Board of Trustees Report
District Office
June 29, 2011
I was out of town on June 15, the date of the last Board meeting, but Don Gauthier was
present and took notes. We’ll get something out to you shortly. Also, Don began
yesterday as the new second DAS Vice President. Among his duties will be to do
occasional reports, either when I can’t make a meeting or don’t have the time to do the
report.
Institutional Effectiveness Committee
Since this was Sylvia Scott-Hayes's last committee meeting, Yasmin Delahoussaye and
I presented her with a plaque in recognition of her commitment to student success. I said
that a dozen years ago only a few of us in the district were talking forcefully about
student success, and Scott-Hayes was one of them. While we haven't accomplished as
much as she would have liked, I suggested that we're close to reaching a number of
steps which she has long advocated.
The meeting was devoted to a presentation by the seaside colleges of their strategic
plan updates.
Harbor's was led primarily by Vice President Luis Rojas. He pointed out a number of
successful programs, such as the LAUSD high school on campus, the Teacher Prep
Academy, which has been remarkably successful (and named a California Distinguished
School every year in which it is eligible). Harbor class size has increased dramatically (to
an average of 42), which has reduced their cost per student considerably, bringing it
more into line with the other colleges. A number of new partnerships with business and
industry have been established, and there is increased activity with the Port of Los
Angeles. Marvin Martinez's leadership was praised by Rojas and VPSS Abbie Patterson.
Both said he had insisted that the campus end the year with a surplus, after many years
of deficits, and they did it.
West followed, led by Bob Sprague, VPAA, and Rebecca Tilberg, the Dean of Research.
Scott-Hayes asked about the basic skills numbers which showed no improvement, and I
mentioned the low UC transfer totals, asking whether UCLA was being fair in accepting
so few from West when they took so many from Santa Monica.
Southwest's presentation was led by Dan Walden, Dean of Research, and outgoing
Senate president Allison Moore. While their 2011 ARCC data seems to be just slightly
above the figures for 2008, there is a lot going on, with new plans for basic skills
education, TRIO grants, and small business planning grants. Southwest is already one
year into Achieving the Dream, and the speakers seemed very positive in their
assessment. Degree completion is down at SW by a margin greater than the district
decline. And, as with West, the CSU and UC transfer numbers remain very low.
East presented its revised Mission statement. There was no discussion.
Finally, I spoke to the committee about recent DAS activities, as Scott-Hayes had
requested that I do so. Given our shared governance relationship with the Board, I
objected to the term “report,” but discussed briefly our work in the area of transfer. That
led to Scott-Hayes alleging that she had heard from various legislative officials in
Sacramento that the DAS is not cooperating with AB 1440 implementation. I said that
was false and that she should tell anyone who says so that it was false. I reviewed our
steps to comply with the law, but also described some of the deficiencies in the bill that
worry us.
Legislative Committee
In his usual rapid fire review of the state situation, lobbyist Patrick McCallum said he saw
no sign of improvement in the state economy, even still using the word recession to
describe it. As for the new budget, he anticipates a $30-100 million cut for community
colleges in January (I believe this is based on an assumption that the additional fee
increase to $46/unit does not take place). The assessment by the Dept. of Finance of
state revenue totals will be made in mid-December. As for the future, the next couple of
years will be "pretty tough." Performance based funding is being discussed in the task
force on student success mandated by the legislature last year, with a proposal brought
forward by our Chancellor LaVista and others competing with a more stringent one.
Finally, he added that the LA Times articles had had a "substantial" impact on his ability
to move bills beneficial to LACCD forward.
Discussion followed about three particular bills, one limiting the amount a public entity
can withhold from a contractor. The district will almost surely oppose this. The second
will make it easier for colleges and universities to enforce existing smoking bans. The
third facilitates younger students attending community college. These latter two are likely
to be formally supported by the Board. McCallum described the third bill, sponsored by
Assemblyman Portantino, as not going beyond our historical support for concurrent
enrollment. There was very little discussion about the bills.
