Board of Trustees Report
District Office
January 26, 2011
(I did not attend the Infrastructure Committee meeting, but Nancy
Pearlman’s summary is included below.)
Legislative Affairs Committee
The short meeting began with a presentation by Larry Eisenberg
about legislation being sought in Sacramento to exempt the LACCD
(and others) from SB 9, a bill just now taking effect that could restrict,
if not eliminate, the district's ability to maintain its current labor
compliance program with design build projects. SB 9, apparently an
otherwise worthy bill, would have the unintended effect of hurting us
financially. Prospects for gaining the exemption appeared strong.
Eisenberg also gave a short update on three other pieces of bondrelated state legislation that the district is pursuing. All were of a
technical nature, one dealing with best value procurement.
The second half of the meeting consisted of a presentation by Jordan
Bernstein and Donna Jo Denison from Cassidy and Associates, our
lobbying firm in Washington. They said there were enormous federal
grant opportunities still, despite all the talk about the growing deficit,
as lots of money has been in the pipeline for some time. For starters,
the remnants of Obama's $12 billion American Graduation Initiative is
still a sizeable $2 billion. This money will be distributed by the
Department of Labor over the next four years, $500 million at a time.
Jordan thought we should be able to get up to $10 million as a
district. Additionally, DOL has another $1 billion to distribute over the
next year in various areas. Finally, the NSF has several hundred
million, and is expressing a lot of interest of late in community
colleges. He stressed the crucial importance of collaboration with
other agencies and between the colleges. Submissions for the AGI
grants are due in a bit less than three months.
Chancellor LaVista reiterated the importance of collaboration,
especially between colleges. Jordan noted the great deal of fruitful
preparation that has occurred in the last few years (since they began
to work with us). The visits by trustees, college presidents, and vice
chancellors will really pay off, he believes. Sylvia Scott-Hayes
acknowledged that hiring Cassidy has been of "great benefit to the
district," and said that any federal money we win can offset some of
the state budget cuts.
Open Session
In her opening comments Georgia Mercer remarked on the recent
League Conference in Sacramento, attended by at least three
trustees, as well as Joanne Waddell and John McDowell. Tina Park
spoke of the "disastrous consequences" to community colleges if tax
extensions are not approved in June (or are not on the ballot at all)
and the need for the district to think creatively.
There were no comments from the resource table representatives.
Hovsep Kotelyan, an IT employee at Harbor, asked for a Board
reconsideration of a recent Personnel Commission decision regarding
his classification.
Mercer reported out of Closed Session that the Board had accepted
an agreement with a faculty member at City (name unclear). No
further details were provided.
Committee reports followed. Nancy Pearlman said the Infrastructure
Committee approved the plans for improvements to Southwest's Cox
Building and Fitness and Wellness Center. The rerouting of Mason
Ave. at Pierce was also covered. The Master Plan Update for Valley
was reviewed for a second time. Finally, there was discussion about
a building design feature checklist.
Scott-Hayes reported on the Legislative Affairs Committee (see
above).
Resolutions were passed celebrating Black History Month and the
Lunar New Year and encouraging the colleges and student
organizations to sponsor related cultural awareness programs.
Nine retiring classified staff members were honored in a resolution.
Four of them had 30 or more years of service to the district.
Chancellor LaVista's report followed. First up was a ceremony
recognizing the Pierce women's volleyball team. They are the state
champions this year, having completed the season with a 29-3
record, and winning their conference for the ninth time in the last ten
years. Five players were named to the All-State team. Athletic
Director Bob La Frano and Coach Nabil Mardini both spoke briefly,
with Mardini noting that several girls come from out of the Los
Angeles area, even out of state, to play at Pierce. The whole team
then stood up and was enthusiastically applauded.
