CityCollege:SF

"City College information desk. How may I help you?"

2010-06-05T01:11:00.000-07:00

An "analog internet" powered by the phone and staffed by "people". What a concept!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127346925

Would this be part of the solution to increase how well City College students take advantage of all of the resources offered by the College?

Or, does City College need an ombudsman to represent students in maneuvering through the institution?

Maybe both....

I'm looking forward to working with the new student leadership starting this month, and hope to get their full participation in exploring options.

My speech as Board President at the May 29th City College graduation.

2010-06-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago at our monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees, I had an epiphany or, rather, the reappearance of an epiphany from some time ago, if that is at all a logical concept.

The meeting had started with student testimony. Students had lined up to let us know about some of the exciting and highly positive new developments at the College, and many others had told us about how recent changes in their departments were making their lives much, much harder.

Towards the end of the meeting, the Chancellor passed me a piece of paper on which were printed a few paragraphs. He asked me to read it out loud at the appropriate moment in our meeting.

I had the earlier student testimony very much on my mind when the Chancellor handed me the piece of paper.   What was written there and what the students had had to say combined in a particularly meaningful way for me, and I remembered why I chose to seek a position on the Board of Trustees.

See, on the paper the Chancellor handed me was the notice of the sudden passing of a long-time, former member of the classified staff, a woman who spent decades working at the College as a custodian. In her retirement, Queen Esther Williams loved spending time with her family, she continued to be devoted to her union, and she enjoyed traveling to Reno and casinos operated by Native American tribes. Just two days after a trip to a casino, she passed on.

I never knew Ms. Williams since she had already retired before I came to City College. While I had never met her, I knew that, like many of those who have spent their careers working at the college, she had been a person with justified pride in her job and in the way in which she did her work, and who knew and felt the appreciation the college community had for her.

We often forget that we serve people – students, staff, faculty, administrators. We spend the majority of our Board meetings deciding important matters that are essential to the operation of City College; yet it is abstract conversation with a focus on dollars and cents, balancing budgets, approving courses that show up on our agendas in a long list, determining the details of a parcel tax to help fund essential programs that would be the most palatable to the voters. It is sometimes easy to lose touch with the immediacy of the passion for serving the community of people that make up the college (students, staff, faculty, administrators) that brought us to this work in the first place. Quite frankly, we are often so caught up in details and logistics that we get far too divorced from what is truly important at City College: the people who learn and work here.

This year more than ever, we have been reminded that when we approve a reduced budget, we affect the lives of students who cannot take the few remaining classes they need to transfer to S.F. State, we lower the pay of faculty whose summer classes have been eliminated, and we make the work of people like Queen Esther Williams even more challenging by leaving open vacancies and limiting supplies that she would need to have to complete her assignments as well as she would want. One of the truths about the culture of City College is that people make do, they pitch in to help each other, they open their classes to more students than required, and they find ways to secure what they need to meet their custodial duties and enable fellow City College employees and students to work and study in the best environment possible. There is real pride at City College

I have come to the City College graduation for nine years. I have been to many other graduations – of my own, my siblings, and friends: high school graduations, college graduations, law school and graduate school graduations– yet this graduation remains the most special to me in many ways.

Let me tell you why I love the City College graduations.   After I was first elected to the College Board in 2000, I spent the initial five months of my term in shock at how hard it was to see the relevance of the day to day activities of the Board to the reasons I had wanted to be a part of the college -- much of our debate seemed stuck in internal politics or in the minutia of detail, and I felt removed from the meaningful contact I had hoped to have with what had inspired me about the college and the potential for greatness here.

At that first City College graduation in May 2001, I found my spirits lifted, my hope renewed, and my reasons for seeking to join the Board of Trustees reconfirmed. The student speakers were captivating, the hoots and shouts expressed the joy people were feeling, and shaking hands with graduating students as they came up to the stage felt personal, if only for a few seconds. I wouldn’t quite call it a religious experience, but it sure felt pretty close. I left Davies Hall considerably lighter, positive, and hopeful than when I went in.

