Sidelined KCK Community College president won’t get to face board of trustees

Kansas City Kansas Community College trustees will not be hearing their sidelined president Doris Givens defend herself against complaints that could taint her long career in higher education.

The KCKCC Board of Trustees put Givens on administrative leave with pay more than a week ago after it received anonymous complaints against her. Board Chairman John D. Rios says the complaints are under review.

Board members said trustees for the Wyandotte County college have not talked with Givens about the complaints, and Rios said in an interview on Monday that the board probably will not speak face to face with Givens before it decides whether to officially terminate her.

Rios said any communication on the matter would happen between the attorney representing the college and the attorney representing Givens. But the final decision belongs to the trustees.

“That is the protocol that we follow,” Rios said. “We will review the facts and come to a conclusion to safeguard everybody, no personalities, no agendas.”

Rios and the board have declined to give details about the complaints, but in a statement last week the board stated it put Givens on paid leave “in accordance with its fiduciary obligations to the college.”

Trustee Wendell Maddox was the only one of seven board members to vote against pulling the president from her duties based on the anonymous complaints.

Meanwhile the college is now paying two presidents — Givens and Acting President Jacqueline Vietti, whom the board named to the post last week. Rios said pay for Vietti has not yet been finalized. Givens is continuing to receive $195,000 a year in compensation.

Initially the board had placed Edward Kremer, dean of the math department at the college, in the acting president position. Then days later, it named him acting vice president for academic affairs. Earlier this year Kremer had interviewed for the job of vice president of academic affairs for the college and was turned down.

Rios said he didn’t know how long the internal review of Givens would take. Givens, the first female and first African-American president of the college, was hired in 2011. Before arriving in Kansas, she had been vice chancellor for educational services for the Kern Community College District in Bakersfield, Calif.

This story was originally published July 24, 2017 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Sidelined KCK Community College president won’t get to face board of trustees."