Board of Trustees Report s5

Board of Trustees Report West Los Angeles College May 26, 2010

Legislative Affairs Committee

The committee met for only forty minutes, primarily to discuss the method by which they will evaluate our advocacy firms (the McCallum Group in Sacramento and Cassidy and Associates in Washington). The trustees will be looking for measurable outcomes from both, which hasn’t been the case in the past with McCallum (Cassidy is relatively new). The process by which the firms’ contracts will be signed was clarified, to be sure that the Chancellor sees the actual contract.

Patrick McCallum’s Community College Brain Trust was also mentioned. One concern was that a clear distinction be drawn between the work done by any of its consultants and McCallum’s work for us as a lobbyist. Another was that no current district employee be compensated for any work they do for the Brain Trust unless it’s certain that that work is being done on their own time.

Budget and Finance Committee

The entire meeting was devoted to reviewing the district budget. Jeanette Gordon summarized the May Revise and presented the third quarter projections for this year, and two scenarios for 2010-11, one with no growth and one with the 2.2% the Governor is proposing. Gordon and I noted that the relatively strong position of the district at this point (a projected balance of 10%) was the result of $22.8 million in cuts to class offerings (6,000 sections cut district-wide), roughly $20 million in cuts to student support categorical programs, and savings in health benefits (the number is at least $3 million this year and will be $12 million next year). Three colleges are expected to finish in the red by a significant amount, with three others and the district office just barely over the line. East and Pierce are showing strong balances, as usual, and Trade is coming in with a healthy balance. (All of these figures are subject to change. For further details, see the recent DBC minutes at www.laccd.edu, Faculty and Staff Resources, Intranet, District Budget Committee.)

Mark Rocha said the projections for this year proved that the colleges have cut all they can, and that the district should now rethink the ways it has done business. In particular, we should aim for more cooperation between the colleges and less competition. He added that the current budget structure was divisive. He stressed revenue enhancement, and argued that we should significantly ramp up our efforts to draw international students, as Santa Monica has done, as well as market a DE program to international students. Enrollment was discussed, and I pointed out that faculty really can’t be expected to expand the size of their classes any further, as the district average is now forty-two, way up from four years ago.

There was some discussion as to state funding discrepancies between CCC districts, with Gary Colombo pointing out that SMC gets some $1,000 more per student than we do, and Glendale less than us. I argued that any disparities were still quite a bit less than the continuing inequity in K-12 funding.

Committee of the Whole

The first hour and one-half of this meeting was devoted to a discussion of bond issuance, as the district is going to run out of cash available for construction fairly soon, due to the rapid pace of building at the colleges. We’re down to $94 million in Measure J funds. Jeanette Gordon is recommending that a $1.2 billion bond be issued, as well as a short term one for $300 million. Our First Southwest financial advisors presented the Board with the details regarding Build America Bonds (BAB’s), which are part of ARRA, the federal stimulus program enacted last year. BAB’s offer participating institutions a 35% subsidy on the interest. There followed a long discussion of financing details, having to do with taxable and tax-exempt bonds, et al., none of which I think needs to be summarized beyond the basic message that BAB’s are a good deal for the district, that they have been used by neighboring districts, and that the amount of government support will decline next year, so it’s better to issue one soon.

While the Board seemed receptive to using them, Miguel Santiago asked why the Board was only hearing about this now, given that it was being asked to make a decision right away. He said the material should have been provided to the trustees some weeks earlier, so that they could carefully peruse it. Tina Park agreed with him, and Sylvia Scott-Hayes called for a “more timely manner” for future bond issuances. Gordon responded that it was her intention to have done this earlier, but work on energy financing held things up.

There was also a presentation regarding foreign investors, who now make up some 40% of state bond holders. Given their apprehension about European sovereign bonds, due to the crisis in Greece and elsewhere, there is an opportunity to attract them to buy our own, resulting in a better rate for us. They’re only interested, however, if we have $1 billion or more to offer, and it would require that some trustees travel to Europe and Asia to meet with them and explain what the district is all about. Kelly Candaele noted the “headline danger” of such travel.

And then we moved on to something completely different....

