Board Report - February 13, 2020

February 19, 2020 | San Diego Community College District

Special report to the public

Board of trustees
Board of Trustees: (from left, back row) Craig Milgrim, Mary Graham, and (front row) Sean Elo-Rivera, J.D., J.D., Maria Nieto Senour, Ph.D., Bernie Rhinerson.
Sean Elo-Rivera, J.D.

Trustee Sean Elo addressed those who spoke during the public comments portion of the Board Meeting, letting them know the Board of Trustees is listening and thanked them for sharing their perspectives.

Craig Milgrim

Trustee Craig Milgrim said that he shared the funding concerns of those who spoke during public comments and encouraged them to participate in the District’s legislative advocacy since the problem is at the state level. He mentioned the great disparity compared to the CSU, UC and K-12 funding levels and indicated that the District and others were calling for more state funding for full-time faculty positions.

Bernie Rhinerson

Trustee Bernie Rhinerson thanked those faculty members and students who shared concerns during public comment and reinforced that he is committed to sharing their stories through his advocacy with the Community College League of California and other legislative opportunities. He also attended the ACCT National Legislative Summit from February 10-12 in Washington DC where he advocated for basic student needs and highlighted work from Rep. Adam Schiff (California) who has presented the Food for Thought Act and Senator Kamala Harris (California) who is pushing the BASIC Act to Help College Students Afford Basic Needs, also noting Mesa College President Pam Luster is currently in Washington DC to announce the results from a the #RealCollege Conference regarding food and housing insecurities and homelessness among District students. 

Dr. Maria Nieto Senour

Trustee Maria Nieto Senour reported that as a former full-time faculty member herself, she recognizes the challenges mentioned in a resolution presented by the Miramar College Academic Senate to the Board of Trustees relating to parity in resources. 

Dr. Constance M. Carroll

Chancellor Constance Carroll thanked Miramar College for its hospitality in hosting the Board of Trustees meeting.  Dr. Carroll emphasized the importance of the legislative advocacy effort that is underway, calling for more state funding, especially funding for full-time faculty positions, which is something that the state controls, not the SDCCD Board of Trustees.  She indicated that spring semester enrollment is continuing to increase. The District is now at 96.6% (13,391 FTES) of its target of 13,860 FTES. She noted two significant developments: Mesa College is at 100.7% of its target or 4.9% higher than last spring, and Continuing Education enrollments are being reported as being stronger than anticipated. Efforts are underway to address scheduling and productivity goals for summer, fall, and spring of the coming year. The Chancellor also reported that Vice Chancellor Will Surbrook has announced his retirement plans, effective the end of the calendar year, thanking him for his excellent service to the District and wishing him well in retirement. A search process for his successor is being established. 

Van Dao Minh Anh

Student Trustee Van Dao Minh Anh reported that she is reviewing student resolutions from the Community College League of California Annual Legislative Conference on January 26-27 in Sacramento; City College ASG is planning a cultural event for the end of the semester and is gearing up for elections; and Mesa College kicked off Black History Month on February 6 with a student march to the Rosa Parks bus station on campus, and is preparing to host a scholarship banquet.

Board Actions

At its meeting of February 13, 2020, the Board of Trustees:

- Held a campus meeting at Miramar College that included a welcome from Associated Student Government President Van Dao Minh Anh and Interim President Marsha Gable; a presentation on CCAP Growth and Highlights from Paulette Hopkins and Sonny Nguyen, a presentation about Promise Students from Sonny Nguyen and students Luis Garcia and Jennifer Aguilar; a presentation on MiSSION Students from Jae Calanog and students Lucy Bulkeley, Alisa Peshina, and Theophilus Human; a presentation on Interdisciplinary Collaboration by Denise Maduli-Williams and Mardi Parelman; a presentation on Outreach and Alumni Engagement from Jesse Lopez and student Michelle Le, and remarks from Academic Senate President Laura Murphy and Classified Senate President Sean Young.

- Heard public comments by Miramar College Academic Senate President Laura Murphy, who reported the college is very positive about the new semester, that the AS is active on statewide issues, and presented an AS resolution, approved in the fall, calling for parity with the District’s other colleges in terms of resources, including funding for full-time faculty; City College AS President Paul Alexander shared his greetings and mentioned how impressed he is with the new facilities at Miramar College; Mesa College AS President Manuel Velez said that he attended the Tet Festival held on campus on February 8 and was impressed by the strong community atmosphere; he thanked the Board for its leadership in fostering this connection to the community and expressed his hope that this community focus would be maintained through the upcoming leadership transitions in the District; Continuing Education AS President John Bromma shared that CE faculty have done a great job with the PeopleSoft implementation; by Daniel Villegas, Ofelia Camacho, Jake Doyle, and Masoud R. Seyghalani who each spoke about the audio production and engineering program offered at Miramar College asking for more opportunities for the campus recording studio to be open to students to get real-world practice with state-of-the-art equipment, which each said is essential to finding work in the industry once an associate degree is obtained; and by Miramar faculty representatives Wheeler North, Wendy Kinsinger, and Marie McMahon who each spoke in favor of the Miramar College Academic Senate’s fall 2019 resolution calling for parity with the District’s other colleges in terms of resources including full-time faculty.

- Adopted a resolution in support of State Ballot Proposition 13: the Public Preschool, K-12 and College Health and Safety Facilities Bond Act of 2020.

- Authorized an agreement with child care agencies for use of facilities for Child Development Programs; with Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Auxiliary to enhance the Strong Workforce Programs at both Miramar College and San Diego Continuing Education; and with the California Department of Education to adjust the minimum days of operation of Child Development Centers at all three colleges to 175.

- Accepted grants from the U.S. Department of Education for the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants program districtwide and the Federal Work-Study program award at City and Mesa colleges.

- Heard a report from Vice Chancellor Will Surbrook on the Districtwide Employee Cultural Climate Survey, and on Employee and Student Diversity.

- Authorized the District to enter into negotiations with Stem, Inc., Clean Capital Holdco 4LLC, and Enel X North America for a battery storage system at Miramar College.

- Approved the increase to nonresident student tuition rate from $264 per unit to $290 per unit, and the application fee to be maintained at $100; and changes to the contract with Huron Consulting Services, LLC in relation to the PeopleSoft ERP Implementation.

- Approved various personnel actions including the certification of short-term personnel service effective on or after February 14, 2020; the 2019-2020 Second Quarter Financial Report; and purchase orders prepared during the month of January 2020.

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