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February 2, 2005
To: Members, Board of Governors, and Statewide
Colleagues
From: Mark Drummond, Chancellor
Subject: Update
As you all know the political season is in
full swing now. This year is an especially strange one with
widely varying agendas between the Administration and Legislature.
This is constantly reported on in the press and I am sure
you know the details. While I hope that compromise overtakes
the ballot initiative rush we will just have to wait and see.
Because our budget starting point is non-damaging and in some
ways favorable, the Board of Governors and I are taking a
low-profile approach during initial hearings while sticking
to the existing BCP put forward by the Board last October.
Some of the major things I am working on include:
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Breakthrough at UCR - Thanks to
the dedication and proactive work by Chancellor France
Cordoba, UCR has put forward an excellent final proposal
for the establishment of a C4 Collaborative at the university.
The specific agenda for the proposed center includes Community
College DataBank and Policy Research; Community Colleges
as Learning Environments (applied teaching/learning research);
Community Colleges as Educational Organizations (applied
research on structure/management); Community Colleges
as Institutional Systems (external issues and policy research);
and Professional Development for Community College Faculty,
Leaders and Policy-makers. Dean Steve Bossert has done
an incredible job of getting memos of participation from
all U.C. campuses except Berkeley and providing the groundwork
to link interested UCR faculty with this emerging project.
Chancellor Cordoba is determined to recruit an educator
with a national reputation to lead the effort, and she
and I will be presenting a special appropriations request
to selected legislators in Washington D.C. in a couple
of weeks. This effort in no way diminishes the CCLDI effort,
which continues, and in fact should provide a valuable
link for CCLDI activities and fellows into the U.C. system.
As this project continues to evolve I will keep you informed.
U.C. President Robert Dynes has been extremely helpful
and supportive of this imitative.
-
Changes in the Chancellor's Office
Human Resources Division - Two events combined to
cause me to rethink the structure and services provided
by our office for human resources. First, the rather alarming
information I presented last fall at the CCLC conference
about the ground the system is losing overall with faculty
and staff diversity calls for a response and action. Second,
this agency along with all other state agencies is experiencing
yet another budget reduction (Governor's Budget pegs this
at approximately $200,000 for the System Office). After
a careful review and job audit of each position in the
HR unit I became convinced that we could not make any
progress with helping districts that want help with practices
leading to better outcomes with diversity under the existing
configuration. The decision was made to consolidate the
leadership of HR under Dr. Jamillah Moore, Senior Vice
Chancellor, and to eliminate the separate Vice Chancellor
for HR position. The staff in the unit has been deployed
to units that more closely align with their task (Student
Equity to Student Services, for example). It is my intention
to use whatever resources I can find to provide analysis
and technical support primarily on diversity hiring practices
(at district request). We will try to begin holding "best
practices" seminars in the field sometime in the
spring. This is not a reflection on the ability or quality
of staff or past work, but it is a response brought about
by the two factors I mentioned at the beginning of the
paragraph.
-
System Strategic Plan - The Board
of Governors, at its January meeting, directed staff to
move forward on development of a system wide strategic
plan. The Foundation for California Community Colleges
is in the final stages of obtaining a foundation grant
to fund the project. When funded, a consultant will be
hired to work with System Office staff to collect the
necessary information and to prepare a strategic plan
that will encompass the districts and the system office.
It is expected that this effort will include a series
of meetings in at least ten geographic locations around
the State intended to elicit input from all interested
constituencies. The objective is to have in place within
one year a comprehensive strategic plan to guide the system's
budgetary and legislative priorities. We are hopeful that
a consultant will be selected in early March to allow
substantial work to be completed before the end of the
spring 2005 semester.
-
AB 1417 Accountability Measures Project
- The process that I reported on in my last update for
complying with AB 1417 and developing metrics for district
level accountability seems to be progressing well. It
has drawn a great deal of interest from faculty; administrators
and trustees (rightly so). I am fairly comfortable in
believing that a quality product will result, and that
it will be compatible with the new accreditation standards
and process. That being said I have no idea how the Department
of Finance will act when the product is presented. However,
if we get a product of the quality I expect, we will not
compromise. If necessary we will forgo the restoration
of the $31 million rather than place districts under some
measurement scheme that is unfair or not meaningful.
-
CBO Budget Model - Vice Chancellor
Turnage continues to work with the CBO organization leadership
to make adjustments to the proposed model. The idea is
to be as accommodating to specific needs as possible without
compromising the integrity of the original work. I believe
that we will end with a solid product that will represent
a big improvement over the current methodology. If we
are able to do this and get additional districts to support
the plan I will ask the Board of Governors to approve
it at the March meeting. Senator Scott is waiting for
specific language for his spot bill until that time. Once
again I have to voice my respect for those district leaders
who stood up for the plan and sense of unity although
it did not advantage their districts in the short run.
We should all admire and try to model that sort of leadership
behavior.
-
Compton - Last but not least
is the ongoing task of trying to stabilize and strengthen
the Compton District and to eventually turn policy-making
back to the elected board. I met with the new Board President
Mr. Burgess last week together with David Viar, Special
Trustee Tyler, Senior Vice Chancellor Moore and Assistant
Vice Chancellor Fred Harris. We put together a "road
map" for the return of authority, with some authority
being transitioned as early as April. This is contingent
upon the board continuing their training and the institution
continuing on its current path of improvement. Unfortunately
for all of us, the WSAC Board decided to place the institution
on "show cause" status. This is understandable
given the circumstances but it is hurtful to recruiting
both students and new leaders.
David Viar, Kate Clark and I kick-off our 2005 road show
with a visit to College of the Desert and Copper Mountain
College next week. I am excited about that and look forward
to seeing you in your district sometime soon.
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