To all who are concerned with the future of Art Center:
I have always planned on setting the record straight concerning my dismissal from Art Center last week, however I needed to take care of a few things before that was possible.
Over the last 10 years I have worked for three different departments at Art Center (my last position being the Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer), through this I have come to know and respect many of the students, faculty, staff, and alumni. I have a great love for this school and never imagined this is how I would leave. The current administration would have you believe I left on my own accord to pursue other career goals. THIS IS NOT TRUE. In my final meeting with Human Resources I was told I could not work in any other department on campus and my only option was to leave. This happened less than 24 hours after I stood up in the student meeting in the cafeteria and explained why Nate Young resigned from his position as Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer.
In the ACSG meeting last Friday, Richard Koshalek stated that Human Resources asked me to come work for them and wanted me to stay at Art Center. Again I emphatically state that THIS IS NOT TRUE. Human Resources did ask that the temp (Francis) working in our office at the time stay on and work, but I was not given that as an option. Though I have been told by legal council and others that I have serious grounds for a law suit, I have decided against this course of action at this time as the only ones who would suffer and pay are the students.
I wish you all the best, you have my full support to make education the top priority at Art Center.
Yours Truly,
Rachael Tiede
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16 comments:
Thank you so much Rachael for your honesty. I am so saddened that you have had to suffer this treatment. Thank you Future of Art Center for putting this letter front and center.
Employment practices at Art Center must be reformed, and serious attention given to developing fair, appropriate and transparent policies for all employees--staff, faculty and administration. An educational institution must hold itself to a much higher standard than this.
It's sad to see what the school has been reduced to - unless some real change is made, I would not recommend any students to attend.
Big Lie
"The nail that sticks out...gets hammered"
- James Miho
Rachel... Change your mind. Go for the lawsuit. Art Center has an unfortunate history of making such blunders in the past. Any decent attorney will be able to discover similar blunder after blunder after blunder, and all of them will work in your favor.
You were terminated because you bruised the fragile ego of the president. Art Center has settled more than one lawsuit of this nature. If you post your email address, I'll give you more ammunition.
At the very least, take a week or so to think things over.
I "know for a fact" that Rachael was offered other positions within the school prior to the events at the ACSG meeting and her dismissal the day after. Rachael said that she had already decided to leave and was not interested.
Our relationships with others, and our love for them, give us most of the meaning in life. So if a sociopath doesn't have these things, what is left? What kind of purposes do they have? The answer is chilling: They want to win. Take away love and relationships and all you have left is winning the game, whatever the game is decided to be. If they are in business, it is becoming rich. If it is sibling rivalry, it is defeating the sibling. If it is a contest, the goal is to dominate. If a sociopath is the envious sort, winning would be making the other lose, or fail, or be frustrated, or embarrassed.
A sociopath's goal is to win. And he is willing to do anything at all to win. And sociopaths have nothing else to think about, so they can be very clever and conniving. Sociopaths are not busy being concerned with relationships or moral dilemmas or conflicting feelings, so they have much more time to think about clever ways to gain your trust and stab you in the back, and how do it without anyone knowing what's happening.
http://www.youmeworks.com/sociopaths.html
I think you got a bunch of sociopaths running Art Center.
6/11/08 7:30 AM:
Offered what? Cafeteria? Bookstore?
You will read about a great many "wrongful termination" lawsuits where the plaitiff actually resigned from their position after either being unjustly demoted or intimidated.
Koshalek is too smart to have not considered the timing of the termination. He considered it and decided that he did not care. I'm willing to bet that he knew exactly what he was doing.
someone posted this on the other blog, thought it was worth posting here...
Let's compare and contrast the tales of two terminations at Art Center. That of Roland Young and Rachel Tiede.
Now, do not get me wrong. I love Roland Young. A "top three" all time teacher in my book. His class follows me everywhere I go today.
Roland regularly flirted with the boundaries of staying employed for many decades. It was not uncommon to see him remove student work from the walls and dump it in the trash. It was not uncommon to see him show up at a student party with a pretty young girl from his night class. If you were an attractive female student of his, it was not uncommon to get asked out (sometimes more than a few times). It was not uncommon for girls to complain about this line-crossing behavior. Roland lived "on-the-edge" always. And students loved his "no bullshit" simplicity. He was brilliant and tragic at the same time. This was his style for 4 decades. He was a hero and a liability at the same time.
