OFFICE OF THE CHANCELLOR
50 PHELAN AVENUE BOX E200SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112 415) 239-3303  FAX (415) 239-3918
MEMORANDUM
Date:
July 25, 2007
To:
College Community
From:
Dr. Philip R. Day, Jr.,
Chancellor
Re:
Mid-Summer Highlights - 2007
Well, I am sitting here in my kitchen looking out on our cove (Fish House Cove, that is) in West
Point (Phippsburg), Maine. You can barely see the lobster boats and other seagoing craft that call
this place their “safe harbor” because of an early morning fog. We have had three or four days
of spectacular weather but the rains came yesterday in the late afternoon and with it a different
weather pattern. It does look like it will burn-off before actual sunrise—it’s 4:45 a.m., and (I
hope) it turns into another great day. Overall, and since my arrival on July 11th, the weather has
been near perfect…warm (mid-70’s-low humidity) in the day and cool at night. Perhaps the
most startling observation I can share with you is the overall lushness of the area. Everything is
so green and the forestation seems so rich I can’t quite remember when it has appeared this way.
Of course, with this element of Mother Nature playing itself out comes the downside…those
dreaded MOSQUITOES!! And, are they out and about, particularly in the early morning before
sunrise and in the late afternoon when the sun starts settling and losing its force, giving way to
the shadows of the Maine woods and the coastline. Those little critters and I just don’t get along
so I have to adjust my comings and goings accordingly or else I am in a battle that I can’t
possibly win. I emphasize “I” rather than “we” because Val doesn’t seem to either attract or be
bothered by them. So far, Mother Nature has blessed us with enough good weather and sunshine
in the daytime to keep the mosquitoes contained to their usual haunts and so we have been
maximizing the opportunity to engage in our usual summer fun.
Val and I are hosting both our grandchildren—Tyler and Colby—and their parents Todd and
Deena, as well as their two cats for our entire stay in Maine. They are having some remodeling
work done on their home in Massachusetts so they are staying at the “Day’s Inn” for most of
July. I must say it has been great!! The grandchildren are growing up quickly. Tyler is
approaching his third birthday and Colby is now into the early part of his second year. What a
twosome!! You’ll be pleased to know that of all the books that Tyler has, and he does have a
huge number of them, his favorite is still ‘THE LORAX’ by Dr. Seuss and he still insists on me
reading it several times a day. Now, and at this stage in his life particularly given the number of
repetitions in my readings, he can actually tell you what is going on in the story as you turn page
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
DR. ANITA GRIER, PRESIDENT JULIO J. RAMOS, ESQ., VICE PRESIDENTDR. NATALIE BERG  MILTON MARKS
JOHN RIZZO RODEL E. RODIS LAWRENCE WONG, ESQ DIANA MUNOZ-VILLANUEVA, STUDENT TRUSTEE
DR. PHILIP R. DAY, JR., CHANCELLOR
to page. Colby looks on in wonderment….I tell you these kids are both geniuses!! I swear they
take after their grand….well, you’ve heard that one before!! When Colby is not reading along
with Tyler and I, he seems more intent on exploring every “nook and cranny” both inside the
house and outside. He is much more adventuresome and you really have to keep your eye on
him all the time otherwise he’ll find some level of mischief to get into as he explores his
surroundings.
Given all of this on-going engagement with the family, Val and I have been really enjoying
ourselves. Yes, we’ve played our usual rounds of golf (along with our sons Todd and Nathan),
cribbage (I am the Fish House Cove reigning champion), and our family tennis matches, but the
best of all comes when we are sitting around the dinner table at night enjoying the food, the
moments, family and each other. It really provides both Val and I with a sense of renewal,
purpose and of course a sense of what is really important in life.
I hope that all of you are finding the time and space to enjoy the summer and get some
“downtime” particularly after the incredible year we have just completed. It is so important for
each of us to take the time, get out of our work situation and attend to things that are also
important—family, friends, relatives, significant others, personal time and space, etc. It does
allow us all to recharge our batteries and develop a more balanced perspective. So, if you
haven’t done so yet this summer—you should and when you do, please enjoy it as much as
possible.
Well, let me get off this personal stuff for a bit and provide you with an update on a few matters
of importance to us all. I am going to try and be brief and the areas I would like to highlight are
as follows:
1) BUDGET AND LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
2) ENROLLMENT;
3) PERSONNEL; and
4) GRANTS/FUNDRAISING.
