"As a Hartnell College trustee, I learned about video cameras installed in some classrooms only after reading about it in The Salinas Californian. The Dec. 5-6 headline reads, 'Hartnell removes cameras.'
Not only was the governing board not notified, the other college 'shared governance bodies' were left out of the decision to install the cameras. These shared governance bodies include the Academic Senate, Student Senate, labor unions and faculty union. Shared governance is an accreditation requirement and also required under state law.
The cameras were installed just before Halloween, but here it is coming up on Easter and the questions posed at the last Hartnell board meeting about a classroom surveillance incident have not been answered: Who made the camera installment decision? Where did the money come from — general funds, Measure H, Title V? Were the appropriate oversight bodies informed? Who has access to the video images. What is their confidentiality clearance level? Where are the video records archived? Will the records eventually be disposed of and, if so, how?"
Not only was the governing board not notified, the other college 'shared governance bodies' were left out of the decision to install the cameras. These shared governance bodies include the Academic Senate, Student Senate, labor unions and faculty union. Shared governance is an accreditation requirement and also required under state law.
The cameras were installed just before Halloween, but here it is coming up on Easter and the questions posed at the last Hartnell board meeting about a classroom surveillance incident have not been answered: Who made the camera installment decision? Where did the money come from — general funds, Measure H, Title V? Were the appropriate oversight bodies informed? Who has access to the video images. What is their confidentiality clearance level? Where are the video records archived? Will the records eventually be disposed of and, if so, how?"