For most of my education, I attended private schools. Between kindergarten and 8th grade, I was in a private boys’ school here in San Francisco. While I flourished academically, there were others who didn’t, and when they expressed their frustration by acting out, or when they were stuck academically and could not do their work, the school sometimes responded by deeming them not to be the “right sort” of boy for the school. Often, these kids were shuffled out or dropped out. I’ve lost track of most of my classmates who left before the 8th grade. I really don’t know what became of them.

Things are different, way different from that at City College. Instead of trying to shape students into a certain kind of image or channeling school work only into “appropriate” and “approved” avenues, City College embraces everyone where they are, and for whom they are, and the College doesn’t give up on anyone. When people finish at City College with a degree, a certificate, or simply with the skills to return to the workforce retrained and ready to go, they take well-earned pride in their accomplishment. That’s what we are feeling here today.

You see, there is always amazing hope within the students who are graduating on this day. Some of you are graduating FINALLY after many years of juggling classes, family, and work. Some of you did so fairly quickly following high school. And, some of you after returning to school after a long break to raise a family or focus on a career. Some of you have had relatively easy lives, while others have overcome obstacles that most of us could never summon the courage and strength to do. All of you are role models for those of us up here today on this platform. You inspire us as do your families whose love and support have helped you get here.

My hope is that I, my colleagues, the Administration, the lab aides, the cafeteria workers, the Presidents of the Academic and Classified Senates, the coaches, the groundskeeper, the Department Chairs, and everyone else at City College can retain this remarkable sense of accomplishment and pride that we witness today. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am proud to welcome you here today and thank you for inspiring us to serve you with even more awareness that people, rather than numbers on a balance sheet, make what we do profoundly rewarding.

In Jewish life, whenever there is a happy occasion, we say mazal tov to each other as members of a community sharing in the joy. Please join me by turning to your neighbor and saying mazal tov to each other. Congratulations to us all, members of the City College community.

A sense of humor always helps

2010-05-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

I have to share this email I received today from an alumnus of a certificate program at City College. Seems that this former student (and still very proud graduate) noticed an error after displaying his certificate in his office for all to see.

His email to the Department's Chair (and copied to me) goes on:

"Professor Laws taught us much about engineered plumbing systems with pipes and such. There was, however, no instruction on feather arrangement...."

I must admit that I didn't yet get the error and the relationship to feathers until I read the rest of the sentence and saw the photo:

"I don't believe the department is qualified to issue certificates in Engineer Pluming Systems!"

And now, back to our regular blogging.

How "Wanted: Green talent" caught my eye

2010-04-17T21:11:00.000-07:00

"Wanted: Green talent" is what I read on my phone the other day when I was looking at the headlines on SFGate, the San Francisco Chronicle's online website. Truth be told, I was in a meeting and should not have been "checking out" during the meeting and "checking in" to the internet, but I'm glad I did.

David Bank, a vice president at San Francisco's Civic Ventures, was right on target when he wrote in his open forum about the need for workers who can help energy companies and other green industries. There just aren't enough trained people to fill the available jobs. At the same time, however, having the right kind of training programs are still not as widespread or as standardized as they need to be. And, demand is lower than it needs to be to drive these industries to even greater growth than in the recent past.

http://tinyurl.com/yckon47

While Mr. Bank mentioned some nonprofits and government initiatives to help with all of the above, he left out an important piece in how we will find the trained workers needed to help green industries thrive: community colleges, our nation's training institutions.

Within a day of this opinion piece appearing on SFGate, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a equally compelling headline: "Some businesses having a difficult time filling 'green' jobs". Again, no mention of community colleges, though technical colleges appear in the article.
http://www.jsonline.com/business/89312337.html#comments

The article developed from the release of a new report by...COWS. Not the kind that moo, but the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. http://www.cows.org/ The report, "Greener Skills: How Credentials Create Value in the Clean Energy Economy", http://tinyurl.com/y3sb2hy follows an earlier report released two years ago. "Greener Pathways: Jobs and Workforce Development in the Clean Energy Economy".

One important conclusion in the just released report cautions community colleges as they seek to develop programs to train students for green jobs: "Community colleges, for example, shouldn’t simply rush to start their own “green jobs” programs (though many already have,
with offerings that range from important and critical to redundant and ridiculous). While opening a new program may offer a press opportunity and prove your campus is on the green edge, in fact the ways that all schools manage to integrate the green content into existing programs, and the resources they save by doing so in consistent and industry-defined ways are
likely to prove both more important and sustainable."

