The debate is this; should an instructor or teacher, who has been hired on to the Cerritos College staff as an emergency hire, be refused rehiring after proving his success, for not having the proper credentials?
To be more specific, men’s tennis head coach Alvin Kim pointed out that because he does not have a master’s degree in physical education, he will no longer be able to teach tennis classes at Cerritos.
“The situation is that I have been teaching here for several years and my classes are being taken away because I did not finish my master’s degree in physical education,” Kim said.
Kim, like others, was hired as an emergency hire, a term that Kim explains is like being hired on as part-time, leaving him with no guarantee to be hired each semester.
But if one runs the numbers of Kim’s success as the men’s tennis coach, it may leave one wondering what more could someone in his position do to prove his worth?
Entering into his fifth season as head coach at Cerritos, Kim had a 33-0 winning record in South Coast Conference play and a 71-15 overall record.
He led the Falcons to their first conference championship in 20 years.
The list of his experience goes on.
He has been a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association since 1998 and has coached high school tennis for ten years.
With Cerritos High School, he spent seven years posting a 110-5 record and in three seasons at La Mirada High School, Kim guided his teams to a 54-6 record.
So the question remains, where does the school draw the line on having enough experience?
Carlos Arce, Senate Committee on Faculty Equivalency Standards chairperson at Cerritos College said, “California mandates that in order to teach at the community college level in California, you must have a master’s degree in that discipline, not just the subject.”
This means, for example, if one wanted to teach U.S. History, one would need to have a master’s degree in the history discipline, not just U.S. History.
The argument that some may have is that Kim has consistently been re-hired as an emergency hire for over four years for his past achievements.
