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New
faces, new duties
MARIA FENYES, Acting Vice President, Academic Affairs
After
serving Mission College for 17 years as an instructor
and faculty union representative, Maria Fenyes now joins the
administrative ranks. Fenyes, longtime chemistry instructor
and American Federation of Teachers chapter president, was
appointed active vice president for academic affairs in August.
Though administration is new to her, Fenyes believes her many
years' service as a department and cluster chair and vice
chair provided significant experience as what she describes
as a “quasi-administrator.”
“My experience has given me a view of two worlds and
how to bring them together,” she said. “Essentially,
you serve as a liaison between faculty and administrators.”
Her participation in contract negotiations between the district
and AFT provided solid grounding for her new role, she said.
After all, a contract is the structure upon which the district
operates and reflects the needs of both administration and
faculty.
Fenyes hopes to put her experience to use in several areas
but primarily in finding ways to increase enrollment. She
believes that the sequence of classes a student is likely
to take can be identified, based on requirements, and that
those classes can be scheduled so they don’t conflict
with one another. She also believes the college has been too
quick to cut low enrollment classes. Fenyes already has made
these and other proposals to the new college Enrollment Management
Task Force.
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BY EDUARDO PARDO
/ Photo:
Lydia Chung
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