How does all of this relate to City College? At our January 2009 meeting, the Board of Trustees approved Resolution S7, "Directive to Create Major Green Training Programs and Establish a Green Jobs Industry Advisory Group" http://www.ccsf.edu/Offices/VCFA/January_2009_agenda_items.htm

Two months later, at our March 2009 meeting, our Board passed two related resolutions, "Creation of City College of San Francisco Bridge to Green Jobs Program" (Resolution S1) and "Resolution supporting the creation of a City College Bridge to Green Jobs Policy" (Resolution S2). Both resolutions can be found at http://www.ccsf.edu/Offices/VCFA/March_2009_agenda_items.htm

Vice-President John Rizzo took the lead in convening a Green Industry Advisory Task Force in 2009, and chaired several meetings to discuss how the College might grow how it trains students for careers in green industries. As the College continues to develop Phase 2 of the Sustainability Plan through which curricular elements of sustainability will be laid out and with all of the recent research that analyzes the effectiveness of existing programs and proposes changes for improved training programs, now would be a great time for the College to report back to the Board on the status of all of the resolutions noted above. And, of course, to demonstrate how City College will be a leader in training San Franciscans for "green" jobs.

Cost $aving$ idea contest for City College

2010-04-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here's your chance to suggest ways for City College to reduce costs and raise additional funds. There have been some great suggestions so far. To review some of these and to find out how you can participate in this contest, please click on
http://www.ccsf.edu/Offices/SavingsContest/

I am submitting two suggestions related to printing from computers (how many printers are there at City College?):

First, join the "Change the Margins" effort by changing the default setting for margins from the standard 1.25 inches to .75 inches. This saves paper and money as more text can fit on every page. See http://www.changethemargins.com/ for details.

Second, select a standard font for City College that will use up the least amount of ink without compromising readability. More on this at http://tinyurl.com/ylb97sa

Even simple things like these can produce significant savings, especially at a place so large as City College. Please visit http://www.ccsf.edu/Offices/SavingsContest/ to offer your suggestions.

Thanks.

Lost opportunities for achievement

2010-03-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

One of the myths about a place like City College of San Francisco is that students graduate from high school, spend two years at City College in preparation to transfer to a four-year institution, and then complete their bachelor's degree in the next two years at San Francisco State University. While that may be true for some students in California's community colleges, the unfortunate reality is that many students spend far more time at a community college, some as many as 5 years before transferring.

A number of factors contribute to a lengthier stay at a community college including needing to work to earn enough income, having family responsibilities that take up time, and being unable to register for every class in a timely way due to reductions in class offerings.

All community colleges have financial aid offices and use colleges websites to inform students about financial aid opportunities (see City College's Financial Aid Office's webpage at http://tinyurl.com/yjx5zs4); however, students have other resources where they can access financial aid, including these two websites
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/and http://www.icanaffordcollege.com/

Given President Obama's recognition of community colleges as a major economic force in this country, the whole debate about how to make community college more affordable has become a topic of increasing coverage in the press. Just today, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story entitled, "Community college students miss out on student aid" detailing how far too many students do not take advantage of all of the financial aid opportunities that they could. http://tinyurl.com/y9akd3j (The article resulted from the release of a report from the Project on Student Debt (an initiative of the Institute for College Access & Success) on lost student aid opportunities http://ticas.org/pub_view.php?idx=583 and http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pub_view.php?idx=584

I found another report, this one from the California Public Interest Research Group (known as CALPIRG), that look at the economic demand on most community college students to work while attending school. The report noted that 80% of community college students work an average of 32 hours per week, and that students who had jobs on top of their course work do not do as well as students who have fewer obligations outside of the classroom. While the report (Working Too Hard to Make the Grade) acknowledge that students who have jobs requiring fewer hours per week actually have a higher retention rate, the unfortunate reality is that too many community college students have a much lower level of academic achievement than they would if they could reduce their work hours and depend more on financial aid. http://tinyurl.com/yabaqtk

As I write this, the House of Representatives is considering health care reform legislation, a major legislative undertaking. In the effort to win over some Democrats who have not yet committed to supporting health care reform, the reconciliation process in the House has now attached reforms to student financial aid to the bill. While the past few days have brought significant hope to community college advocates that college could become more affordable, a late story tonight reported that the reforms have been scaled back. http://tinyurl.com/yef8vlh

During a time in education with a heavy focus on accountability and standards -- sometimes using terms like "student success" and "student learning outcomes" -- finding ways to make college as affordable as possible for as many students as possible will increase the ability of community colleges to improve lives not only of their students, but of their families as well.

