Board of Trustees Report
District Office
June 16, 2010
Yes, quite late. June hasn’t been the quiet month I was hoping for.
I was unable to attend the Infrastructure Committee meeting, but Nancy Pearlman’s
short report is summarized below.
Committee of the Whole
Outgoing Vice Chancellor Gary Colombo reviewed the District Effectiveness Report,
along with related documents. He began with an overview of the new (and first ever)
review cycle, which ties together Board evaluations, the Board’s retreat, the colleges’
annual Institutional Effectiveness Reports, and the District Effectiveness Report. This will
bring more cohesion to our planning evaluation processes. The Accountability Report for
Community Colleges 2010 data was reviewed next. ARCC is in its fourth year. Its key
measurement is the Student Progress and Achievement Rate (SPAR) and the district’s
total has remained statistically stationary for the last four years. Pierce and Valley have
the best course completion rates in the district. In terms of enrollment, we’re seeing a lot
more students transferring to us from other colleges (up over 30% over three years).
Financial Aid award totals have gone up from $60 million to $88 million, but the
percentage of students getting federal aid remains much too low (around 12%). Class
size is up, as you know very well, from 32.7 in 2006 to 40.4 last fall. Colombo also drew
attention to the roughly 32% of students who enroll any given semester and do not
complete any units at all.
The figure that most struck the Board, however, was the Math data showing that only 4%
of our students who enrolled in the initial basic skills Math course recommended to them
went on to pass college level Math after three years. Sylvia Scott-Hayes renewed her
frequent call for more short-term Math courses, going so far as to say that the Board
may have to insist on them, in spite of the usual process of courses being initiated by the
faculty. I pointed out that curriculum was a faculty prerogative, though the Senate was
very receptive to looking at new ways of teaching.
Finally, Colombo presented four Student Success Initiative recommendations for Board
input. The idea is that the SSI Steering Committee would focus on these in the coming
year. They include expanding “bridge to college” programs, implementing student portal
and e-portfolio systems, doubling the size of FTLA, and expanding focused research on
targeted groups. The first three were well received, but Scott-Hayes was sharply
skeptical of the need for the last. I suggested that we focus on the “bridge to college”
programs, given the importance of keeping students engaged beyond their first
semester.
Open Session
Joanne Waddell, in her first comments to the Board as Guild president, said she was
both humbled and proud to represent the faculty of the district.
Mardi Brick, the widow of a former district employee, and her son described a problem
she was having keeping her health benefits. Dawn Bastin explained what the district was
doing to fix the situation.
Jerome Robinson, an LACC student, complained about the conduct of the ASO
president (not identified) toward a female student. A formal complaint will be filed.
Sheila Dowd, an LACC student senator who was impeached and voted out of her
position, complained about the process.
The Board took no action in any of these cases, but directed the speakers to work with
the appropriate administrators.
No action was reported out of Closed Session.
Nancy Pearlman gave a report on the Infrastructure Committee meeting that morning.
The Harbor Learning Crossroads Building (a new library) was approved, as was West’s
Watson Center (a theater building that will likely be LEEDS platinum). West’s
entranceway was not approved, however, but will be resubmitted at the next meeting.
Georgia Mercer gave a summary of the Committee of the Whole (see above).
The ARCC Report was formally approved (see above).
In the Chancellor’s Report, Trade was featured twice. Angelica Gomez, a cosmetology
student and single mother of three, was the winner of “Junior Style Stars,” a national
competition worth $56,000. It will allow her to study with master stylists around the
country. She spoke of how much Trade meant to her, and how important CalWORKS
was to her success. Her dream is to return to Trade as an instructor.
A video was shown featuring Trade’s recent “Energy Star Award for Education,” which
recognized the college as a leader in providing education to support the emerging green
economy. Also highlighted were the many grants Trade has received in recent years.
Marvin Martinez described the “10,000 Small Businesses” initiative by Goldman Sachs.
City and Southwest (along with Long Beach) will be involved in the training of small
business owners. They will do this in concert with leading national business schools.
The Consent Calendar was approved after a few technical questions.
Rodney Robinson’s surprise return to the Board as Student Trustee was explained as
due to a dispute over the election for his replacement. The new election is slated for
early fall, and Robinson will serve until then.
Finally, the Supplemental EIR’s and Facilities Master Plan Updates were approved for
both East and Southwest.
No comments this time.
All the best,
David