Saturday, October 9, 2010
Board of Trustees Meeting, CRMC
Thank you for being here today & for continuing to meet in Fort Bragg. The message that you give to
this community is that WE do matter and you care enough to be here. Thank you.
My comments will be directed toward the draft of the Mendocino Education Master Plan, but first I
would like to address the meeting last night at Cotton Auditorium. I share this input so that hopefully
you will find it helpful as you begin the Master Plan process in Crescent City with the Del Norte
Education Master Plan.
If you fully intended to allow audience members 3 minutes to speak—then please say so on the
program. Inviting the community to attend and asking them for comments/questions and then stating
you have ONE minute--is insulting and immediately sends the wrong message.
The community meeting last night is the only time, I can see, where members of this community will
be able to give comments in person, unless they attend today or are able to drive up to the Eureka
campus for the Nov and Dec board meetings. You should have allowed everyone that wanted to
speak last night—the opportunity to speak. Perhaps at Del Norte, you can limit the panel responses,
or even conduct that portion of the meeting as a listening session. You invited the community and
you needed to give them all the opportunity to speak. I believe there were only 2 or 3 additional
members of the audience that wanted to speak. They should have been allowed.
Regarding the Mendocino Coast Education Master Plan:
Page 6 states: Staff and Students were included on the advisory committee. Neither is listed on
Appendix A, page 18 of the draft. Classified staff was not invited to be on this committee. I believe
you did invite a student to participate and she was able to attend, I believe, one meeting. Then, in my
opinion, if we truly value student input and want their inclusion, a pro-active attempt should have
been made to solicit more student participation. As you saw from last night, we have willing,
passionate students that care about this center and their education. Please be pro-active at Del Norte
in soliciting student participation.
Recommendation Number VII, page 16 in the EMP
―Support Distance Education Programs for Mendocino Coast Students‖
I realize distance ed is part of the future, but as was expressed last night it is not for every learner. I
appreciated hearing Pres. Marsee say last night that we don’t want the Mendocino Center to become
the next University of Phoenix. But what I would like to stress for inclusion into the plan is the
recognition that in a rural area, like the Mendocino Coast many community members are still on
dial-up and don’t have any high-speed options. I am suggesting and urging revision of this section to
clearly state the willingness of the district to support Mendocino Coast students in distance ed with
increased staffing, technology support and access to computers. Currently our students ONLY have
access to the ASC/Library from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday – Thursday and on Friday from 8:30
a.m. only until 12:30 p.m. We have night classes on this campus, but from 6 p.m. on there is no
computer access for students that need to work during the day (in order to support themselves and
their families)—and who may be willing & interested in taking distance ed classes, but without
evening and untraditional hours for computer access they have no opportunity to enroll in on-line
classes.
Regarding the deficit statement on page 11 of the EMP: ―By delaying the replacement of full-time
faculty positions and improving enrollments, the budget deficit in 2009-10 was reduced to $294,000.‖
And yet on Page 22, of the EMP under Appendix C ―Multi-Year Projected Budget‖, under the line
Budget Balance, 2009-10-actual figures show the deficit at $106,488. Please re-examine those figures,
it seems to me that they should be the same—not different?
Finally, Recommendation number I: ―Provide Courses for Transfer in Oceanography, Marine Biology,
Fisheries Biology and Environmental Science Majors‖
If the district & the Education Master Plan is truly not trying to do away with the current MST
program as stated in the Executive Summary that was handed out last night and is also found on page
13 of the draft: ―There is currently no intention to terminate the Marine Science Technology
program.‖
And if one of the goals of Recommendation I, in regards to the Marine Science Tech program is truly
to ―augment it further‖ as stated by President Marsee last night, then before the final draft in
December, please re-work and re-write the sections on MST, taking out the words ―converted into‖
found on pages 2 and 13 and adding President’s Marsee’s wording of ―augment it further‖…
I would also suggest that you include in the job analysis portion the facts that were shared last night
and which I believe Professor Grantham has data to back up, that out of the 40 graduates of the MST
program, all 40 found jobs in related fields.
I would also urge inclusion of some mention of the plans for the Noyo Center as proposed by the City
of Fort Bragg and shared in the Board meeting on 10/9/10. This is another exciting opportunity for
our students and the MST program.
Thank you,
Marcia Williams
Financial Aid/Scholarships/EOPS/Veterans
Mendocino Coast