President’s Report to the Senate

Fun in the summer sun…

As I reported to you at the end of the spring semester, Dr. Jensen felt strongly about continuing to meet with Shared Governance Council and the FABPAC over the summer. Dr. Laguerre was of the same mind and so several of your faculty colleagues and I have been meeting with these two groups throughout the summer. I thought it prudent to give you an update.

FABPAC:

June 17, 20009

1. Budget:
   
   1. Dr. Jensen gave us an update on the California State budget situation. A very informative update can be found at Community College League of California website. Of note is the push to fund Physical Education courses at .75%. The CCLC and the System's Office were opposed to legislators dictating how districts should do business the push now is a reduction in apportionment in an amount equal to the amount that the .75% funding of PE courses would have generated. This allows districts to decide for themselves how they will accommodate this reduction without being prescriptive.
      
   2. At SCC, Dr. Jensen asked staff (certified and classified employees) to gather information on categorical programs. Because we look to suffer from cuts ranging from 13 to 57%, how does the college want to handle them? Do we limit range of services or limit offerings (do less).
      
2. Accreditation:
   
   1. Mr. Henry, Dr. Jensen and Board President Young were able to speak to the ACCJC for 5 minutes regarding our updates since the Show Cause Report.
      
3. Enrollment:
   
   1. Summer is up 30%. See Dr. Steinback's "College-Wide Enrollment Comparison"
      
4. SCC Budget comments continued: Susan Rinne
   
   1. There are certain programs at SCC that are not directly tied to the General Fund and yet rely on it for funding. Such programs have been dubbed "co-curricular" programs, yet strictly speaking they are not. The Theater programs, Community Service, SBDC, and Contract are four such programs. These groups have been given a two-year window to attain self-sufficiency (meaning they no longer rely on general funds for their funding.)
      
   2. FTES accounting error (1.8 Million). It is possible that some of this can be offset by:
      
      1. Recovery costs including Dr. Jensen's and Mr. Henry's salary.
         
      2. How to pay it back and how much that really is, is still in flux.
         
   3. Perry Smith is doing a re-audit to find under-reported FTES.
      
5. Jensen goes to Sacramento
   
   1. Regarding the over-reporting of FTES, he is asking for a mortgage-type repayment.
      
   2. He discussed the Library and the Theater as being eligible for statewide refurbishment monies.
      
   3. Vallejo Center used to need 500 FTES for Center status, now it is 1000 FTES.
      
   4. Locally PGE/ Global Energy came to SCC to discuss $$ savings and grants for retrofitting.
      
6. The Library is eligible for State retrofitting at 100% funding (no matching dollars)
   
   1. Also, if the State Construction Bond passes it would be possible to re-submit for 50/50 matching dollars to build a new library at SCC. The idea would be to leverage Measure G funds. It seems that the college was at the top of the list for a new library but a former S/P declined the project.
      
   2. Regarding Measure G funds: With 45 million left, Dr. Jensen believes that it is time to re-evaluate our spending and has temporarily suspended all new projects.
      
7. Banner:
   
   1. There was mention of banner, but my notes are unclear… sorry.
      
8. Strategic Proposal process
   
   1. The Umoja proposal that made its way through the Integrated Planning Process was denied due to lack of year-to-year evaluation.
      

   
    

FABPAC July 1, 2009

1. Dr. Steinback reported on summer enrollment numbers.
   
2. Susan Rinne presented an overview of the 2009/10 Tentative Budget and advised that there will be 0% growth in 09/10. She said if everything the State is saying they are going to do comes to fruition, SCC will realize a $1.4 million reduction. Susan advised that, because the College has a budget, we will get our apportionment. It was noted that the summer FTES will count toward 09/10 FTE, but the Intersession goes to 08/09 FTE. Currently, the College has over 9,700 FTES. SCC is out of restoration and now in stabilization.
   
3. The FABPAC questioned the "co-curricular/ encroachment" list of programs that take from the general fund when they "shouldn't" and has asked that a full list of programs be provided so that we might better understand see ALL programs that encroach on the general fund.
   

