reaffirmation issue.
Mario Muñiz, director of public relations, said Cleary’s pay will remain the same and the change was simply an update to better reflect the job responsibilities and strengthen the districts alignment with SACSCOC.
The board also established a general election for the position of trustees for Districts 1, 2 and 3 and a special election for District 4 because trustee Marcelo Casillas was appointed in May 2015 after Albert Herrera resigned from the position.