Finance and Audit Committee
Arnold Blanshard, our internal auditor, reported on his office's recent work. Some serious
problems have been identified: someone in the business office at Valley may have been
involved in criminal activity; a vendor hire at Trade was inappropriate; and there is a
problem at Mission regarding a grade change. Blanshard said changes had been made
since he last reported to the Board. In particular, his office was conducting more follow
up, in response to the chancellor's request. He has, however, only two working under
him, leading some trustees to ask whether he shouldn’t have more, since there is a likely
financial benefit with added findings. When asked about compliance with their
recommendations, Blanshard said some colleges were almost perfect, while others were
at no more than 10%.
Jeanette Gordon followed with a review of the tentative district budget for 2011-12.
Given that her description of the state budget is the same as that in the latest
Chancellor's District Budget Update, I will not summarize it here. In terms of district
planning, assumptions for the new year include a workload reduction of 5.5% (to 98,600
FTES), college budget reductions of 5%, a contingency reserve at 5%, and a
contingency plan to address a 10% cut, if there are severe mid-year cuts. There was
little discussion of her handout, given the lack of time.
Open Session/Capital Construction
Committee
An extended salute to retiring Georgia Mercer and Sylvia Scott-Hayes was the first order
of business. Board Vice President Miguel Santiago led the proceedings, which included
the reading of resolutions from Assemblyman Warren Furutani and Senator Alex Padilla,
the presentation of a plaque from Mayor Villaraigosa, as well as one from the County
Board of Supervisors. Finally, a plaque from the other five Board members was
presented by Kelly Candaele. More words of praise followed from the remaining Board
members, with Mona Field noting their "hundreds of accomplishments" and great
support for her. New members focused on how helpful Mercer and Scott-Hayes were to
them when they joined the Board.
Flowers from the staff and a gift of jewelry from colleagues were next, then words from
the chancellor, who reviewed the accomplishments of each. He cited Mercer's
leadership, her attendance at public events, and her ability to praise and criticize as
appropriate. Scott-Hayes was praised for her work on the sustainability building policy,
her penetrating questions, and her work establishing the first joint meetings between the
Board and the LAUSD Board.
In response, Scott-Hayes talked about her family and future plans, as well as her pride in
the new buildings going up all over the district. Mercer also cited the bond program as a
key legacy. She said she was very glad not to have to fund raise anymore.
Patrick McCallum noted how much better run the district is than it was twelve years ago,
when they both started. He added that Scott-Hayes had been a pioneer regarding
student success and that Mercer had been a model trustee.
The meeting then adjourned for a reception.
On resumption, there was further praise from the Resource Table for the outgoing
trustees. The regular meeting then resumed.
Mercer announced that the Board had selected Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh as the new
president of West.
Committee reports followed (see above).
The Board then moved to a Committee of the Whole for its Capital Construction
Committee meeting. The first item was a review of the East LA Campus Center, led by
lead design architect Steven Ehrlich. The 57,000 square foot building, which will include
a student center, bookstore, and cafeteria, et al, will be located right in the middle of the
campus. It will include a dramatic three-story atrium and be LEEDS Gold certified. The
trustees expressed enthusiasm for the design.
Initial educational plans for the Firestone Education Center, across the street from the
current South Gate Center, were presented by Berliner and Associates. The main front
building will be readapted when additional funds become available. It was suggested as
an ideal place for CTE programs, given its great size (some 250,000 square feet). The
rear buildings will be demolished, and a new building constructed there. This will allow
for a huge expansion of the educational program that is currently offered across the
street.
Tom Hall was next up to discuss building inspectors (a continuation from an earlier
presentation to the Board) and whole building commissioning (also a continuation).
Given the late hour and the very long day, after some discussion the Board chose to
return to these items and others on the agenda to a later meeting.
Comments
Both trustees made a strong contribution to the district. Obviously, we disagreed about
some issues, but their dedication to student success and to improving the condition of
our colleges was very impressive.
We are doing everything required of us to comply with AB 1440. I don’t know who is
saying otherwise, but intend to find out. I will probably write Jack Scott to get this
straightened out. If you can’t criticize a law without being accused of trying to subvert it,
we’re in bad shape.
The selection of Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh at West is terrific news. He has always been a
strong supporter of student success and of shared governance. I’m very pleased to see
him return to LACCD after a year away.
David
David Beaulieu
District Academic Senate President
dbeaulieu@email.laccd.edu
213/891-2294