A group of UC Davis students has been petitioning for the reinstatement of Asian American Studies professor Caroline Valverde.

After Valverde requested tenure and was denied, many in turn blamed the tenure process.

Valverde is an international scholar and has served as an assistant professor of Asian American Studies at UC Davis since 2003.

The tenure process goes through a multi-system procedure, which includes a department vote, dean vote, CAP’s (Committee on Academic Personnel) vote, vice provost vote, provost vote and the chancellor’s vote. At any level, the request can be struck down, which gives the professor one year to leave the school.

“The tenure process is such a closed process, which leads to the corruption of power,” said Eddie Truong, fourth-year Asian American studies student. “Such hierarchy needs to be looked at and revised.”

Additionally, a general University of California policy discloses that if a professor leaves or is dismissed from a UC, he or she may not apply to another UC for five years.

Nolan Zane, head of the Asian American studies department and psychology professor, said specific tenure cases and the reason that Valverde’s tenure request was denied cannot be discussed to protect the privacy rights of those involved.

“We can … say that tenure reviews are very methodical, thoughtful and comprehensive,” he said. ”The process involves reviews by many faculty at all stages of the review. Faculty members have numerous appeal rights. We also can say that tenure decisions are not influenced by or based on gender, race nor ethnicity.”

The decision to tenure a professor should be unanimous, and goes through various administrators and ultimately the chancellor, according to Eddie Truong. Truong was not able to disclose who rejected the tenure request.

Zane said that although Valverde did not receive tenure, she has not been dismissed and as of now still has a full-time academic position in the department for a one-year period. Zane also said Valverde teaches a full load of four courses for this academic year, advises both undergraduate and graduate students, conducts her research, serves on department committees and fully participates as a faculty member in department meetings.

The protest movement is at the stage of advocacy right now, and activists have recently met with Dean Jessie Ann Owens of the College of Letters and Sciences to plead their case. Additionally, students have been reaching out to administrators to understand the reason for the denial of tenure.

“She met the standard and yet didn’t get tenure which leads us to believe she was judged unfairly,” said Iris Xie, third-year English major.

Many UC Davis professors, as well professors from around the country, are in support of having Valverde reinstated.

“What makes UC Davis an exciting place to be, especially for me as a new faculty member, is that it is poised to be at the cutting edge of Asian American scholarship and teaching,” said Asian American studies professor Robyn Rodriguez. “The University can secure a place for itself in Asian American studies by retaining Professor Valverde, who is playing an important role in contributing to the study and teaching of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian American issues. I would be disappointed if the University missed the opportunity to shape the future of the field by dismissing her.”

More information on the petition can be reached at change.org/petitions/grant-tenure-to-prof-kieu-linh-caroline-valverde.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on November 5th to reflect accurate information.

NATASHA QABAZARD can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Last year, UC Davis hosted the Student of Color Conference (SOCC) The year, an expected 120-student delegation  from UC Davis is being sent to UC Riverside, where the 2012 conference event is taking place Nov. 9 to 11.

SOCC is an annual event put on by the University of California Student Association (UCSA) in which students of color and allies can participate in workshops, open forums and lectures about the various issues which people of color face. SOCC is UCSA’s largest and longest-running conference, and takes place at a different UC campus each year over the course of three days.

The main objective of SOCC is to promote a sense of leadership in participants in hopes of creating a community of people who want to encourage progression of students of color in the future.

This year’s theme is “R’Stories: Embracing our Struggles as Tools for Transformation.” The theme focuses on the idea that all students have their own identities and that they must acknowledge the struggle that people of past generations have gone through. Open dialogue and discussion about race and racial issues are intended to serve as a catalyst for change, empowering attendees to create more opportunities for the next generation.

Each student from UC Davis who wanted to attend the event had to submit an application, and although there is only enough space to send 120 students, preference is usually shown for people who have never attended the event.

“Since it’s at the beginning of the year, it’s a space where students can learn early on that they can be active, involved members of the campus in whichever way they choose,” said Emmanuel Diaz-Ordaz, Ethnic and Cultural Affairs commissioner and former ASUCD senator.

At last week’s Senate meeting, Diaz-Ordaz presented Senate Bill 14, a bill he authored to allocate funds to register and send students to the event. The bill went briefly into the history of the conference and called for a $2,000 allocation of funds from Senate Reserves to Aggies of Color to help alleviate costs of transportation and housing for the conference.

Though the bill eventually passed in the Senate, it was not without some hesitation. Diaz-Ordaz explained that sometimes when bills have the words “ethnic,” “culture” or “race,” people have a tendency to become slightly wary.

“I feel that the day that ASUCD stops giving Student of Color Conference money is the day that they sever their support for students of color. Through money is how ASUCD shows its support and shows these types of events have merit. I never want to see the day where ASUCD doesn’t have to fund SOCC,” he said.

Kriti Garg, ASUCD Ethnic and Cultural Affairs commissioner, added that there are many students who are requesting fee waivers.

“We’re providing fee waivers to about a fourth of our delegation, because of financial concerns. This is another reason why funding is really important,” she said.

The three-day conference serves as a networking opportunity, a chance to be able to find others who relate to your issues as a student of color, and is a learning opportunity for those involved.

“There’s a lot of education that happens among ourselves that we are not able to access normally in the University … We educate ourselves because clearly the media and other mainstream places won’t teach it for us,” said Jaki Joanino, ASUCD Ethnic and Cultural Affairs commissioner.

An important aspect of the event is that it is not only for students of color, but also allies who support the issues that their peers are going through.

For more information on the conference visit ucsa.org.

SASHA COTTERELL can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Doc Joe is a psychologist and attorney who has consulted with and advised people of all ages. Katy Ann is a licensed marriage and family therapist, who, like Doc Joe, has counseled and advised people of all ages.

The discussion and advice offered in their column is not offered as a clinical recommendation or as a substitute for clinical treatment. Rather, Doc Joe’s and Katy Ann’s comments are intended to stimulate thought, often with a sense of humor. Sometimes they agree; sometimes they don’t. So, read on…

Dear Doc Joe and Katy Ann,

I am willing to admit that I don’t understand women very well. I’ve been with Penny for two years, and I still don’t know what to say when she’s upset.

So last night she came home from work, and started crying. She came over to the couch, sat down next to me, and began telling me about her conflict with a co-worker, “Paula.” Well, she began by telling me what time she got to work, how Paula was dressed and what Paula said when Penny commented about her shoes. She then described the project that they were both working on, and how they couldn’t agree on the budget figures. This eventually led to some harsh words being spoken by both of them.

Well, after listening to Penny’s story for 15 minutes, I told her that I had a suggestion. I suggested that she sit down with Paula and attempt to compromise on some budget issues.

WRONG! She jumped up, and yelled: “You don’t care how I feel!” I was trying to help. But Penny hasn’t spoken a word to me in two days.

Doc Joe and Katy Ann, I need your help — urgently!

Doc Joe: You interrupted her story? Bad move, Sean!