Unfair Park from p6 In 2020, as the pandemic upended life, many workers suddenly faced unemploy- ment. Soon, cuts crept into Dallas College’s roster and hundreds of employees were laid off. Four hundred forty-six of them signed nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) to re- ceive severance pay, costing the county tax- payers more than $12.3 million, Menchaca said. Some who had openly opposed the changes reported that they were retaliated against. Certain older professors at odds with the administration claimed they’d re- ceived grueling teaching schedules and sus- pected it was a calculated move on the school’s part. Last year, Menchaca led a group of full- time faculty in voting on a resolution of no- confidence in the school’s chancellor, Joe May. More than 71% of professors who voted endorsed the resolution. It was the second-largest voter turnout of full-time faculty in the college’s history. At the time, a Dallas College spokesperson pointed out the vote gauged only a portion of faculty mem- bers because it left out adjuncts and part- timers. In response, Menchaca and company have accused the school of trying to spin the narrative. Other media have covered the contro- versy unfolding at Dallas College. Last sum- mer, FOX 4 reported that one online course didn’t list the professor’s name or provide any lectures. The Observer has heard from numerous professors and students worried and upset by the restructuring, yet few were willing to speak on record. Menchaca described an in- creasingly chaotic and stressful work envi- ronment. Chaplains have been sent to campuses, as have therapy dogs. Many faculty are terrified of losing their jobs in a state that’s turned increasingly combative toward academic freedom. But some have bolstered Menchaca’s claim of a toxic work environment, where, they say, professors are encouraged to prioritize “stu- dent success” over quality education. That success is measured by the number of trans- fers, degrees and certificates produced, Menchaca said, and successful students mean that May would pocket a $100,000 an- nual bonus. Earlier this year, the Observer requested interviews with May, then-Exec- utive Vice Chancellor Justin Lonon, and each member of the Dallas College Board of Trustees, all of whom either did not respond or declined to comment. Dallas College, some fear, is morphing into a degree mill. And Menchaca longs for a return to the old school. “I would like to go back to the way education was,” he told the Observer in April. “It’s no longer an educa- tional institution. It is now a corporation.” T 8 2 he administration enjoys the support of some faculty members. Years ago during May term, Matt Hinckley was approached by a student who burst out in tears. The student explained to Hinckley, who at the time was an instructional associ- ate at one of DCCCD’s journalism depart- ments but is now a history professor, that someone in her family had just died. Now, she was looking to turn in her work but her professor was nowhere to be found, and she For many professors, Hinckley repre- sents one of the faculty’s biggest restructur- ing advocates, with some critics going so far as to describe him as a “lackey.” There’s even a rumor floating around that Hinckley’s fa- ther and Joe May are golf buddies, which he firmly denies. He admits that restructuring has been tough, but he understands the im- possibility of a seamless transition for a change of that magnitude. It’s sort of like re- modeling a 50-year-old home, he said: “When you start tearing down walls, you’re going to find all sorts of things with your house that you didn’t know were there.” One can’t really disentangle the con- solidation from the COVID-19 pan- demic, which itself took a toll on the col- lege’s operations, he said. The pandemic also made it harder to settle disagreements because the professors weren’t around to talk through things in person. If COVID hadn’t hit, Hinckley isn’t sure the vote of no confidence in May as chancellor would have manifested, which he believes ultimately worked to blemish the faculty’s reputation. Still, at least one former employee has Patrick Strickland Dallas College professor Richard Menchaca from his days as a track champion: He credits a coach with saving his life from street violence in his youth in San Antonio feared failing her class. Some offices had been closed for training, and even the dean wasn’t there to speak with her. This kind of thing happened often, Hinckley recalled. To him, it was one example of how easy it is for students to become discouraged, po- tentially leading some to drop out and never return to higher ed. Others never enrolled in classes at all. As the son of a former dean in a Chicago-area community college, Hinckley understands how essential education is. A self-described “community-college lifer,” Hinckley has been a student, a staff member and a low-level administrator at DCCCD. He’s also been an adjunct and full-time pro- fessor, and the faculty association president at both the campus and district levels. Hinckley believes that before the restruc- turing, DCCCD made some students’ dreams come true. Still, there were so many more who didn’t receive the help they needed. Either they fell through the cracks or they never got to the school in the first place. “Call it death by 1,000 papercuts,” he said. It could be difficult to