Board of Trustees Report

District Office

December 17, 2008

Infrastructure Committee

The committee reviewed the state budget situation, with Mona Field concerned about the morning headlines of state projects being shut down due to the budget crisis. She wanted to know if the crisis would have an adverse impact on our own projects that involve state funding. Larry Eisenberg reassured her, however, that we can proceed on our current schedule with them, given that state money will come eventually. We can cover any short-term loss in state revenue with bond money in the meantime. A review then followed of all the state funded projects currently in design, under construction, or completed in the district. The list consisted of some 20 projects.

Larry pointed out that it was a great time just now for us to proceed with construction. Due to the collapse of the private construction market, and the relative slowdown of the public project market, labor costs are lower than they have been in years and we're getting many more bids on projects. When Obama's stimulus package kicks in, this will change, however.

City College presented the plans for its Student Success Building. It will be a three-story, one-stop center, located at the site of the old library. The design is marked by open internal stairways, lots of light, and some very attractive common spaces both inside and out. The committee was impressed.

Finally, there was a discussion about the effectiveness of design-build, as opposed to the traditional method of designing and constructing buildings. Design-build requires the architect and contractor to work as a team from the beginning, and colleges are not required to take the lowest bid, but rather to consider a range of factors in selection. Because of the greater efficiencies that result, both total costs and the time needed to complete projects are reduced 20-30% with design-build construction. Mona Field pointed out that the LACCD was instrumental in getting the legislation allowing this through Sacramento, and that we piloted it, along with a few other colleges. It is now an option for all CCC's. Over two-thirds of the new projects in Measure J will be built this way.

Campus security was also discussed briefly. The new blue security phones were mentioned. They are going up around all campuses.

Ad Hoc Committee on Public/Private Partnerships

I didn't attend this meeting, but the focus was again on West LA and Trade, the only two colleges currently pursuing these partnerships. Two Requests for Qualifications are out in the case of West, and Trade reported several opportunities to partner with businesses and/or purchase real estate next to campus. The primary intention in pursuing these partnerships for both colleges is to generate revenue.

Committee of the Whole

The Board met as a Committee of the Whole to hear the Cityside colleges report on their completed accreditation self studies. Kerrin McMahan, Brad Vaden, and Joe Myers made the presentations for East, Trade and City respectively. The reports were well received overall, with the first two in particular cited by Gary Colombo as being very well done. He did, however, havesome pointed questions for each. In East's case, the need to spell out and document the link the between planning and budgeting was stressed. I mentioned that the two certainly had been closely connected at East, just not documented adequately. In Trade's case, Gary mentioned the continued need to work on governance issues. In City's case, he was primarily concerned that they had only come up with nine recommendations, given the state average of twenty or so. The Board members found the reports "reassuring," and felt that the colleges were ready for their March visits.

Open Session

A student leader from Mission spoke on behalf of the need to maintain tutoring programs in the face of budget cuts. Rebecca Estrada, the ASO president at East, added similar concerns, mentioning library hours and class offerings, also. Rachel Richards, the ASO president at Harbor, complained to the Board that the student advisor there was restricting discussion. All officers at Harbor are required to take a credit course in student government, and they are allegedly being threatened with low grades if they speak up to complain about various issues. Rachel claimed that the regulations for ASO officer eligibility (E-22) were being violated, and that Linda Spink had not been helpful.

No action was taken in Closed Session that needed to be reported out.

The Board heard committee reports. Rose Bustos noted the work of the Student Affairs Committee in three areas: contacting legislators about the damage done by budget cuts; encouraging work on a clean and healthy campus environment; and arguing for keeping bookstores under district operations, given their recent cooperation regarding buy-back programs, et al. (See above for the other committees.)

After a community organizer reviewed the disturbingly large number of homeless veterans in LA County (there are 20,000 homeless vets in LA County, with many more expected in the near future), a motion was passed in support of a vet housing program in the Valley entitled "New Directions." It was clarified after some discussion that the motion will not obligate us financially in any way, but was meant as an expression of moral support for a worthy cause.

Mattis Goldman made an extensive report on the "branding" campaign that he headed up for the district. The campaign cost $1.6 million (down from the budgeted $2m). It aired some 5,000 TV ads, 45,000 movie "impressions" on some 330 screens, as well as cable, radio, and Internet ads. In the latter case, some 22,000 click-throughs occurred, said to be a high number. They suggested (not surprisingly) that we sustain our commitment to branding, as SMC has done so successfully. Further improvement of our web presence was cited as the single most important thing for us to do, along with advertising on the Google job search page.

Patrick McCallum reported on the latest deal brewing in Sacramento, which he dubbed the "Triple Flip” (the Democrat attempt to bypass the Republicans and raise revenue) and Carl gave a summary of the Emergency Response Group discussions. Since I'll be writing about the latest budget news in my Newsletter early next week, I won't say anymore here.

The Consent Calendar was passed unanimously, after several clarification questions. Mona Field wondered about the appropriateness of approving an Early British History (pre-history through medieval) class, given the budget downturn.

In final announcements, Linda Spink noted the Jan. 21 opening of two new classroom buildings at Harbor and the Blue Ribbon Award ceremony last week for the Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy, the LAUSD program on campus.

I thanked the four Board members who attended our Project Match reception on Friday. In response to the discussion at the last Board meeting about the Math Department at Southwest, I noted that the DAS was looking at additional steps we can take to support the effort to improve the student outcomes for developmental math district-wide. I promised to report back further to the Board at a future meeting.

Comment

Mona’s comment got me thinking. My response at the time was a bit feeble. I just joked slightly that I sort of liked the course, a nod to the British side of my family. Then I added that just because a course was being approved didn’t mean it would be offered or would make. I’m sure her main concern was about enrollment, and I gave an enrollment management answer. But, if you think about it, it raises another issue. How relevant is Early British History to life in 21st century California? Wasn’t it just long and benighted? Why not just forget it? I think there’s a contrary argument. Most of you are familiar with Arts and Crafts furniture. I just love the stuff. Last Sunday’s paper featured Max Palevksy, the art collector, whose esteemed collection in now on exhibit at LACMA. The Arts and Crafts Movement started in England in the late 19th century, and it was itself part of a century-long British fascination with medievalism. Think of the Romantic poets, John Ruskin, the pre-Raphaelites, Henry Adams (in the USA), et al. Those thinkers saw in the Middle Ages certain virtues that were being lost with the industrialization and urbanization of Victorian England: an intensely close tie to the natural world, a stress on the communal, and a dedication to craftsmanship among them. Our love for Arts and Crafts and the current revival in California and elsewhere of artisanship in all its aspects both hark back to the medieval world. So, yes, a course in Early British History, please! And may it make!

David