PUENTE
Appendix A: Budget History and Impact
Category
Classified Staffing (# of positions)
Supplies & Services
Technology/Equipment
Other (Learning Assistant)
TOTAL
2011-12
Budget
Requested
1
$8000
2011-12
Budget
Received
No
$9000 (per
MOU)
2012-13
Budget
Requested
1
$9000
2012-13
Budget
Received
No
$8000 (per
MOU)
2
No
0
-
1. How has your investment of the budget monies you did receive improved student learning? When
you requested the funding, you provided a rationale. In this section, assess if the anticipated
positive impacts you projected have, in fact, been realized.
To run the Puente Program’s counseling, mentoring, and student support components, the MOU with
the Puente State Office recommends both clerical support and a supply budget. The supplies provide a
professional face to the Puente Project as we engage the community in outreach efforts, recruit and
train mentors, and connect students’ families to Chabot’s services. This budget also supplements our
student support initiatives and mentoring components, including university or career fieldtrips, mentor
training and matching events, and a student/family orientation and end of year celebration.
2. What has been the impact of not receiving some of your requested funding? How has student
learning been impacted, or safety compromised, or enrollment or retention negatively impacted?
Without a Classified support position, the counselor/co-coordinator has fewer counseling hours
available to work with students on a one-on-one basis. Some of the duties we could pass along to a
classified professional include: phoning mentors or students to remind them of orientation events or
mixers; organizing student intake forms throughout the year to track applicants; updating mentorstudent information so our records are current; managing scholarship applications; managing mentor
applications.
Although Puente was offered a Learning Assistant position for Fall 2011, our most qualified Learning
assistants were not able to be employed by the college due to documentation status. This means that
the students volunteered their time or received minimal compensation if the coordinators were able to
secure small scholarship donations for the two Learning Assistants in the English 102 cohorts. With the
new scholarship compensation model in Learning Connection and with AB 130 and AB 131’s
implementation (as well as the Deferred Action executive order from President Obama), we may be able
to utilize trained Learning Assistants more effectively in the coming year. Our sections with strong
learning assistants have had significantly higher success rates two years in a row. There are other
factors, however, that could contribute to the differences in success and persistence among different
sections of Puente students. Still, students report that the learning assistants were very helpful in the
Basic Skills English sections. Learning assistants model strong study strategies, encourage students to
engage the reading and provide guidance to students as they acclimate to college life.