Community College Athletes

2010-03-12T23:57:00.000-08:00

I listened to this story on The California Report tonight, and thought it was well done. The report lasts for five minutes.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201003121630/c

The one thing that startled me was the statistic reported that athletes who go to Division I four year schools after high school get their BA, while 65% of two year transfers get theirs.

The reporter, April Dembosky, didn't explain the stark difference. I asked her to give me the background information on which she depended in her report. She wrote to me that "These numbers come from the research department at the NCAA. The NCAA is still analyzing data and won't offer possible explanations for the difference until they've finished."

March 4th Day of Action

2010-03-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

Budget reform now at City College

2010-02-15T23:59:00.000-08:00

For most of my three terms on the Board of City College, I have been advocating for a more open process for budgeting. Related to the transparency of creating the budget is a clearer way of understanding what is contained within the budget. While the materials the College Board receives in approving the budget for the District have become better since I joined the Board in 2001, they are still inadequate if the Board is going to do our job properly in representing the public interest at City College.

Unfortunately, just as I have argued for a better budget process and documentation, for most of the time I have served on the Board of City College, others have argued against my reforms. The arguments of the majority of the Board (until now) have been that any changes to how City College creates and manages its budget would mean that the College Board is micromanaging, mistrustful of the College's Administration, ignorant that there is limited opportunity for changes to the budget with 92% of the budget going to salaries, etc, etc.

Fortunately, there is now a solid majority of College Board Trustees who reject the arguments of the past. We are prepared to open up budget planning, to create a culture that embraces widespread communication about the budget, and to establish timely and accurate assessment of the past fiscal year's achievements and challenges in setting out the priorities and parameters for the next budget. Those are all things that a fiscally-responsible College Board should have been insisting upon a long time ago.

As President of the Board of Trustees, I have appointed Chris Jackson to serve this year as Chair of the Board's Planning and Budgeting Council. I am recommending to Chris that he look for models of better community college budgets as he sets out to reform how City College does its budgets.

One such model can be found at Lane Community College in Eugene, OR. Lane received awards from the Government Finance Officers Association for a number of years for the way in which it presents its budget. You can see for yourself that Lane's Board and Administration understand the importance of clarity, a transparent schedule, and priorities and assumptions guiding the process from early in the calendar. While there are some things I would change, such as a link to a more highly detailed budget beyond what Lane's Board approves, they have it right in many aspects.

Here's the link to Lane's Budget Office site:

http://lanecc.edu/budget/index.htm

City College is a leader in community colleges and higher education in general. Our Board should lead the way to budget reform at City College that will be recognized in the way that Lane Community College has been. Given the state of the economy and City College's budget, our obligation to the people who elected us to represent them is even greater this year. Let's not let them down.

"What's more important than our education?"

2010-02-11T00:09:00.001-08:00

Performance Management at City College

2010-02-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

The Board of Trustees continues to refine -- and, hopefully, improve -- the Chancellor's Evaluation process. Using valuable feedback from various constituent groups and the Board's experience with past evaluations, the new process will be established in time for the 2009-2010 evaluation of Chancellor Griffin. Under the contract the Chancellor has with the Board, we must complete his evaluation by the end of June.

While the Board manages and evaluates a single employee, Chancellor Griffin, we have an overarching responsibility to make certain that similar processes are functioning efficiently and effectively throughout the District. Every year, usually at our June meeting just before the start of the new fiscal year, the Chancellor presents the Board with a resolution notifying the Board that all Administrators have received at least a satisfactory annual review and recommending an additional year of employment for each. We are not given -- nor do we ask -- for any more information either on individual Administrators or on the process itself.

