District Academic Senate Newsletter September 15, 2008

President's Report

I would like to follow up on our discussion Thursday about the budget, since it's obviously a topic of great concern. I've been predicting since the state budget crisis hit that faculty opinions were only going to get harsher as the situation worsened, and to some extent our conversation reflected that. The state squeeze and the new district insistence that colleges stay out of the red were bound to draw sharp reactions.

One thing to say at the outset is that there are few simple answers. The truth is usually complex. For example, I've been very critical of the Harbor administration for a long time, but I wouldn't say that it's a simple situation down there. There are some factors (service area population, age of faculty) that can't be controlled. City and Southwest, to pick just two more, have different sets of budget and enrollment problems. One virtue of the Fiscal Planning and Review Committee that we got going this summer is that we will be getting into the detail of each deficit college's situation.

I've brought up the District Office budget often in Consultation, as I have many times at DBC over the years. A few other faculty have complained, too, but overall we haven't made the concerted effort that I would like to see. We were able to defeat Rocky Young's proposal a few years ago to give the DO regular increases (a certain set percentage), but its budget has still increased from $19.6 million in 03-04 to $26.3 million this year, even though it’s been claimed that there's been no growth. (I stated the same thing last week, but I've just checked the old records and they don't bear that out.) Functional flow charts, which show exactly who should be doing each task for all district agencies, are one way to find inefficiencies. We will be pushing to see that they are completed and that they’re put online as soon as possible. The first set was supposed to be out this month.

Another way to save money is to scrutinize all of the district-wide accounts. In fact, the DBC has just set up an ad hoc group to do just that. It will be charged with going over each and every account, and will ask the managers to justify their budgets. We think there's lots of savings possible here, given that this sort of detailed investigation hasn't been done in years.

About staffing at DO, I agree that it sure doesn't seem like a good time to be hiring deans. But I would argue that those who have begun in the last year or so are more than earning their way. In any case, it's not costing us that much. Gary Colombo and John Clerx were made Vice- Chancellors last fall, but they were already working here as Associate Vice-Chancellors. Marvin Martinez is the only new person at that level. From what he's reported to me, he's already been responsible for the district getting upwards of $600,000 in new grants just for this year alone (B of A, Packard Foundation, and City of LA partnerships). And, in fact, he was hired with the clear expectation that he more than pay for his way. Deborah Harrington is being paid out of state basic skills money. You saw again Thursday how much Gary and Deborah are involved in. Without them, district accreditation, strategic planning, and student success efforts, to pick the obvious three, would be in jeopardy. Without Deborah in particular, we'd never be able to get this Faculty Teaching and Learning Academy set up.

We're in solid position as a district overall, but with five or six colleges close to being in the red, and the very odd district structure we have--unlike anything in the state--there's sure to be more tension down the line. We need to argue even more for the leanest, most efficient operation downtown, even when they’re eager to change the topic. But we also have to think about student success. If we need staff at the DO to help our students reach their goals, then we should support that. If it's not clear that staff there is the best investment, then we should argue against it.

In any case, let’s strive to be as fair as we can in our budget discussions, even in these worsening times, all the while speaking as candidly as we must. A tricky balance, I know.

Those are my thoughts. I welcome your responses, but do ask (regretfully) that you reply just to me, until we get this odd legal situation cleared up. I'm going to be checking with the ASCCC leaders today.

All budget talk aside now, I wish you a wonderful new year. May your students progress rapidly under your wise direction!

David