Rachel Tiede, in contrast, worked at Art Center for 10 years. Followed the rules, and served the school very well. Friend to everyone she worked with. Spends some time away and has a baby. Comes back. Her boss gets fed-up with policy and "falls on his sword" and resigns. She merely has the audacity to comment publicly on the reason behind Nate Young's departure, and 24 hours later, she is fired.
It took Roland Young 40 years to get his ass fired (as much as we all loved him). It took Rachel Tiede less than 24 hours.
Explain that Mr. Koshalek.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOy3H4yyocQ
Per Terence Mckenna Culture is not your friend. It is for the benefit of institutions not for the individual.
I want to go to a school that has a moral compass. Personally, I think the fact that the students are ralleying is quite inspiring. Gives me hope that they got a moral compass.
Art Center always emphasized that they represent a real world education.
Rachael was a whistle blower and she got fired. Seems like real world to me.
Not saying it's right, especially if she never signed a non disclosure contract. Nobody ever told her she did not have a right to her opinions in public.
I would hear rumors that Art Center is very aggressive about quiting bad publicity....putting lawsuits and administrative/faculty/students conflicts hushed over. I think this latest debacle verifies that.
I don't think ACCD has ever been transparent or more then self serving?
Rachael was a true asset to the school. I've seen her rise from Computer Labs Manager all the way up to the bridge. She was what gave the school a smile. It's a shame they let her go.
Actually, a fantastic question to ask the school is how much money has been paid-out to settle student/staff/faculty lawsuits, and how much has been spent in legal fees. Examine a 20 year period.
I happen to know that for an institution of its size, Art Center spends a lot of money defending itself from lawsuits brought by former faculty, staff and students.
[i]Roland regularly flirted with the boundaries of staying employed for many decades. It was not uncommon to see him remove student work from the walls and dump it in the trash. It was not uncommon to see him show up at a student party with a pretty young girl from his night class. If you were an attractive female student of his, it was not uncommon to get asked out (sometimes more than a few times). It was not uncommon for girls to complain about this line-crossing behavior. Roland lived "on-the-edge" always. And students loved his "no bullshit" simplicity. He was brilliant and tragic at the same time. This was his style for 4 decades. He was a hero and a liability at the same time.[/i]
Y'know, those sound like the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uO3rWM1TeHU
Anyone know if Film chair Bob Peterson quit or was fired? He really loved the school and the program so either reason for leaving strikes me as bad news.
Those that actually know Rachel are aware that she is one of the most honest people that you'll ever meet. When she began in the computer lab, (the "academic side", aka the illigetimate step-child of ACCD administration) she did her best for the students, when she moved over to her various positions on the Bridge, she kept true to her roots and understood that the ACCD administration is there to serve the school - the students, teachers, the educational mission... Even if Rachel had already decided to leave, why would she publically contradict the ACCD "party-line"? Because she has character.
So many people come and go at ACCD, hoping to make a difference; only to find that you either assimilate or you're out of a job. Many, like myself, do their best to hold on as long as they can, trying to make changes that woud benefit the school. Eventually, it's just not worth it anymore. Students coming in are often clueless until half-way through, then they just want to get their degree and get out. Some get involved with student government but I was there when that started and it was a classic case of political assimilation.
The Board is, and has always been, asleep at the wheel - zero accountability. For the most part. the students work too hard to really have the time to raise hell. Almost everyone lower than SVP or an officer position is in a constant fear of losing their job if they don't tow the company line.
I'll give you a couple of clues to where one of the *biggest* problems is located - who in the administration has been there for a very long time and would be very very difficult to fire for *numerous* reasons? Whose job is it to find good executive candidates? Who brought in "King Richard", who brought in the original Provost who left with a wad of cash (under threat of a lawsuit) after ACCD found out that he wasn't properly screened? Who is involved in almost *everything*, even when it's out of the scope of (clue #1.5) *her* position to be involved? (Clue #2 - it's not the current CFO, he's probably willing to monkeywrench the system from the inside, if given the chance and the ACCD CFO doesn't make policy, he just assures that the numbers add up per the Board's direction.) Who shadows everything?
Final clue: Who is God when it comes to hiring and firing and both operates above the law and under the radar?
Think hard and follow the white rabbit...
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