make progress to benefit students before, Hinckley explained. Sometimes, when a change needed to be made, leadership at one of the seven accred- ited schools might dig in their heels and claim independence, making it harder for the district as an institution to advance. The same might happen if a campus sought to make an adjustment but was blocked by dis- trict middle management. This back-and- forth also bred a work culture that lacked accountability, he said. sued Dallas College over claims it used “re- structuring” as a pretext to illegally fire him. Hinckley sees benefits to Dallas College’s new structure. The school now provides textbooks for students, a cost that’s included in their tuition. In years past, many students never bought the books, which sometimes weren’t accessible until later in the semes- ter, he said. Hinckley acknowledges there are threats to public education, but he doesn’t think they’re coming from Dallas College’s district office. It’s the anti-vaxxers, anti-critical race theory zealots and politicians opposed to public education who should be the targets of the faculty’s derision, he argued. Dallas College’s graduation rate is rela- tively low. According to the Department of Education, 9% of its students earn a diploma there while the national midpoint for two- year schools is 29%. Its graduation rate also falls short of Collin College’s 14%. While things are not perfect at the school, Hinckley emphasizes the impor- tance of continuously striving for improve- ment. “I don’t have rose-colored glasses about the past in the way that some people do,” he said. “I don’t think the past for which some of my colleagues yearn was as great as we thought it was.” J ustin Lonon’s parents didn’t finish col- lege, but earlier this year, he took over as Dallas College chancellor after May retired and transitioned into a role as chan- cellor emeritus. Growing up in a small town in the hills of northern Arkansas, Lonon ap- preciates the power of education and be- lieves that internships can mold students’ career arcs, he said during a 2019 interview with Jacob Vaughn of the student newspa- per Brookhaven Courier. (Vaughn now works as a staff writer at the Observer.) Lonon applauded efforts by DCCCD to provide wraparound support and social ser- vice needs outside the norm. To remove bar- riers to transportation, the school negotiated with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) to offer free passes to all students taking six hours or more, he said. They also worked with a local food bank to install pan- tries at each college, ensuring that students had access to fresh produce. But DCCCD’s seven-college structure “It’s no longer and educational instituion. It is now a corporation.” - Richard Menchaca, professor was problematic for students, Lonon said at the time. One issue was the confusing infor- mation that ex- isted among the colleges, each of which was sepa- rately accredited. Campuses had separate websites and departments, making it hard for students to navi- gate between schools. Ultimately, the board of trustees opted to pursue a single accreditation. “This one-col- lege thing will cause some alignment and do away with some of those inconsistencies that exist,” Lonon told Vaughn at the time, “and hopefully better prepare us to serve students and ensure that our own structure is not getting in the way.” Yet some students say the new structure has gotten in the way. David Hill, 50, owns a flooring company. He ultimately wants to become an attorney but chose to enroll at Dallas College to get a construction technol- ogy degree so he can effectively cross-exam- ine general contractors. Hill said he’s attended seven universities throughout his life. He insists that “none of them are as bad as this.” Hill said he has a 4.0 GPA and takes school seriously but claims that Dallas Col- lege isn’t setting everyone up for success. Students now “run all over the program,” Hill said, and he thinks Dallas College’s cur- rent emphasis on digital testing and text- books has hamstrung critical thinking. Students can use a simple computer search to quickly pluck answers straight from the digital books, ensuring that they earn an A. (“Dallas College has been unable to find evi- dence supporting the claim of a loophole in our online testing or our textbooks,” a col- lege spokesperson told the Observer via email.) But in the world of construction, Hill fears a watered-down education could lead to real disasters. Dallas College’s construc- tion graduates may someday build skyscrap- ers with this knowledge, and Hill said he certainly wouldn’t hire many of his own classmates. “Students are used to getting trophies for showing up, and some of that is part of the culture now,” he said. “But in construction where people can die because you did something wrong? People need to realize how serious things are.” At Dallas College, political correctness takes precedence while qualified professors are “getting fired left and right,” Hill contin- ued. Chaos behind the curtain always bleeds into the foreground. Hill claims that administrative incompe- tency has stalled students’ ability to gradu- ate. Some have had to wait five years to receive an associate’s degree. Other >> p10 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 APRIL 21-27, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.comdallasobserver.com
