Members Present:
- Anthony E. Beebe, Ed.D., President, Continuing Education
- Brian E. Ellison, Ed.D., Vice President, Instruction and Student Services
- Bob Parker, Vice President, Administrative Services
- Esther Matthew, President, Academic Senate
- Pat Mosteller, Past President, Academic Senate
- Gretchen Bitterlin, Chair of Program Chairs, Academic Senate
- Rita Avila, President, Classified Senate
- Jose Hueso, Past President, Classified Senate
Action Notes: Action Notes from January 28, 2009 were approved. M/S/P Matthew/Hueso.
Reports and Recommendations:
President’s Report:
Anthony Beebe presented the idea of a name change for Continuing Education. He recently sent out a generic email to the Continuing Education distribution list asking for feedback on the idea. The reasoning behind a change at this time is two-fold. Recently a survey regarding Continuing Education’s image was conducted soliciting feedback from Continuing Education faculty, staff, administrators, and more than 700 students. The results indicated there was confusion about what “Continuing Education” is and or does. Most of our students relate to a place such as the individual campuses, and do not know about “Continuing Education.” This is in spite of our spending tens of thousands of dollars each year on marketing. The second reason for the name review is that Continuing Education currently has five major construction projects underway (ECC Skills Center, West City Campus, Cesar Chavez Campus, North City Campus, and the Intergenerational and DSPS Center at Muir). At each of these campuses permanent sign monuments will be constructed and remain on these campuses for decades to come. The cost of each sign/marquee could be as much as $20,000 - $25,000 to construct, in addition to other signage around the buildings. As such, this impending investment combined with the ongoing confusion and lack of connection for students and the public make it a critical juncture and incumbent responsible for us to review our institutional name for adequacy going forward.
President Beebe distributed a list of possible names that he had received in response to the email he sent out the previous week. President Beebe clarified that a name has not already been chosen nor is a plan in place to make a name change. Further, he stated that if our current name is found adequate or one can not be found that is a better descriptor, we will not move forward to change the name. In light of this, EGC members were asked to choose two members from their constituencies to make up a Naming Review Taskforce. The Task Force is charged with gathering feedback from their groups and bringing back 3-5 possible names – to include “Continuing Education,” to the EGC meeting scheduled for March 11, 2009. At that time a recommendation will be made to move forward or to keep Continuing Education as the best description and name for our institution. The Taskforce member’s names are to be forwarded to President Beebe by Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
President Beebe also reported that the District is exploring a 4/10 work schedule for this summer. The District Office, College, and Continuing Education campuses would be closed on Fridays and Saturdays. The goal is to achieve cost savings through reduced facility operations. President Beebe is requesting input from EGC as to whether or not this is feasible for Continuing Education. A brief discussion ensued with a concern being voiced regarding not having Saturday classes and if off site locations would also be impacted. President Beebe responded that these two items were to be discussed at the next Chancellor’s Cabinet meeting.
Finally, President Beebe announced that the Board of Trustee’s annual campus visit will be held at West City, utilizing the new facility. The date is Tuesday, April 28, 2009, and the program will focus on the BSI Initiative, Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), and Image Enhancement.
Administrative Senate Report:
Vice President Bob Parker reported that the payphones throughout the District will no longer be provided free of charge. As there are not many of these the District would like to remove them from the campuses. Continuing Education has five operating public phones at this time, one at Mid-City, two at ECC, one at Cesar Chavez and one at Clairemont. It was decided that Continuing Education will have these telephones removed with the caveat that if a student has an emergency, office staff will assist them with making a call.
Recommendation:
CE Budget Reductions: Recommendation from CE Budget Committee
Bob Parker brought forward the following recommendation:
On Monday, February 9, 2009, the Continuing Education Budget Committee convened to develop a plan to reduce Continuing Education’s Budget for the 2009/2010 fiscal year by $609,120. This is 12.69% of the District’s budget reduction goal. The Committee passed the following recommendation:
To reduce the Continuing Education Budget for 2009-2010 by:
- Defunding two identified Classified vacancies that occurred as of 12/31/08;
- Enrollment Management Reductions;
- Reducing Matriculation/Student Services;
- Reducing Discretionary by $10.12 per FTES (@$10,329 FTES)
These reductions are spread across Classified, Faculty and Discretionary and total the prorated amount of $609,120, which is CE’s share needed at this time.
Disposition of Recommendation:
Continuing Education Budget Reduction: M/S/P Matthew/Hueso
EGC unanimously recommended to the President to accept the Continuing Education Budget Reduction Plan as presented by the Continuing Education Budget Committee.
Academic Senate Report:
Esther Matthew reported that Vice President Parker was a guest at the last Academic Senate meeting and was very helpful with clarifying the fiscal impact of the proposed Continuing Education name change. Dave Umstot, Vice Chancellor of Facilities Services was also a guest and spoke at the meeting.
Senate Officer Elections will be held be held soon.
Classified Senate Report:
Rita Avila reported that classified staff was concerned with the idea of the proposed Continuing Education name change. Vice President Parker will attend the next meeting and provide clarification as he did with the Academic Senate. President Beebe will also provide more clarification on this subject in his next Monday Message.
Next Meeting – Wednesday, February 25, 2009.