Deborah Harrington introduced over fifteen members of the second graduating class of the Faculty Teaching and Learning Academy. She gave a spirited overview of the program, describing its genesis in the Student Success Initiative and its stress on using technology in and out of the classroom to support learning. Videos were shown, SSI and FTLA tee-shirts were distributed, and we concluded with group photos with Board members joining in.

Open Session Mark Rocha welcomed the Board briefly and introduced his administrative staff and faculty leaders. A short video on recent developments at West was shown, with the new buildings highlighted.

Velma Butler complained that the District Office wasn’t aware of all the people employed district- wide in new workforce programs. She also said that some unclassified workers were doing classified work.

Mona Field noted that this would be Carl Friedlander’s final Board meeting as Guild president after fourteen years of service.

Nehasi Lee, a student activist, praised the work of Rodney Robinson, the outgoing student trustee.

Student Maxine Bell complained that she was being denied her AA degree in AJ unfairly by the chair of the department at West. VP of Student Services Betsy Regalado disputed her account and said she doesn’t have all the requisite training.

Fourteen speakers then addressed the Board in support of a resolution authorizing a lease agreement with the City of Los Angeles for it to conduct workforce training at the Van de Kamp Center. Several home care workers expressed great appreciation that there would be medical career classes there. Diane Factor from SEIU, appearing for a second time in support of the agreement, said that over fifty supportive local residents were in attendance. There were six speakers in opposition, however, four of them new to the Board meetings. Mark Kenyon said that while the same trio regularly spoke in opposition, they were supported by “thousands” of others” who were not free to attend afternoon meetings. He said the Board’s actions were “reprehensible,” and that the resolution would lead to the “gutting of our community college.” Bertha Sosa told the Board that “you have to keep your word,” and provide the center that was promised.

Georgia Mercer replied that the Board had no choice but to lease out the space, since the district simply can’t afford to open new classes at this time. She pointed out that we have cut 6,000 sections this year. Sylvia Scott-Hayes said City College just could not open a center, given their financial situation, and that we have to do things differently.

The vote for the resolution was unanimous, with Rodney Robinson abstaining from casting his advisory vote.

The selection of Kathleen Burke-Kelly as president of Pierce College was announced. She thanked the Board, as well as Ernie Moreno and Richard Moyer, who hired her as a dean at East eight years ago. Marvin Martinez, selected last week to replace Linda Spink at Harbor, also spoke. He talked about the “life-changing” nature of such an appointment.

Committee reports followed (see above).

A resolution granting retiring Congresswoman Diane Watson an honorary AA degree from West was passed. Gratitude for her strong support for West and the district was expressed by Board members, as well as Mark Rocha. A resolution commending the graduates of FTLA was passed. Georgia Mercer called it a “very exciting and heartening” program.

Finally, a resolution commending outgoing Student Trustee Rodney Robinson was passed. Robinson said he was “fighting for what’s right,” and would continue in college.

The Consent Calendar was approved after a few items were clarified.

The Board then approved both resolutions required to authorize the issuance and sale of the bonds, as noted in the Committee of the Whole report above. Before voting, however, there was further discussion about the need for more advanced notification, as well as about traveling to meet with prospective foreign investors.

The final item was a review of Southwest’s updated Facilities Master Plan and its final supplemental EIR. The presentation was favorably received.

Comment

This was the first time the Budget and Finance Committee had discussed the district budget since last August. It has met two or three times since then, but each meeting was devoted to Measure J energy financing and district auditing reports. I’ve been concerned that the lack of focus on the budget meant that the Board wasn’t getting a clear enough picture on just how drastic the cuts to student services have been.

Mark Rocha was restating some ideas that we’ve been talking about in the FPRC and elsewhere for quite a while. Expanding DE to out of state students is one of the main reasons the Senate started up the Distance Education Stakeholders Group, for example. Progress on that front really stopped, however, after Mark Drummond left.

The FTLA presentation was bright, lively, and inspiring (but then I am a bit biased). We’d like to see it double next year.

The appointments of Martinez and Burke-Kelly have been greeted with more enthusiasm by faculty leaders than any that I can recall in recent years. I share the sentiment!

The most memorable phrase of the day? Uttered by one of our finance guys: “A TIC on a GO with BAB’s in the mid-four range—that’s the way to go.” Who could doubt it?

All the best,