LaVista next introduced Kathleen Burke-Kelly, who gave a
presentation regarding the Media Arts Program at Pierce. It includes
the departments of journalism, multimedia, cinema, broadcasting,
photography, and public relations. They put out The Roundup, the
student newspaper, and The Bull, a creative writing journal (both
have online as well as hard copy versions). There is also a radio
station, KPCRadio.com. Students have won numerous awards and
internships. The departments collaborate with local high schools, the
media industry, and museums, such as the Getty.
The final portion of the Chancellor's Report was a presentation by
Inspector General Christine Marez. Her office is now fully staffed, the
whistle blower program is in operation, and nine audits are in
progress or planned for this year (all to be completed by Nov. 1,
which will mark her first year of employment). A PDF will be published
next week, detailing the work done to date (no address was given,
but presumably it will be linked to the district's). Some areas the
audits will cover include the Van De Kamp Center, Prop 39
complaints identified by the Capstone study last year, bond staff
hiring procedures (and whether staff is qualified and compensated
appropriately), and overall project manager costs and expenditure
rates. Her goal is to reduce the risks that Capstone identified. In
addition to the audits, there will be ongoing special investigations.
Kelly Candaele asked whether the district project manager contract,
set to be renewed with URS (BuildLACCD) for another year later in
the meeting, could be renegotiated, were anything to be revealed by
an audit. Camille Goulet reminded him that the contact can be
cancelled by the district on 30 days notice.
Velma Butler suggested that the IG office look into district
agreements with small, minority-owned businesses.
I asked how the IG's audits would interface with the audits performed
by Moss Adams, one of which is coming to the Board for formal
approval in February. The Bond Steering Committee has had trouble
in the past reviewing these audits before they went to the Board.
Marez said that her office would augment the Moss Adams work,
taking their investigations to a deeper level. Miguel Santiago asked
whether she had checked their audit. She said she would do so, and
look at what may be missing. The chancellor said the Moss Adams
process should continue, but he pointed out that the Board is free at
any point to change any process they deem inadequate.
Mercer presented Judith Valles with a plaque in honor of her
retirement at the end of this month. Mercer thanked her for her
"wonderful" and "invaluable" contribution. Valles thanked the Board
for the opportunity to serve, and said Mission was a special place,
which was why she stayed for almost three years, longer than she
had planned. Valles had previously served as the mayor of San
Bernardino and the president of Golden West College.
The proposed adoption of new rates for non-resident tuition (up
slightly to $190/unit) drew some comments. Mona Field had a general
concern that native students not have their enrollment opportunities
negatively impacted as we recruit more F-1 students, with Tong
worried that the foreign students would not be able to pay the higher
tuition. The motion passed 7-1, with Tong opposing (advisory vote).
The rest of the Consent Calendar was passed with few comments.
In concluding announcements, I pointed out that the Board had
approved the new ten-unit Statway course at Pierce (algebra and
statistics combined), which will allow students to complete in two
semesters what now takes them three. We hope to see this course
available across the district soon. Santiago mentioned the upcoming
Math Summit and the new Math reform ideas discussed at the last
Planning and Student Success meeting. Mercer and Tong reminded
us of the April 11 Hands Across California event in support of
community colleges.
Comments
It was terrific to see the Pierce team honored. A very, very impressive
accomplishment. Go to www.piercecollege.edu, then click on the tabs
for athletics and website, to see the video of the exciting end to the
championship game.
Frankly, I have not been impressed with some aspects of the work of
Moss Adams in recent years, and I know others feel the same way.
We're going to be looking closely at their latest audit in Bond Steering
on Tuesday.
The new Statway course is just one instance of an effort by Math
departments in the district to look at alternative ways of offering
instruction. The March 11 Math Summit, sponsored by the Math
Discipline Council, the DAS, and the Chancellor's Office, will be a
first-ever coming together of Math faculty and interested others to
explore these and other ideas more closely.
David
District Academic Senate President
213-891-2294
dbeaulieu@email.laccd.edu
www.laccd.edu/das