Board of Trustees Report
District Office
August 20, 2008
External Affairs Committee Planning and Student
A new district public relations effort is being mounted, and the new team in
charge, a compilation of individuals from various firms, gave a report to the
committee. They've just completed a survey of over 400 individuals district-wide.
The results are very positive. Our colleges are held in high regard, with 32% of
those surveyed likely to enroll in a course and 42% having already done so.
The public's economic worries, unfortunate as they are, provide us with a
marketing opportunity, as it gives us a chance to stress our pivotal role in job
training. A wide-ranging campaign is planned, including cable, film, and television
advertising, but the stress was placed on on-line peer-to-peer communication.
The plan is to use employers in the ads, as well as students and trustees. Green
jobs will be a special focus, and our Summit may be featured, given its
sustainability theme. The committee response to the presentation was very
enthusiastic.
Planning and Student Success Committee
The first item on the agenda was the proposal to change the Non-Resident
Tuition Policy. Non-residents would no longer be allowed to take six units for free
but rather only four units (or one class). This change was proposed due to the
apparent exploitation of the six-unit rule by F-1 and other non-residents, students
who have the wherewithal to pay. The leniency was only intended to
accommodate non-resident high school concurrent students. Committee
members expressed concern that some deserving students will be kept from
enrolling as a result of this change, but there was a general agreement that it
was the best compromise available. In any case, the results of the change will be
closely monitored. No other districts in the area have a waiver like this for nonresidents.
The Committee was given an accreditation update. Gary Colombo reviewed the
numerous reporting obligations, with two colleges having a report due in October,
three with mid-term reports in March, and three with visits in March. The
ACCJC's recommendations regarding the GASB 45 obligation were discussed,
as were faculty evaluations in terms of SLO's, and the need to further discuss
decentralization. There was some discussion about the pressure from the
Spellings Commission, and I summarized the ASCCC's position, as recently
articulated again by Mark Wade Lieu (see his recent President's Update). A lack
of clear communication between the ACCJC and the District seems to be a
definite problem. The recent placing of Southwest on probation, when it wasn't
even on warning status, continues to perplex the senior staff as well as the
Board. Harbor, Mission, Valley, West, and Southwest all made presentations,
updating the Committee on their work in terms of preparing for their respective
deadlines.
Open Session
Arturo Velasquez from City College, spoke regarding the MTA I-Pass for
students. He was concerned about what would happen after the expiration of the
new two-year agreement. He also argued that students need to be included in
future discussions. Rose Bustos, the Student Trustee, pointed out that the
Student Affairs Committee is dealing with the issue, and that he should contact
her.
Committee reports were given (see above).
The Chancellor commended Jorge Mata, the interim IT director, for a recent
article about him in Computer World magazine (I may have the name wrong). In
it, Jorge talks about how he deals with IT issues in a shared governance context.
Susan Aminoff, the chair of the JLMBC, reported to the Board. They will be
asking them for an additional $6.5 million, a 9.3% increase, to fund our benefits
for this year. This is quite a bit better than the original proposal of an $8.5 million
increase. I will leave the rest of these details to Carl and the Guild, however,
other than to say that the work of JLMBC was lauded by Mona Field, on behalf of
the Board, and by the Chancellor.
The Consent Calendar was approved unanimously, after questions were
answered about a Dale Carnegie training program at West, about the need for
district energy consultants at the amount requested, and about a new contract for
a firm building at Mission which has had a poor performance record (but which
came in with the lowest bid for the new project).
The longest discussion of the session was about the requested change in the
Non-Resident Tuition Policy (see above, as the Open Session discussion
repeated the same points). In the end, the Board unanimously approved the
change.
Finally, the Board approved the Budget for 2008-09, recognizing that it may have
to be revised, pending a resolution of the impasse in Sacramento. As the
Chancellor stated, we really do not know at this time how we are going to come
out.