EL CAMINO COLLEGE
Planning & Budgeting Committee
Minutes – September 2, 2004
MEMBERS PRESENT
Bobbi Villalobos, Chair
Thomas Jackson
Cheryl Shenefield
OTHERS ATTENDING
Carolee Casper – Alternate
Susan Dever –Alternate
Mattie Eskridge
President Thomas Fallo
Pam Fees, Staff Support
Susan Taylor
Harold Tyler
Lance Widman
Victor Hanson, Staff Support
Arvid Spor
Julie Stewart – Academic Senate
David Vakil - Alternate
Handouts:
1. California Community Colleges – Equalization, “Over-Cap” Growth Funds, and
PFE Reduction: preliminary analysis
2. Amendments to Assembly Bill No. 1417 as amended in Senate January 13, 2004
3. Final Budget 2004-2005 El Camino Community College District – Office of the
Superintendent/President, September 13, 2004
4. 2004-2005 PBC meeting schedule
Bobbi Villalobos called the meeting to order at 1:00 pm.
Approval of Minutes:
It was moved by Harold Tyler and seconded by Tom Jackson that the minutes of August
19, 2004 be approved. Motion carried.
Announcements
1. Renee Dorn will be the note taker for the PBC during the Fall semester.
2. The 2004-2005 PBC meeting schedule was distributed.
Budget Review – President Fallo
President Fallo distributed the preliminary analysis of the Equalization, “Over-Cap”
Growth Funds, and PFE Reduction for California Community Colleges reports. El
Camino College received an equalization allocation in the amount of $1,736,555.00,
over-cap growth in the amount of $2,221,593.00, and PFE reduction in the amount of
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$552,267.00. The net change is $3,405,881.00 or 14% from last year. On September 7,
2004, there will be a statewide meeting regarding the budget.
President Fallo stated that El Camino College’s over-cap growth for this year is more
than 3.88% for the 2004-2005 year.
In response to a question about adding more students into classes, President Fallo stated
that if the pattern holds as it has for the last two years, then we should add students. It
has been predicted that El Camino may have a 3% increase of students in the Fall and
another 3% increase of students in the Spring.
President Fallo explained that we do not budget growth in the year it occurs. The current
adopted budget for 2004-2005 will not reflect any growth income for the current year;
instead growth income shown in the ending balance is from the 2003-2004 year. The
ending balances on page 58 have shown a 5.5 – 6.6 percent growth income.
Regarding the number of open positions available to be filled, President Fallo responded
that it may not be fiscally possible to fill some vacant positions. Growth and COLA go
towards salaries, and since PFE is down and over-cap growth is up, we do not have more
resources to fund positions. He said there is a question as to whether everything in the
budget will be funded. The Vice Presidents submitted, in order of importance, the
positions that needed to be filled, and based on those recommendations, he designated
certain vacant positions to be filled.
Student Services, Enrollment, & Class Sizes
A question was asked about the quality of services for students, and if we should stop
increasing the number of students at El Camino so that we can increase the quality of
services for the students. President Fallo responded by saying that we never want to get
into a downward spiral for student enrollment. Even if we maintain enrollment, there is
no guarantee that the quality of student services will increase. Over the last two years,
student fees have increased by 10% of our revenue limit, and the state is suggesting more
increases: $200 per unit at UC campuses, $100 per unit at CSU campuses, and $50 per
unit at community colleges. He said PFE was one of our most desirable programs based
on quality, but the funding has decreased. For community colleges quality is proven
numerically. President Fallo mentioned that more districts are building larger classrooms
forcing an increase in class size. It was asked how it is determined whether to add a
section, especially during the first week of the semester. Bobbi Villalobos responded by
saying that there is a question of classroom availability and teacher availability. When
asked about increasing the size of math classes because the small number of students in
each class is a waste of class space, President Fallo stated that this suggestion had not
been mentioned to him recently.
Another suggestion was made that maybe ECC should focus expenditures on areas
already providing quality service. President Fallo’s response was that some quality
programs on campus are very expensive said it may not always be beneficial to focus
resources on some of those more expensive programs at the cost of other programs.
