Category Archives: From LFA President

LFA President Tobin F. Terry presented trustees with this message prior to the start of the November 14 board meeting in which 25 layoffs of Lakeland employees were approved in addition to 29 voluntary separation agreements.

Dear Lakeland Board of Trustees,

The Lakeland Faculty Association respectfully asks that you take more time to consider the long-term repercussions of the immense budget decisions on tonight’s agenda for several reasons.

First, Lakeland’s students will be directly and adversely affected by the potential cuts to services and staff. The elimination of student support programs and extracurricular activities can deprive students of valuable learning opportunities and social experiences. This can be especially detrimental for students from low-income families who may not have access to these opportunities outside of school.

Second, eliminating these positions reduces Lakeland’s sense of community. Cuts in services can leave students without the support they need to succeed in college and have a negative impact on students’ academic achievement, social development, and overall well-being. Cutting staff salaries and benefits and laying off support staff can send a message to students that their needs are not a priority. 

Finally, students can not feel supported and cannot possibly be successful without adequate staff and services in place throughout all areas of the college. The LFA recognizes the invaluable work done by staff and administrators who work directly with students and behind the scenes.  We do not support cuts that would undermine their vital work. 

As email communications this week have indicated, various members of the college welcome increased transparency in financial matters. As stakeholders in Lakeland with a deep understanding of the needs of our students, the LFA has a vested interest in the success of our college and welcomes the opportunity to participate in conversations about how to address current budgetary needs. 

Sincerely,
Tobin F. Terry
President of the Lakeland Faculty Association

The following remarks were delivered by LFA President Tobin F. Terry at the May 5, 2023 meeting of the Lakeland Board of Trustees. 

Chairperson Rispoli, Board, and President Beverage, I am Tobin Terry, President of the Lakeland Faculty Association, Lake County resident and father of three. 

First, I want to offer some recognition. Congratulations to Dr. Kay Malec, for your distinguished service award. It is well-deserved.

I thank Trustee Hebebrand, as I was pleased to hear of his commendation of Lakeland’s programs and his acknowledgement of the political diversity amongst our faculty in his remarks at a recent speaking engagement. That diversity, too, is a testament to our commitment to fostering an inclusive learning environment where diverse perspectives are valued and respected.

I had expected that some attendees from that event would be here due to Trustee Hebebrand’s suggestion that they attend these meetings. I looked forward to hearing their perspectives on Lakeland’s positive impact on our community.

I would like to express my gratitude to President Beverage for his clarification that no board members believe that there is an attempt to indoctrinate students at Lakeland. I also appreciate President Beverage’s attempts to explain why faculty may have felt otherwise given the current climate. 

I understand that it was expressed by some at the April Board meeting that they felt attacked by the speakers we’ve heard at public comment. As the elected representative of the faculty, I urge the board not to mistake our passion for aggression. We educators are passionate about our subjects. And we are committed to inspiring and challenging our students to think independently and critically and to engage in thoughtful discourse. 

Our invitation to join us in our classrooms was not meant as a confrontational gesture. Rather, our invitation is meant as a genuine opportunity for the board to better understand our students and witness the outstanding work we are able to do, thanks in part to the support in policy and leadership provided by the board and administration.

We take immense pride in the services we provide to our community. We are grateful for your dedication, your commitment to advancing our shared mission, and your understanding that the concepts of equity, inclusion, and diversity enhance our students’ learning experiences.

Thank you for your time, attention, and leadership.

The following remarks were delivered by LFA President Tobin F. Terry at the March 2, 2023 meeting of the Lakeland Board of Trustees. At the previous meeting, three trustees were appointed to the trustee-only committee to review diversity, equity, and inclusion/inclusivity language in Lakeland’s plans and policies. The motion to form that committee was approved in the September 1, 2022 board meeting. 

Chairperson Rispoli, Board of Trustees, President Beverage. I am Tobin Terry, president of the Lakeland Faculty Association.

As you probably guessed, I am here to advocate for the inclusion of college students, staff, and faculty on the committee charged with reviewing the words equity, diversity, and inclusion in college documents. As a member of this community, I believe that we have valuable insight to help in shaping the policies that affect us directly.

Many of you likely recall that inclusion, equity, and diversity are, by those terms, crucial to our accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, our institutional accrediting body. 

Beyond that, a core component of the Higher Learning Commission’s Criterion 5A for accreditation requires that, quote, “Shared governance at the institution engages its internal constituencies—including its governing board, administration, faculty, staff and students—through planning, policies and procedures.”

Also, “The institution’s administration ensures that faculty and, when appropriate, staff and students are involved in setting academic requirements, policy and processes through effective collaborative structures.”

For our accreditation, and perhaps more important, for our community, we must work together. 

To ensure that the committee’s recommendations are truly reflective of the entire Lakeland community’s needs and values, it is important that the committee includes a broad range of voices, including those of students, staff, administration, and faculty.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

The following remarks were offered by LFA President Tobin F. Terry at the February 2, 2023 meeting of the Lakeland Community College Board of Trustees. 

Dr. Beverage, Chairperson Rispoli, and Lakeland Board of Trustees, thank you for the opportunity to speak. I am Tobin Terry, Professor of English and President of the Lakeland Faculty Association.

I’ll start by welcoming Mr. Cornachio and Mr. Rupert to the board and welcome back Ms. Vitaz and Dr. Beverage. I look forward to working with you all.

I also acknowledge the basketball teams, and personally thank them for embodying Lakeland’s winning spirit. Watching them with my children has been meaningful and inspiring.

I’ve addressed the board many times over the last several months regarding equity, inclusion, and diversity and the meaning of those words and their impact on our students. 