I should say that I started this “highlights letter” last week fully expecting that by now the
Legislature and Governor would have approved the 07-08 budget but as of today, July 25th, that
is not the case. The Assembly has approved the budget that had been recommended by the
Conference Committee and the Governor has urged the Senate to do the same. However, that
has not happened and the understanding we have is that the Senate is going back into session
today (Wednesday) to hopefully resolve the impasse. In the meantime we are in “limbo”. If the
budget that was approved by the Assembly and recommended for passage by the Governor (to
the Senate) is approved without any significant changes, it should give us the flexibility to wrap
up our labor negotiations, and have available resources next year to help continue to serve our
students. Specifically, the budget at the present time includes:
1. COLA at 4.53% which for CCSF equates to almost $7M;
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2. An ON-GOING commitment to support one of our most important priorities/initiatives—
BASIC SKILLS—which would give the college about $2.7M in on-going funding to our
base. Up until this year, Basic Skills funding was only one-time and you could never
count on it from one-year to the next. The last of the ONE-TIME BASIC SKILLS
FUNDING will also add to our budget and equal another $4M including the roll over
Basic Skills funding from 06/07. A note of caution here should be emphasized; these
funds cannot and should not be used for on-going and recurring expenditures given the
fact that they are “one-time” dollars that will not be available next year or in the future.
3. The matter of NON-CREDIT FUNDING is still alive and well within the proposed state
budget although not at the level that we would have liked ($30M). Instead, the
Legislature has proposed a $13.8M funding level for Non-credit, which given the State’s
delay in implementing the regulations for the 06/07 Non-credit funding and the resultant
hesitancy among the statewide community college districts to “get into the game” or to
expand their current effort, provided for some carryover dollars which should serve to
offset the reduced 07/08 funding level for Non-credit. Leslie Smith suggests that if this
$13.8M is approved, it should bring the Non-credit funding rate up to about 80% of the
credit rate based on the current workload effort in the new Non-credit, Career
Development and College Preparation category within which, not accidentally, most of
our Non-credit FTES fits. More to come on this later but given the Legislature’s and
Governor’s support for Non-credit funding to date, and the fact that the following year’s
budget (08/09) is already being billed as the “YEAR OF EDUCATION”, we fully expect
to achieve the final installment of equity funding for Non-credit next year bringing it into
full equalization with the credit rate.
What an odyssey this has been for City College—the state’s largest provider for Non-credit
courses and programs. With the leadership and engagement of our advocacy team of Assoc.
Vice-Chancellor Leslie Smith; Dale Shimasaki and Steve Rhoads (Strategic Education
Services); VC Peter Goldstein; former Senator and Minority Leader of the Senate, Jim Brulte
(California Strategies); John Whitehurst (Barnes, Mosher, Whitehurst and Lauter); and myself—
supported strongly and financially by our Board of Trustees along with our friends in labor (AFT
2121, SEIU, the Trades, and the DCC), the Academic Senate both statewide and locally,
Administrators Council, Classified Senate, and the Associated Students--we have led the way for
the entire state in accomplishing this feat and overcoming this incredible and long-standing
inequity that has so severely limited our institution and the programs/services we provide for all
of our students, faculty and staff. Thank you all for your support!!
In terms of ENROLLMENT, this year (06/07) has been a year of recovery. Last year I reported
at this time that we were slightly down in enrollment, a phenomenon that occurred statewide.
Our reasons for a downturn in enrollment I believe were different than what other districts
experienced. Given the temporary relocation of the Mission Campus and other factors related to
our facility construction projects, we had a tough time of holding our own, but we did—
experiencing just a slight decline. For this past year, we met our enrollment objectives (and State
Enrollment Cap) and were able to provide for a small safety net by carrying over FTES to next
year (07/08) with a carryover of 925 credit and 350 Non-credit. This will result in the college
being eligible for additional growth dollars on top of what we received for 06/07 if we continue
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to progress and student demand follows. No doubt the lowering of tuition from $26 per unit to
$20 at the mid-point of 06/07 helped and we are fully expecting that this reduction in fees will
impact us positively for the full-year of 07/08, particularly since fees are going up in both the
CSU and UC systems. The final FTES level we reported to the State in July for 06/07 was
36,264 FTES (24,236 credit, 12,028 Non-credit).
In terms of PERSONNEL, I have some great news! With the leadership and support of Clara
Starr and her entire staff; the financial and programmatic commitment we have made to
expanded recruitment; the hosting of job fairs; training sessions for Hiring Committees; the
commitment and corresponding hard work of these committees and Department Chairs who are
strongly supporting our Diversity Initiatives in hiring; and one-on-one mentoring support, we
have had an incredibly positive impact on our efforts to hire more diverse faculty. For the upcoming academic year 07/08, 56% of our new faculty hires are from ethnically diverse
backgrounds (11% African-American; 5% Filipino; 17% Hispanic and 23% Asian/PI—the
balance 42% Caucasian and 2% other). This is unprecedented!! The fact is, as Clara and her
staff would fully attest, we have struggled to achieve in this area and have always considered
anything in excess of 40% to be a good effort. So the 56% level breaks all the records of the past
and sets a new standard for us as we move into the future. We have also had a similar level of
success in our hiring/replacement of administrative and classified staff as well. All in all, it has
been a great year for hiring and thanks is extended to those who helped make it happen.
