Board of Trustees Report
Mission College
April 13, 2011
Open Session
Today was the first Board meeting under its new schedule. That meant that there were
no committee meetings today, only the Closed and Open Sessions.
Kathleen Burke-Kelly welcomed the Board and introduced college faculty, staff, and
administrative leaders. She reviewed the progress on the bond program. The new
Health, Fitness and Athletic Complex and the Family and Consumer Studies and
Bookstore are being formally dedicated on May 7. The Media Arts and the Math/Science
buildings will open next year. Extensive work has been done to get ready for an
accreditation self study coming up next year. Burke-Kelly thanked the Mission
community for its warm welcome back. Monte Perez will begin as the new president on
May 1.
After ASO President Brian Rodriguez welcomed the Board very briefly, there were
several public speakers:
Gene Hernandez, president of the local homeowners association, stated his strong
opposition to a 500 student charter high school across the street. Lack of enrollment
need, traffic congestion, and the lack of adequate facilities and space were the main
reasons given.
Three students spoke regarding the ITAP bus passes, concerned about how a possible
mandatory fee for all students would be handled, but also eager to see passes
maintained. James Bates, for example, discussed how class-based our society
remained and asked the Board not to disappoint students by eliminating the passes.
Kelly Candaele and Tom Hall later responded with a history of ITAP. It has been funded
up to now with bond monies (for traffic mitigation) but bond funds can't be used after this
year. It can only be continued if the Board institutes a mandatory fee for all students.
They will not do so, however, unless this is clearly recommended by the Student Affairs
Committee, based on a referendum at the colleges.
Student Lionel Mares complained about bond mismanagement at Mission under Karen
Hoeffel. Norma Ramirez, community activist, reiterated his complaints, saying the district
should sue Gateway, the CPM at Mission, for negligence. She implied that Gateway was
involved in the high school property in question and asked where the accountability was
for Mission construction projects.
Several students followed, all decrying the cutbacks in classes and services at Mission.
Daniel Campos said the trustees should "fight for students, and be against bailouts for
banks" and not cancel summer session. Maria Valencia agreed and said she had a
signed petition to present to the Board. Adamil Villacorte complained that Mission was
always getting "the short end of the stick" in terms of district budget allocations.
Miguel Santiago said the Board shared the students' belief. He reviewed the state
budget situation and the state community college allocation model. Mona Field reiterated
his points and explained district decentralization.
One item was reported out of Closed Session: there was a unanimous vote to rescind
the notice of non-renewal for an unidentified academic administrator (if I heard this
correctly).
Resolutions were passed in support of the following: Asian/Pacific Heritage Month
(May); Mexican-American Heritage Week (May 1-7) and Recognition of Cinco de Mayo;
National Nurses Week (May 6-12); National Police Week (15-21) and National Peace
Officers Memorial Day (May 15); and El Dia del Maestro (Day of the Teacher) (May 11).
An additional resolution was passed in support of sustainable operations (in particular,
avoiding the use of unnecessary paper and coverings). Finally, eight candidates for the
CCC trustees Board of Directors were selected, among them Tina Park.
Chancellor LaVista thanked Mission and Burke-Kelly for their hospitality. He also
thanked Burke-Kelly and Joy McCaslin for stepping in as interim presidents during this
transition period after Judith Valles’s retirement. He then talked about Higher Education
Lobby Day on April 5 in Sacramento. The UC’s, CSU’s, and CCC’s coordinated their
efforts this year. The approach appeared to be effective and will be repeated next year.
The chancellor spent the day visiting legislators with Chancellor Gene Block of UCLA,
CSLA President James Rosser, and Santa Monica College President Chui Tsang. He
distributed a copy of the handout they presented.
The rest of his presentation was devoted to a summary of the March 11 Math Summit.
Bruce Yoshiwara, chair of the Pierce Math Department, and Steve Castillo, chair of the
Math Discipline Committee, reviewed the latest figures on math preparation for our
incoming students, as well as key highlights of the day. Daryl Kinney spoke about
pedagogical reform work in progress. We were careful to note that not all math faculty
are in agreement with Statway, an accelerated math sequence that was highlighted at
the summit, thought it is one possible path forward. Our comments led to a question by
Pearlman as to the usefulness of algebra. The chancellor and I both responded that it
was excellent critical thinking training (though I added you wouldn’t want to take this
argument too far).
In Consent Calendar discussion, Tina Park had some pointed questions about our
building inspectors. She wanted to know what accountability our inspectors are held to
when projects are rejected by DSA even though the inspectors had signed off on them.
The response was vague.
The next meeting day is April 27. Committee meetings will be held in the morning and
the new Capital Construction Committee (a Committee of the Whole) in the afternoon
(not necessarily at 3:30). The Board will not have an operational Open Session again
until May 11.
Miki Jackson from the Van de Kamp Coalition was the final public speaker. She restated
a number of criticisms of the Board for its handling of the bond program and Van de
Kamp issues in particular.
Comments
The students spoke intensely and intelligently. I also noticed more of a class
consciousness in their comments than is usual. Why do banks get bailouts and not
students? Not an unreasonable question. However, I was sorry to hear the allegations
that Mission is getting less than its proper share of district money. We have worked very
hard in the DBC to be sure the district allocation is fair. In fact, we're looking at the model
again this year, as it may be necessary to make adjustments.
Nancy Pearlman's resolution on sustainable operations felt odd, given the recent articles
in The Times. I can't help but think the rest of the trustees would rather not say too much
about sustainability anything for a while.
While the presentation about the math summit was very low-key, at DAS insistence, I
would still have preferred not to have made it at all. I'm glad the trustees are interested,
but the important task now is to engage math faculty in discussion of next steps. They're
the ones who have to drive any changes. The Board, the administration, even the DAS,
can only serve as facilitators. If we overplay our role, it’s sure to lead to problems. These
presentations risk doing that if they’re not done carefully.
The two new buildings look great, with strong sharp lines, and a pleasing contrast.
They've dramatically changed the look of the campus.
David
David Beaulieu
District Academic Senate President
dbeaulieu@email.laccd.edu
213/891-2294