Mr. Hebebrand visited our classes last semester and testified to the level of true education that is provided here at Lakeland. With help from the President’s office, you have now been provided a list of classes from all over the college that faculty are formally and personally inviting you, our trustees, to attend.

Please come see for yourself the true education that has been made possible for our students in an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment.

Finally, I continue to urge the board, as Trustee Frager did before his departure, to change the structure of the special committee to allow for representatives from Lakeland’s students, staff, and faculty. 

Individual trustees, in board meetings and in the press, have stated that the special committee was formed because the board wants to understand what inclusion, equity, and diversity mean at Lakeland. This is an admirable goal, and it is one that cannot be accomplished unless the people who have that information and who are most affected by the board’s decisions are part of the conversation.  

Thank you for your time, attention, and leadership.

LFA President Tobin F. Terry’s remarks regarding the motion to remove the words equity and inclusion/inclusivity from the Lakeland Community College Strategic Plan at the September 1, 2022 Lakeland Board of Trustees Meeting 

Dr. Beverage, Chairperson Pro Tem Frager, and Board of Trustees:

Thank you for the opportunity to address you today regarding item 8A of the agenda. My name is Tobin Terry. I am a resident of the Headlands community here in Lake County. I have three children, all of whom I hope will one day be Lakers. I am also a faculty member at Lakeland. I teach English, and I serve as co-chair for that department. I am also the president of the Lakeland Faculty Association.  I have prepared my message beforehand out of respect for your time. 

For more than 50 years, Lakeland has served the people of Lake County and the surrounding areas as an open-access educational institution dedicated to improving the lives of its students and the wider community. There is a legacy at Lakeland that defines equity as the practice of accounting for the differences in each individual’s starting point when pursuing a lifelong goal, and working to remove barriers to equal opportunity. A legacy that defines inclusion as the practice of including and integrating all people and groups, especially those who are disadvantaged, have suffered discrimination, or are living with disabilities. This is a legacy that you helped to create, and one that we nurture together. 

Employees in every area of the college applied for and accepted their positions with an understanding of the unique challenges that community college students face and with a commitment to support and empower all Lakeland students on their paths toward success. 

I am deeply troubled by the discussion surrounding the terms equity and inclusion during the May 5 Lakeland Board of Trustees meeting, including the tabled motion to remove or replace these terms from the College’s strategic plan. 

In the Board of Trustees meeting on April 7, the Board commended the faculty, staff, and administrators who came together to hold an early graduation celebration for a terminally ill American Sign Language student. This ceremony was an act of equity: a recognition of the unique needs of an individual and an accommodation offered in response to those needs. 

I am sure you remember when, at the May 5 meeting, a Phi Theta Kappa officer who earned national recognition for her service project, began to cry when talking about her time at Lakeland and with PTK coming to an end. She was empowered to speak, to pursue innovative ideas, and to represent our institution and community as a result of our PTK chapter’s dedication to equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

We owe these principles to first-generation college students, who account for 45% of community college students but 75% of college dropouts; We owe it to our students who speak English as a second language, including those recruited by our athletics program; We owe it to low-income students who depend on scholarships and Lakeland-provided services such as the Cares Cupboard and the Emergency Grant Fund.

There’s a difference between simply not discriminating against historically disadvantaged groups of people and actively working to empower those people to succeed against obstacles beyond their control. The most powerful and nonpartisan educational entities in the state and the nation demand the latter of us: 

The Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC) has affirmed the importance of equity-minded teaching practices and its commitment to helping colleges improve minority student outcomes. 

Accreditation Criteria 1c of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), Lakeland’s accrediting body, states, “The institution’s processes and activities demonstrate inclusive and equitable treatment of diverse populations.” 

The Ohio Transfer Module, which guarantees that our credits transfer to other Ohio institutions of higher education, requires special attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The Ohio Department of Education’s (ODE) Strategic Plan  includes Equity as the first of its three core principles, stating, “Ohio’s greatest education challenge remains equity in education achievement.” 

The United States Department of Education published a 95-page report offering data highlights and “promising practices” for Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education. 

The words equity, diversity, and inclusion are not inherently political. With the collaboration of this administration, our faculty, our staff, and you, the Board of Trustees, Lakeland stands above nearly all two-year colleges in the nation for student success, and is a shining example of the definition of these terms, as it has for been over half a century, while supporting the humane and ethical core values that they represent. 

The words and their meanings have not changed;  they are monuments to a legacy of excellence and prosperity built on the foundation of the will of the people of Lake County. 

We should be strengthening our commitment to these core values, not running from it. We should honor our legacy of upholding these principles, and we cannot be afraid or ashamed of these words and the ethical systems and behaviors that they stand for. As an open-access community college, we must commit–in industry-standard terms–to including a diverse range of perspectives and providing support based on students’ needs. 

I implore you to preserve our collective legacy by preserving in the strategic plan the values that you and I and my colleagues and the people of Lake County embody.

Thank you for your time, your attention, and your leadership.

Dear colleagues,

As part of our commitment to keeping the channels of communication open between LFA leadership and our members, the communications team and I are pleased to introduce you to our new LFA website.

I would like to acknowledge and thank the OEA for their help in providing us with a website and training us for its use.

I am proud to say that we are a faculty unified by our service to our community, our investment in the prosperity of Lake County and Northeast Ohio, and our passion for ensuring that students of all backgrounds have access to a high-quality college education. It is my pleasure serving our association as president, and I look forward to our continued collaboration in pursuit of our common goals.

Thank you for your work and your continued support of the LFA.

In solidarity,

Dr. Lynne Gabriel
Professor of Psychology
Lakeland Faculty Association President