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When President Fallo asked about specific recommendations for quality, those present
referred to the number of class sections, difficulty in services affecting students, and the
length of time to see a counselor.
Marketing Plan
When asked about a marketing plan for recruiting new students, President Fallo stated
that we continue to market in the high schools. He said we have been doing more
marketing at the high school level and at churches and less marketing at the consumer
level, such as in malls. Ann Garten said we want to make students more aware of El
Camino College, and we do this through the use of newsletters, CDs about El Camino,
and counselors in the high schools among other efforts. Dr. Fallo said that currently we
have a $330,000 enhancement for part-time counselor and that $200,000 of this will be
used for high school counselors.
There was also a concern about focusing on the adult campus population. President Fallo
responded that high school students will, for the most part, attend El Camino College as
full-time students and therefore give continuity to the campus. The primary payback for
the school, then, is through the marketing to high school students. He said that adult
students should be a marketing focus also, but that market is more difficult to reach.
Currently we market to adults through community newsletters and cable ads.
Casual Board Approval
Another question was asked about Board approval for casual employees and if there is a
way to expedite the approval process. According to AB 500, El Camino College is
required to have Board approval of casuals before they can begin work. It was stated that
some problems will arise when casuals are not put on the Board agenda in time and
cannot start work until after the next Board meeting. Some areas on campus need casuals
so that they can function, such the Writing Center. President Fallo stated that the Board
approval problem would be discussed in Cabinet on Friday, September 3, 2004.
Renovations
Several people asked what was going to happen to the cafeteria since very few students
utilize it and the hours are not extensive. Pres. Fallo stated that people will not support a
large cafeteria, and many students prefer to purchase items from the fast-food vendors
and The Manhattan, rather than the cafeteria. Current plans for the facility are that the
first floor will remain the Bookstore, and as of now the second floor use is unknown.
Some suggested using the space for a tutoring center with computers, or for a study hall.
As for the additional parking structure, President Fallo said that it will probably remain
south of the Stadium, but more designing is needed.
Planning Process Update – Arvid Spor
Arvid Spor said the complete Comprehensive Master Plan is ready for a final edit by Ann
Garten. He said suggestions from PBC members that were submitted to him were
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incorporated into the Plan. After edits have been made, the document will be submitted
to the Cabinet for review on September 13, 2004. The Comprehensive Master Plan will
be presented to the Board of Trustees in October.
In response to a question from PBC members, it was agreed that the document should be
emailed to everyone so they can review it before it goes to the Board.
2004 – 2005 Final Budget – Vic Hanson & Pam Fees
Pam Fees gave a review of the 2004-2005 budget. The format for the budget book is the
same as in the past, and additional copies are available.
The following areas were addressed, which will be corrected before final printings:
1. Page 53: the page needs to be reconfigured. The total of the Uncollected Income
column should be the sum of the other 2 columns. In the Uncollected Income column
under State Scheduled Maintenance Program, the total should be $14,740,801.00; for
State Hazardous Materials Abatement Program, the total should be $1,806,200.00; and
for Redevelopment Funds, the total should be $1,221,571.00. The column total with the
corrections is $393,278,802.00.
2. Page 54: the wrong formula was used, so the entire document was totaled instead of
the first 2 columns only. The final total at the bottom of the page should be
$68,193,016.00.
A question was asked regarding the non-credit FTES and whether we could increase the
FTES by reinstating the 100 level courses. Vic Hanson replied that non-credit courses
cannot increase FTES, and he stated that page 28 in the budget book refers to FTES and
non-credit courses. Because of the concern raised regarding this issue, Bobbi Villalobos
will discuss this issue with Tom Lew and report back to PBC.
Bobbi Villalobos stated that the final budget will be presented to the Board of Trustees on
September 13, 2004 and asked for a motion for PBC acceptance of the budget as
presented. It was moved by Tom Jackson and seconded by Carolee Casper to accept the
2004-2005 budget. The motion carried with one abstention.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 2:39 p.m.
Note Taker: Renee Dorn
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