Dean Of Administration Position Axed

The Dean of Administration position has been eliminated at Miami Dade College.

It is being replaced by a new job title: Senior Director of Campus Administration.

The dean position, which had existed at Kendall, Wolfson and North Campuses for more than 25 years, was eliminated on Oct. 1 by College President Eduardo J. Padrón.

“The tradition in colleges and universities, both in United States and around the world, is that the position and status of “dean” is reserved for administrators who lead academic affairs and student services,” said College Provost Rolando Montoya.

The new position of Senior Director of Campus Administration entails the same duties as the former Dean of Administration position, according to College officials.

Duties the dean of administration held were overseeing the Public Safety Office, Campus Facilities Planning, Custodial Services, Campus Support Services, Mail Center, Duplicating Center, telephone operator and events and rentals.

Montoya said the decision to change the titles was not tied to budgetary constraints.

The new position carries a level 19 pay grade while the old position was a level 20 pay grade, according to the Miami Dade College 2011-12 Job Classification Listing.

“No rationale for the decision was ever provided—information of the decision itself was provided via third-person email,” said Gloria Baez, who was the former Kendall Campus Dean of Administration. “Neither did anyone meet with me to explain how and why the terms of an existing contract could be changed three months into the contract period.”

According to Classification and Reclassification of Positions, Manual of Procedures 2230, position reclassifications are voted on by Oct. 1 of each year, and if approved by the College President, reclassifications will be implemented effective beginning the next fiscal year as of July 1.

“I can tell you that nobody lost salary, authority, jurisdiction scope or place of work,” said Montoya.

However, according to Baez, who resigned on March 2, “morale was lost.”

“Administrators at MDC work very hard, particularly these past several years, with increasing enrollment and scarce resources,” Baez said. “These ‘downgrades’ were difficult to accept, in light of ever-expanding responsibilities and expectations.”

Filling the new positions will be: Cristina Mateo at the North Campus, Fermin Vazquez at Wolfson Campus and Brian A. Stokes at the Kendall Campus.

Mateo, who has worked at MDC for 34 years— 16 years as a Dean of Administration, previously served as North Campus Dean of Administration; Fermin Vazquez previously served as district-wide Director of Maintenance;  Stokes served as Director of Administrative Support Services at InterAmerican Campus for the past nine years.