Governing Board Meeting Highlights
At the June 17, meeting, the Governing Board:
- Adopted the 2008-2009 tentative budget on a 4-1 vote with Trustee Rick Alexander voting no because he said the budget currently reflects a $3,331,978 shortfall. In a report to the Board, Sue Rearic, Vice Chancellor Business Services, wrote that a shortfall remains based on the following assumptions: 3% State deficit, 1% Growth, Zero COLA. Implementing the $3.3 million shortfall would result in deep operational cuts, said the report.
- Ratified the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 agreement between the Administrators’ Association and the District. During negotiations impasse, both parties went through mediation and then to fact-finding. During the fact-finding process, the Administrators’ Association and the District agreed to a 3% COLA, effect July 1, 2007.
- Pulled from the agenda was the 2008/2009 District Fiscal Exigency Plan, which proposed delay commitment to fund the 2008-2009 Step & Column/Longevity increase for all bargaining groups until the State budget is adopted and the District determines if the 2008-2009 budget contains COLA money to fund Step & Column/Longevity.
- Heard Dr. Sunny Cooke discuss that revisions were needed to the Student Discipline Procedures handbook in order to be reflective of contemporary technology used by students. The revisions were shared with the Student Service councils at both colleges, Chancellor’s Extended Cabinet, Districtwide Coordinating Educational Council and presented as information items to the Academic Senate Officers and the Associated Students groups of both campuses.
- Appointed Governing Board Trustees Greg Barr and Bill Garrett as members of the Textbook Taskforce, which is addressing the high cost of textbooks as an issue of concern.
- Authorized the Chancellor to issue one-year or two-year employment contracts to college administrators based on evaluations and each President’s recommendations, when appropriate.
Other Governing Board highlights will appear in the Courier which is distributed electronically from the District Office. Hard copies are available in the Mail Room.
Parking Structure Groundbreaking Ceremony
A brief-but-sweet groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 18 for Grossmont’s new $24.5 million, three-story, 1,432-space parking structure, which will also include a new public safety building. In addition to speeches from Chancellor Omero Suarez, Governing Board President Bill Garrett, ASGC Vice President Brittanie Martinez and Academic Senate officer Scott Barr, the more-than 150 attendees enjoyed oldies music, milk shakes, car-shaped cookies, lemonade and admiring automobiles on display, including restored Ford Model-As, two Corvettes and a new Ford Mustang. Though construction in Lot 5 will ramp up at the end of June, college faculty, staff and administrators will begin parking off-site at Gillespie Field and taking a short ride on a shuttle bus to campus beginning in late August. During the anticipated 12-month construction timeframe, we will have about 800 fewer parking spaces while the new parking structure is built.
TOPSummer School Enrollment
As of June 13, headcount for summer was up 129 students or 1.73%, and we are slightly up in units. The eight-week session runs from June 9 to July 31, and the six-week session runs from June 9 to July 17. A four-week session will begin July 7.
| Summer 2008 | Summer 2007 | Count Variance | %Variance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headcount | 7,596 | 7,467 | +129 | +1.73% |
| Units | 30,894.0 | 30,277.5 | +616.5 | +2.04% |
Local Community College Students Admitted To SDSU
Grossmont College students represented 25.2% of all local community college students admitted to SDSU for fall 2008 transferring from the nine Region 10 colleges. Of the grand total of California community college students admitted to SDSU for fall 2008, 12% were Grossmont College students.
TOP2008 Commencement
We recently honored 1,154 graduates who earned associate degrees at our recent 47th annual commencement ceremony. The youngest graduate receiving an associate degree was Melanie Frontz, 18, who graduated last year from Grossmont Middle School High School and is planning to transfer to UCLA to study Spanish. The oldest graduate was El Cajon resident Trau Duong, 68, a native of South Vietnam who came to the United States in 1994, after spending 13 years as a prisoner in communist camps. Among the graduates were Sandy Weber, 60, and her 19-year-old son, Erik, who has autism. Erik and Sandy, along with several other graduates, were interviewed “live” on KFMB-TV/Channel 8 by Larry Himmel who reported on location from Grossmont College during News 8’s 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. news programs.