 

FABPAC July 15, 2009

Susan Rinne ran this meeting and did a fine job!

1. Accreditation
   
   1. Dr. Laguerre expressed his gratitude to all who contributed to the Show Cause Report.
      
   2. Dr. Lamb gave a brief overview of the work he and Dr. Steinback have been doing over the summer to get ready for the next Special Report (due on October 15, 2009!) He discussed the results from the evaluation of the accreditation process from the spring. The full results can be found here.
      
2. Solano Budget:
   
   1. S. Rinne passed out the latest version of the "Savings/Reductions/Revenue Enhancement" sheet (dubbed the "people and things" list.)
      
      1. She noted that nothing has changed except that Jay Field was able to negotiate a $150,000 reduction in the cost of the eCollege contract! This means that one more of the four or five jobs on the "watch list" is no longer a concern.
         
   2. We were also given a copy of the SCC General Apportionment-Calculations sheet. While I cannot pretend to summarize her comments, but one thing is for sure, as Terri Pearson mentioned, it is clear that SCC is on a better track for transparency with budget numbers. Find the GA-C here.
      

 

Shared Governance Council

June 24, 2009

1. Dr. Jensen discussed some of the consequences of the division level reorganization.
   
2. Budget to the Board.
   
   1. Little or no changes.
      
   2. Three positions are still on the watch list. The college is using three delta points to check and re-evaluate these positions (July, September and January). Based on the settling of the budget, what happens with the "dirty dirt" clean-up, for example, the college will be able to decide if we can afford to keep our current staffing levels.
      
   3. Tuition is going up from $20 to $26 per unit. This applies to those who have already registered and those who have received financial aid.
      
   4. Cuts in categorical programs will most probably be mitigated by one-time stimulus package money by 50%.
      
      1. State mandates on categoricals are suspended.
         
      2. All categorical money is in the same "bucket". This allows us to prioritize spending.
         
      3. Jensen believes that lay-offs will occur in categorical programs.
         
   5. Apportionment money will be reduced statewide by approximately 10% of WSCH. This is the response to the desire to reduce funding for PE courses by .75 FTES. SGC will need to decide how to deal with cuts. Should we cut from PE or spread it out across the college?
      
   6. Jensen wanted to state for the record that the college can afford the contract settlement costs.
      
3. Accreditation:
   
   1. The letter will be arriving soon (Monday or Tuesday)
      
   2. It might be possible to fold the October 15 Special Report in with the Self Study.
      
4. Board Policy 6000
   
   1. Reviewed and discussed but no action, no quorum.
      
5. Board Policy 2005
   
   1. Jensen would like SGC to "stop, look, and evaluate" this BP to ensure that the college is living up to SB 1725 and the spirit of shared governance.
      
6. Rich Christiansen presented two revised position announcements:
   
   1. Dean of Admissions and Record and Dean of Financial Aide. Both are being reclassified as "Director" positions.
      

 

Shared Governance Council

July 8th, 2009

1. On July 1, 2009 the division re-organization took place. Kevin Anderson, Minority Coalition representative, expressed concerns about faculty buy-in, logistics (CTE in 1800 and Business in 500) support, etc…
   
2. Accreditation:
   
   1. Dr. Lamb gave an update on the evaluation of the show cause report.
      
      1. Feedback from SGC included comments on more convenient meeting times, posting minutes from working group meetings, a calendar of meeting times, and the need to celebrate accreditation status with the campus community.
         
   2. Rob Simas presented the Integrated Planning Process for "conceptual approval" to SGC. He shared an overview of the process, the specifics of the PERT, and identified the next steps for the campus. He noted that the Nixon Report speaks highly of our nascent planning process and that gives us good reason to see it to fruition.
      
3. The change in job description for Dean of Admissions and Records and the Dean of Financial Aide were discussed. Lisa Waits will take the groups comments and bring them back to SGC in coming weeks.