Student Services and Equity Committee Minutes: September 3, 2009
The Peralta Colleges Governing Board
Student Services and Equity Committee Minutes
Physical Plant Conference Room
333 E. 8th St., Oakland, CA
September 3,, 2009
4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
The meeting opened at 4:38 p.m.
Present: Trustees Linda Handy and Nicky González Yuen, James Bracy, May Chen, Eric
Gravenberg, Kerry Compton, Tina Vasconcellos, Alexis Montevirgen, Newin Orante, Rita
Mouton-Patterson, Joseph Bielanski
1. Review and approve the minutes of the last meeting.
July 2, 2009 minutes were approved as presented.
2. Equity of Student Services
A representative from each college gave a report on the staff to student ratio and wait times
during peak registration for Student Services. The committee was in agreement that our customer
service needs attention. Jim Bracy stated that student ambassadors and the welcome centers are
vital to Peralta’s customer service, and Trustee Handy agreed that these services cannot
disappear.
It was suggested that we should pool and share resources to improve student life on the
campuses. The trustees would like to see policies put into place for best practices across all four
colleges.
Follow-up:
 Jim Bracy to provide spreadsheet of student services programs.
3. Health Services Initiative Update
Jim Bracy gave an update from the Health Services Steering Committee meeting that was held
earlier in the day. He gave a summary of the next steps that were agreed upon by the committee.
The RFI agreement was approved and it was noted that the next Health Services Steering
Committee meeting will be publically noticed.
Peralta Community College District and Alameda County Health Care Services Agency (HCSA)
are each responsible for $35,000 to move the project forward. Jim Bracy will contact Vice
Chancellor Sadiq Ikharo to identify a facilities lead to support the facilities and planning phase of
the project.
Page 1 of 2
Student Services and Equity Committee Minutes: September 3, 2009
The steering committee will begin to identify the scope and vision of the design and
development of the Health Center, and create a timeline and provision for services. The next
steering committee meeting will be at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
4. EasyPass Update
Jim Bracy reported that we are well beyond the projected threshold of students with 9 or more
units, but we will fall short of the fee goal. He suggested a strategic discussion on how to collect
the EasyPass fee from all full-time students. Every student who enrolls in 9 or more units is
billed the $31 fee. If a student drops below 9 units their bus pass is deactivated but they will not
receive a refund for the fee unless they have never used the pass. It was noted that a cost benefit
analysis should be prepared.
Alvin Owens will work full time to coordinate the EasyPass program.
5. Rent Textbooks
Karen Croley gave a brief summary on some of the programs for renting textbooks. Kerry
Compton stated that she would like to bring Follett in for discussions on this topic.
There was a discussion on the cost of textbooks and how much the faculty considers cost and
online availability when choosing them for their courses. It was noted that there should be
multiple strategies to bring down the cost of textbooks and this topic should be moved from talk
to action. Jim Bracy will take this to the VP/Deans meeting. This committee is committed to
moving this issue from discussion to setting up proposals for action by the end of the year.
The next meeting will be at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009
The meeting was adjourned at 6:33 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Croley – 466-7367
kcroley@peralta.edu
Page 2 of 2