As this Board continues our efforts to bring reform and change to City College, we remain committed to improving systems and processes that impact the lives of people who work and study at City College. We know that the best performance management system will help both those being evaluated and the larger community at the College.

My colleagues, Steve Ngo and John Rizzo, and I have introduced the following resolution regarding evaluations of Administrators. I expect that we will have at least one committee meeting on this resolution before it is brought to our Board for action, and I hope that it receives a thorough vetting through Shared Governance and a universal acceptance as a good thing to do for the College.

"Resolution directing evaluation and possible changes to the Administrators’ Evaluation process"

City College of San Francisco functions with a significant workforce, serving 100,000 students annually. Whether as classified staff, administrators, or faculty, each person contributes to the success of the college.

As an educational institution, City College is especially mindful of the importance of supporting the entire workforce and assisting each person in growing professionally. The Board of Trustees believes that a sound performance management system is one based on support and assistance for each member of the staff at City College, and should never be characterized as punitive.

The Board of Trustees is undertaking a review of its evaluation process for the Chancellor, and expects to institute a revised process in the upcoming evaluation scheduled to finish by the end of June 2010. The Board is committed to improving the Chancellor’s evaluation and to modeling what it expects for useful evaluation processes at every level of the institution.

The District’s administrators are the next level of staff for which the Board would like to see a review of the evaluation process and outcomes last updated in 2004 (see http://www.ccsf.edu/Offices/Research_Planning/pdf/admeval.pdf.)

RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees directs the Chancellor to report on the progress to date of any review of the evaluation process for administrators during the past year; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees directs the Chancellor to prepare and deliver to the Board of Trustees an accounting of each administrators’ numerical rating for the past 3 years for administrators who have served as administrators for this number of years. This accounting will identify each administrator by a number rather than by name, and whose order will be randomized to prevent any identification of any administrator and his/her rating; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees directs the Chancellor to engage either the College’s Office of Research and Planning or the Association of Community College Trustees to assess the efficacy of the administrators’ evaluation process both in terms of how well City College is served by the current system and how well administrators are supported in their professional functions; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this assessment shall be completed no later than April 1, 2010, and delivered to the Board of Trustees in open session no later than April 15, 2010; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this assessment will include recommendations for improvements, if any, to the process for evaluating administers, and that, in concert with the Administrators Association and any other pertinent Shared Governance entity, the Chancellor will present a revised evaluation process for administrators by June 30, 2010 for adoption by the Board of Trustees and implementation for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Milton Marks
Steve Ngo
John Rizzo

Submitted February 2, 2010

Student (non)-involvement in budgeting

2010-01-31T21:48:00.000-08:00

At our meeting last October when we adopted the final City College budget for 2009-2010, a number of students spoke to our Board about how eliminating the summer session would be harmful to their educational plans. In addition to the reality of facing another semester or two at City College before being able to transfer, many of these students complained that they had been unaware that the Administration had proposed cutting summer classes as a budget saving measure.

There are three or so student representatives to the College's Planning and Budgeting Council ("PBC"), the Shared Governance entity responsible for developing, approving, and recommending the budget to the Board of Trustees. How -- or if -- these students confer with student leaders and the Associated Students is unclear. Is there a robust exchange of information within the student body about the College's budget, the result of which is a true integration of student needs and desires into what the College offers in its educational and support programs? It would seem unlikely that this happens in any more that a scattered way, and that's unfortunate.

While we were listening to students complain about their lack of involvement in planning and budgeting at City College, I felt frustrated that these students were finally showing up to a College Board meeting to talk to us. Where had they been all year? With an enrollment of over 100,000 students each year, surely there are 100 or so who have the time, interest, and passion to challenge the Board of Trustees -- the elected representatives of the public -- to have a clear understanding of how the College fulfills its mission and to be able to document how they, as the Board, are serving the needs of students.

Yet, extraordinarily few students come to the College Board meetings, almost no students advocate for anything in front of the Board, and shared governance spots reserved for students often remain unfilled. I know that hearing from students would be a powerful and effective way to create change at City College; however, either by design or by history, students and the Board of Trustees have a pretty much non-existent relationship. That is a wasted opportunity for both.