Lastly, in the GRANTS area for FY 06/07, the College received over 30 new, competitive grants
totaling $5.3M. New grant-funded initiatives include the development of a Transportation related Logistics Training Program (funded by the State Chancellor’s Office); scholarships for
students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (funded by the
National Science Foundation); and an early college high school program developed in
partnership with the City Arts and Technology High School (funded by the Gates Foundation via
the Foundation for California Community Colleges). This is in addition to the state supported
economic development grants typically supported by the state and directed by our Division of
Workforce and Economic Development (Phyllis McGuire) and Contract Education (Judy Teng).
Also, FY 06/07 was the first complete year for operationalizing the Institutional Advancement
Division under the leadership of Dr. Robert Gabriner. The new Division and its staff have
worked tirelessly to expand our efforts and systems support for the Foundation, Alumni
Development, Annual Giving, Scholarships, Planned/Deferred Giving, and support for our new
facilities (Mission Campus, Wellness Center, Chinatown/NB Campus, and the Performing Arts
Center). More to come on this later but with the progress achieved to date, 07/08 should be a
great year for the Advancement Division. Thanks to everyone for their continuing support and
leadership.
Well, people that is all I have got left. It is now 6:53 a.m. and it appears as though this will be a
great day. The kids (grandchildren included) have gone back to their home in Massachusetts so
Val and I have the place all to ourselves and it looks as though the weather is going to cooperate
fully for the balance of the week.
I have been reflecting on this letter from the time I started (last week) until today when I
finished. This “Summer Highlights” letter is the 9th that I have written over the course of my
summer experiences in Maine since being at City College. I have come to enjoy writing them
and most importantly receiving your feedback about how much you enjoy reading them.
However, this letter most likely will be my last (Not an easy thing for me to say….). As quite a
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few of you know, I have told the Board of Trustees in January of ’07 and again in June of ’07,
that my intent was to leave City College after 10 years of service. That 10 years will be fulfilled
in August of 2008—next year. When Val and I first arrived in the late summer of ’98, we
thought that our stay at City College of San Francisco would only be for 5-7 years. Instead, I am
entering my 10th year as Chancellor of this great institution and it has been a wonderful
experience over the past decade. I guess I have won the bragging rights for being the Chancellor
with the longest tenure of service to City College—not a benchmark that I take lightly given the
quality and commitment to leadership demonstrated by my predecessors, particularly individuals
like Lou Batmale. The time has come for Val and I to return to the East Coast to be closer to our
family, grandchildren, and our Maine home. I am not sure what will be happening next for Dr.
Phil Day in terms of retirement (everybody always says, “I can’t see you doing that!!”); work; or
other interests. What I do know is that our plans are definite and the decision (which has been
difficult) has been made.
I wanted you to receive this message directly from me and in a manner in which I feel most
comfortable in terms of the “personal touch”. This Mid-Summer Highlights letter that I
institutionalized nearly a decade ago, has been an excellent communication tool for us; has
allowed us to stay connected, despite being 3500 miles apart; and to share information that keeps
us all up to speed. So, I choose this medium as the vehicle for letting all of you know
definitively that this upcoming year of 07/08 will be my last. Over the course of the next year,
we will continue to work closely together as we have in the past (there is much work to be done)
to accomplish the great things that we do for our students, community and ourselves. Most
importantly, I will be providing support to the Board of Trustees and the entire college
community as you work together to identify and select my successor. That process will begin in
the early part of the Fall Semester; will be a highly participatory process in terms of engaging the
college constituencies; and will be directed/led by the Board of Trustees. Both they and I will
have more to say on that as we move into the Fall Semester.
In the meantime, I have to run down the road to get my morning papers before Val awakes and
also start brewing the morning coffee. Fish House Cove is perkin’ already with the ever-present
Osprey hovering over the bay looking for their morning catch. Best wishes to them for a great
start of the day. I hope you make the most out of the balance of these summer weeks. If I hear
anything new from Sacramento later today, I’ll provide you with a post-script message. Keep
your fingers crossed and hope that they don’t screw up the current budget plan that is in place
courtesy of the Assembly and supported strongly by the Governor. Thanks for your continuing
support and enjoy the rest of the summer.
PRDJ:lh
cc:
Board of Trustees
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