Monday, April 7, 2008

More on access to information

A few comments have led me to follow-up the last post on access to information at GRCC. First, I have no immediate reason to believe the college is intentionally withholding information from the public. I want that to be clear.
However, I do also strongly believe that access can be severely limited even in unintentional ways. That's what I see going on now. If things like the college budget and faculty salary book are not made more easily available, then eventually my opinion may change. For now, I'm in a wait and see mode.
The comments are accurate when they wonder why access is not more easily obtained. That's what happens in these situations - individuals are left to wonder. That should not be the case.
I have heard that faculty members don't like the salary book available for viewing. My response: Get over it. GRCC is a publicly funded institution - salaries are public information. The only reason I can imagine a faculty member would not want information to be made available is for possible embarrassment. The only reason to be embarrassed is if the facts would show salaries are too high.
As this string of comments and posts shows, holding back information is not good for anyone. It leads to guessing, assuming and speculation.

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