Administrative Services Staff Meeting
July 14, 2004
PRESENT:
_x_Rocky Bonura
_v_Mike D’Amico
___Janice Ely
_x_Pam Fees
_x_Bob Gann
_x_Vic Hanson
_i_Alex Kelley
_x_Donna Manno
_x_David Miller
___Andy Nasatir
___Lynnda Nelson
_i_Allene Quarles
_x_Marcy Wade
_x_Satish Warrier
Guest: Arvid Spor
Minutes: The minutes of July 7 were approved with the following change:
Delete the reference to Donna’s marriage.
Focus Groups: Arvid Spor described the listening/focus groups project he would like to start at
ECC (based on a project from San Francisco City College). The idea is to invite community
people (business owners, parents, etc.) to come in for panel sessions to discuss what they
need/want from ECC. Representatives from all ECC employee groups, including the unions
would be included. Students could also be involved. The League of Women Voters has a
mandate to help community colleges, so they have expressed an interest in assisting with this
project, both financially and as an outside partner for moderating, etc. He will be meeting with
the group on Monday to discuss their involvement. At this point, the concept is open to
interpretation, so the project could be set up any number of ways.
Arvid would like to assemble a planning committee of no more than 20 to put the project
together and wants to have volunteers from all areas. Donna volunteered to be on the committee.
He would like to do this project this fiscal year; however, he may wait until after the elections to
prevent the project from being associated with the elections.
Copies from a Center for Student Success (CSS) Web site on listening sessions were shared with
the group, along with an article from CCLC’s The News describing how Imperial Valley College
used community input to develop its master plan goals. Although ECC already has its master
plan in place, this project could influence future planning and could also benefit program review.
Comments:
 Few community people have had any interaction with Administrative Services, so there
might not be much need for sessions for our area.
 Something like this was done many years ago. What happened to the information that
was collected?
 There has been no community outreach since the bond measure, so this is a good PR
project.
Vacant Positions: Copies of the most recent version of the memo on positions recommended for
recruit (dated July 13, 2004) were shared with the group. Positions that were included in the Qbuilder project, along with the “tombstone list” were included to help give a complete picture.
Vic reminded the president that not everyone realized they were supposed to put positions into
Q-builder. Some thought it was just for new projects. Inclusion on the tombstone list (TL)
means the vacancy occurred in the prior year (2002-03), and funding was taken out of the budget.
The “purgatory list” is those positions vacated after that, and the funding for these has not yet
been eliminated. Any position without a (TL) notation is somewhere in the Tentative Budget.
Since they didn’t deal with it in Cabinet yesterday, there is a last chance to modify the list, and
the three deans subbing for Dr. Hata plan to expand the list for Academic Affairs. The president
is expected to make his decision at the July 27th meeting, and first funding should be applied to
this list. It was suggested that since Administrative Services has a lot more classified positions
than the other two areas, it should get better ratio (4-3-3?) to even things out.
Staff Development: Staff Development is caught in a Catch 22 situation regarding funding. Vic
has been soliciting financial support for the program; however, the president is declining to be
supportive of Staff Development until he sees a defined listing of course offerings. But when
plans and schedules were created and implemented (training programs, new staff orientations,
etc.), they had to be discontinued due to lack of funding. Consequently, staff members feel they
are wasting their time creating programs and activities when there is no funding. Vic asked
Donna to put together some figures as to what kind of a budget would be needed to have a
meaningful Staff Development program.
Committee Reports/Division Issues
 Rocky Bonura: How should employees be identified on their badges? A set formula is
needed because the badge cannot be created automatically if there are exceptions to the
formula. After discussion of division vs. department vs. area, and a notation that the
shirts will identify the divisions, it was decided that divisions will be identified (and
maybe some critical departments).
 Donna Manno: She is putting together Flex day activities, and Blackboard training is
going on today. She will work with Pam on what funds to use to renew the Omni
licenses.
 Satish Warrier: Interviews for the analyst position finished yesterday; User Support
Technician interviews are today and tomorrow, and the Help Desk position just closed.
 David Miller: Sharon Greco (wife of Oversight committee member Don Greco) may
want a campus tour for the alumni board members. Pam reported that former Oversight
Committee member Frances Stiglich also wants a tour, and she was going to refer her to
the Public Information office. The regular monthly tours on Friday are also a possibility.
 Pam Fees: Copies of the Second Principal Apportionment report were shared with the
group. There are slight changes in the deficit, the growth revenue cap, apportionment
(VII) and credit FTES (to 18,424). The final report goes in October.
State Budget: The governor is trying to avoid impasse on the state budget. If there is no state
budget by the end of the month, community colleges won’t receive their state apportionment on
time, which will create the same situation ECC was in last year. ECC employees will still get
paid due to short-term financing like TRANs, etc. Another issue is the enrollment fee
uncertainty. Registration started last week at the $18 fee level, but if the fee goes up, ECC will
have to go back and bill students (like last year).
Vic Hanson: A plan is needed to provide operational support for new buildings and systems. It
was noted that this was included in the forecasting project done with Arvid Spor. He noted that
in balancing current needs with future needs, funds for future needs must be clearly earmarked.
It was noted that managers and supervisors don’t get the floating holiday.
Meeting adjourned at 9:54 a.m.
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