“What went wrong?” seems to be a question that confounds members of the faculty and students-at-large at the College of DuPage

Faculty members present at the Sept. 21 board of trustees meeting were again unable to get answers from the Deanne Mazzochi-led board of trustees about why the names of two history and humanities hires were removed from the board packet in July.

The hires were to replace Helen Feng and Kent Huffman, former history and humanities professors who retired from COD. Both positions remain unoccupied.  

Timothy Clifford, assistant professor of humanities; and Samuel Mitrani, assistant professor of history; questioned the board’s decision and asked for clarification to avoid a reoccurrence of denial from the board in future searches.  

“In order to move forward with any future searches in good faith with any potential candidates, we need to be able to explain what went wrong with our last searches since this is totally known among historians and any future applicant,” said Mitrani.

In his delivery, Mitrani outlined that the hiring committee met basic requirements during the hiring process, including a careful evaluation of each candidate’s qualifications.

“We have reams of documentation about our candidates, students’ evaluation of teaching demonstrations, scorecards and two interviews each by the search committees, notes from interviews with the deans and the vice president for academic affairs,” added Mitrani.

Board Policy No. 15-305 gives the board of trustees the power to approve full-time faculty after a recommendation from “the college president, with the assistance of administrative staff.” The board maintains they acted in accordance with the power given to them.

For Clifford, it is a matter of transparency, the very hallmark of COD’s rebranding efforts.

“I am sure that you, the board members, wouldn’t prefer to reject candidates through closed sessions since that violates the transparency that you have so frequently pledged to our community,” he says.  

Both comments followed asst. English Professor Bob Hazard’s letter to the Courier differing with an editorial about the stability the college has experienced so far.

The board did not respond to Clifford and Mitrani’s queries on Thursday. Up to the time this story was written, an email seeking a response from the board didn’t receive a reply.