COMPLAINT OF COC ADMISSIONS BIAS LEADS TO CALL FOR EMPLOYEE SENSITIVITY.

Byline: Laurence Darmiento Daily News Staff Writer

In response to a complaint that an administrator made discriminatory remarks, College of the Canyons admissions officers have been told to be more sensitive to immigrant students while questioning them about their legal status.

The action stems from a claim that acting admissions director Sue Brent made improper statements to a Mexican-born nursing school candidate, an incident that Brent and other administrators call a misunderstanding.

``In this one, something occurred that caused anxiety on the part of a potential student, and that we have to take seriously,'' said Assistant Superintendent Carter Doran. ``Perceptions are important to us. That is the way reputations are made or broken.''

The measures stem from two incidents May 23 when Hart High School graduate Elizabeth Ramos attempted to register for the nursing program using an INS work permit, which officials say is not adequate by itself to establish California residency.

Foreign - and even undocumented - students may attend California community colleges, but they must pay a fee of more than $100 per credit vs. just $13 per credit for state residents.

In a letter of complaint sent to the college, Ramos' sister-in-law said Brent falsely accused the student of buying a counterfeit permit. The complaint also said Brent suggested college officials should call the INS and have illegal students deported.

Brent flatly denied making the remarks, saying she was misinterpreted, but in interviews, the student, her sister-in-law and college counselor Ben Sierra, who was present at the meeting, say it is true.

``I showed her the work permit the first time,'' said Ramos, 18, of Canyon Country, who came to the United States six years ago and is applying for permanent resident status. ``She said, `You can get these in L.A. for $30.' I just walked away. I felt terrible.''

Ramos returned that day with her sister-in-law, Jennifer Ramos, and sought out Sierra, who recruited Ramos to attend the Valencia college.

The trio went to the admissions office, where Jennifer Ramos said she and her sister-in-law were escorted into the admission director's office while Brent spoke outside with Sierra.

College officials said Ramos is in fact a legal resident, but they were only able to establish that in a later meeting when additional paperwork was brought in.

Sierra, the only tenured Latino faculty member on the college staff, corroborated Ramos' accusations in an interview - but did not come forward in a meeting with administrators when the complaint was made. Sierra works in the school's Extended Opportunity Program and Services, which promotes minority education.

Brent said she never told the student her card was illegally purchased or that undocumented Latino students should be deported.

``I did not make those statements,'' she said. ``We let undocumented people attend the college all the time. Somehow, there was a misunderstanding with the words I used.''

She said that in her first encounter with Ramos she was simply trying to explain that the work permit was not adequate to establish residency.

In the later encounter, she maintains that an angry Sierra confronted her and suggested his anger may have been fanned by what she now considers are inappropriate remarks she made about the issue of counterfeit documents.

``We have students who come in and say they want to change their Social Security number, who come right out and tell us they had a fake one,'' she said. ``We don't say anything. We just do it.

``But I have to think to myself, what part am I playing in knowing somebody is doing something illegal? We really don't do anything. Then I wondered to him what role I played in covering that up. I probably should not have expressed that to him.''

She said the remarks were not directed at Ramos in particular, and that the two women misinterpreted what she said in overhearing them.

College officials back Brent, saying she has been an excellent employee and has not been the subject of any similar complaints.

``You are talking about a valued employee here, who has been here a long time, who has not had this kind of problem, so you are talking about a track record,'' said Glenn Hisayasu, the school's dean of student services.

``We have different versions of what was said. I was not there. I believe there was a misunderstanding.''

Administrators added that in a meeting called after the complaint was received, Sierra never corroborated the remarks.

``The thing that surprises me the most is that Ben did not support the contention that those words were used,'' Doran said. ``Now, for him to come back later and said she did really surprises me.''

Sierra acknowledged he did not corroborate the remarks but claimed that was because administrators tried to direct the conversation away from it, accusing him of giving Ramos incorrect information about the required documents.

Seeking to prevent any future problems, however, Hisayasu said Brent was told admissions officers need to be very careful about what language they use in questioning immigrant students about their status.

``Part of it had to do with certain words that trigger emotions - like `illegal.' `Undocumented' is a word that is not such a trigger,'' Hisayasu said. ``We are not taking this lightly. We are aware of the need to be sensitive.''

An INS officer also has been invited to visit the admissions office to update the staff on the intricacies of immigration paperwork, Hisayasu said. The college plans to then create a detailed checklist showing exactly what documents are needed to establish residency.

Meanwhile, Sierra has been encouraged to bring forth any other students who have complained to him about being insensitively treated.

``We want to get the issue on the table and discuss it,'' Hisayasu said.