TOPBasic Skills Initiative Regional Meeting
A team of 10 Grossmont College Instructors, Counselors and Administrators attended the Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) Regional Meeting last Monday and Tuesday (9th and 10th). At this Regional Meeting, the Grossmont College team developed strategies and drafted some plans for the use of our BSI grant funds.
TOP2008 Photographic Arts Summer Workshops
The collaboration between the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) and Grossmont College will feature a spectacular series of summer workshops July 10-August 2. The series features four three-day workshops lead by world-renown photographers. Registered Grossmont College students and MOPA members attend informative lectures and work hands on with each artist for two full days. The workshops are also supported by the Grossmont College Foundation and ASGC.
TOPGrossmont College Music Major Is Out Of This World!
Sixty-year old music major at Grossmont College Jose Molina-Serrano’s music is out of this world according to the NASA Shuttle Crew. Crew members of the Space Shuttle Discovery’s Mission STS-124 awoke to Molina-Serrano’s song “Away from Home” one morning during their 14-day mission. The local jazz musician’s song was chosen as the wake-up song for the crew. Jose’s CD entitled “Only by Grace” will be with the crew members through their six-month stay on the International Space Station.
TOPEOPS Summer Institute Kicks Off
This Thursday, June 19th from 5:30-7:30 pm, approximately 60 new students will be welcomed into the EOPS Summer Institute. Twenty of these students will be former Foster Youth trying to transition out of the Foster System. The seven-week program consists of an English Reading course and a Personal Development course along with an introduction to the campus, free books, backpacks, university tours, fieldtrips and much more! Michael Perez and Pearl Lopez will help support these students and enrich their educational experience at Grossmont College.
TOPStudents Receive Honor Letters For Spring 2008
We are proud to announce that 371 full-time Grossmont College students earned straight A’s (4.0GPA) in their coursework for Spring 2008. They will receive a letter notifying them that they are recipients of President’s Honors. Nearly 650 students (647) are receiving Vice President’s Honor letters for achieving a GPA of 3.5 during the Spring Semester. Students must enroll in at least 12 units of coursework to be eligible for such honors.
In addition, students who are co-enrolled at both Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges receive similar honors. There are 55 receiving the Districtwide President’s Honor Letters and 59 receiving Districtwide Vice President’s Honor letters.
TOPASGC Retreat
Together with La Mesa Vice Mayor and Grossmont College Foundation Executive Director, Ernie Ewin, the Grossmont College Student Affairs office will conduct a training retreat for ASGC, Inc. on Wednesday July 16th. Main topics to be covered will be Robert’s Rules of Order & the Brown Act. La Mesa City Clerk Mary Kennedy will also participate in this training retreat.
TOPBudget Update
Earlier this month, state lawmakers, in both Senate and Assembly committees, augmented Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May Revise Proposition 98 proposal. The Senate Budget Sub-Committee assumed new taxes would result in an additional $3 billion for Prop. 98; however, no details were provided relating to how much overall tax revenue would be generated or the type of taxes the public would be asked to shoulder. It is expected that discussions surrounding tax increases will occur after each respective house moves their version of the budget to conference committees. The Community College League of California reports that the recent actions taken by the Assembly and Senate clearly demonstrate leadership and a commitment to K-14 education. In addition, the increased level of funding supported by both houses clearly reinforces the Legislature’s support of the unique and critical role community colleges play in turning California’s economy around.
TOPImproving College Readiness
The State Legislative Analyst’s Office released this week a report titled “Back to Basics: Improving College Readiness of Community College Students.” The report suggests:
- Assessing prospective community college students while they are still in high school to signal their level of college readiness -- and giving them an opportunity to address basic skills deficiencies before enrolling in a community college.
- Making available a statewide community college placement test derived from K-12’s math and English standards tests.
- Creating a strong incentive for students to take required assessments, as well as requiring unprepared community college students to begin addressing their basic skills deficiencies immediately upon enrollment.
- Giving colleges’ fiscal flexibility to provide students with the appropriate mix of classroom instruction and counseling services.
Dr. Sunita V. Cooke