Board of Trustees Report

District Office

August 5, 2009

Open Session

The meeting opened with some rather touching oral presentations from five LACC students who were very unhappy about the canceling of the athletic programs on that campus. The stories were respectful and heartfelt, expressing how these programs motivated them to get off the streets and into an academic program. Board members expressed sadness at the loss as well and pointed out how such program are gateways for many inner city students. Dr. Jamillah Moore said it was a difficult decision for the campus and that she had waited a couple of months before acting on the Shared Governance Committee's recommendation before officially suspending the athletic programs for 2009-10. Dr. Moore said the program will be reconsidered for the following year.

Another LACC past employee spoke about the Community Service program and the budget cuts that have impacted this long standing program.

Committee reports

Sylvia Scott-Hayes provided an update on the LAX Campus Satellite at 98th and Sepulveda. A collaborative has been formed between West, Harbor and Southwest to provide a Hospitality Training Center. Mona Fields commented that a rubric should be created to provide guidance when evaluating potential new satellite centers.

An update was also provided on campus food courts, though it doesn’t seem as if much progress has been made here. The committee is looking into finding short term solutions although no examples were provided.

Kelly Candaele reported from the Budget Finance Committee, mentioning what we already know, that the outlook is dismal with over $7 million in cuts for 08-09 and $40 million in 09-010. He also reported that there will be about 20,000 FTES turned away in LACCD. Candaele also said the committee is working on new Board Rules for special audits. The committee is considering scheduling an auditor to come in and check on the financial health of our District as a precaution, given the severity of the budget cuts.

Chancellor’s Report-Acting Chancellor Adriana Barrera announced that the final budget will be presented at the August 19th Board meeting.

Recommendations from the Chancellor-Mission presented a Master Plan addendum , which identified a minor environmental impact, due to a change in location of a couple of buildings on the plan. Environmental assessments must be completed whenever a modification to the Master Plan is made. These changes fall under the non-substantial category. The last item under recommendations from the Chancellor was approval for the name of Valley’s new Media Arts Center, The Belle and Harry Krupnick Media Arts Center.

Finally, the meeting ended with yet another public speaker, who wanted the Board to consult with Maxine Waters but no one quite got understood why he wanted this.

Comment

I am not a regular attendee of this meeting preferring to leave this to David. I only hope I caught the key points for you.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Bimber, VP DAS