At our monthly meeting last week, Chancellor Griffin noted that students want to have more involvement in the budget process and pledged to making that happen. He did not get into specifics, however. Student leaders should seize the opportunity to develop a structure for student involvement in planning and budgeting, and should present this to the College Board at our next meeting in February.

Board of Governors meet at City College

2009-11-03T00:21:00.001-08:00

I had a chance today to welcome the Board of Governors for the California Community College System to City College. The Board is holding meetings at the College as part of its effort to travel to different community colleges around the state rather than meeting only in San Francisco. It's good exposure for the System and also for City College.

During my remarks at the luncheon, I told the Board members that they honored City College by choosing to hold meetings in San Francisco. I expressed my hope that they would have productive sessions.

Since I had the microphone (and no one was going to take it away from me!), I took the opportunity to let the members of the Board of Governors -- as well as Chancellor Jack Scott and members of his staff -- know about our recent garage sale. I said that there were three purposes to the garage sale: to raise funds to replace classes, to bring the community together in support of City College, and to make a point about chronic underfunding of public education in California. We achieved all three goals.

I also wanted to make certain that everyone in the room understood that, without full-funding for public education, we are going to continue to lag behind other states in academic achievement. While some members of the Board of Governors may feel that they are not "advocates" in the way that some of us want them to be, I felt I had to make a strong argument for the revision of Proposition 13. Eliminating the commercial property component of Prop 13 would provide a significant boost in public funds, much of which should go to public education.

Chancellor Jack Scott presented Governor Schwarzenneger with the first "Community Colleges Governor" award at the recent Association of Community College Trustees Annual Leadership Congress in San Francisco. Let's use the close relationship between Chancellor Scott and the Governor to advocate for proper funding for public education. The Governor continues to talk about his experience at Santa Monica City College as the reason for his success. It's time for the Governor to "give back" to the community colleges. City College should take a lead in showing him the best way to do that.

City College Garage Sale - October 24th

2009-10-09T00:20:00.000-07:00

I will have more to post soon; however, I did want to make certain that I provided some background to this event and a link to the website where you can get more information about how you can participate as a vendor, donor, or volunteer.

http://www.ccsf.edu/News/Citywide_Garage_Sale/

Why are we having the "Save CCSF Classes Garage Sale and Flea Market"?

From the website:

"As the budget crisis continues in the State and, by extension, at City College of San Francisco, we would like to invite you to help restore classes and increase counseling hours by supporting the first Citywide Save CCSF Classes Garage Sale and Market. Some 800 classes are being cut during Academic Year 2009/10. Thousands of City College students are being affected by these cuts. Your participation in this community event will enable the College to restore classes and increase counseling hours during the Spring 2010 term. The goals of this event are both to raise funds for the College and to educate the public about the shortage of funding for education in California.

If additional information is requested, please contact the Marketing and Public Information Office at (415) 239-3680.

We look forward to your valuable participation in this community event to Save City College Classes for Spring Semester 2010!"

City College: A central address for good health in San Francisco

2009-09-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

My wife is a psychologist who used to work in School-based Health Center (SBHC) working with teens. I learned a great deal from her about the importance of good health -- including mental health -- for student success. I also appreciated how valuable it is for students to have access to health care services at school.

Even before she started that job, I had expressed my interest in examining ways in which City College could play an even more significant role in the delivery of health care and health care education in San Francisco. I met with Mayor Newsom to encourage him to work with the College as part of the City's health care campaign, and I spoke with Mitch Katz, the Director of the Department of Public Health, and with Jean Fraser, then the Chief Executive Officer of San Francisco Health Plan. While all of them agreed that City College had some role to play, their focus was on instituting the Health Plan and extending health coverage to uninsured San Franciscans.

Later, I arranged a meeting between then City College Chancellor Phil Day and our current Chancellor Don Griffin (a licensed psychologist) and Belinda Lyons, Executive Director the Mental Health Association of San Francisco. While Belinda suggested that City College could help to break down cultural barriers to seeking mental health services, we did not continue to explore a partnership.

Finally, I met with members of the staff of the Student Health Center at City College. I learned about the tremendous work that the Health Center does across a range of health issues. At the time -- this was before the new Health Center opened -- they had about 10,000 visits each year from the students. While that is great, the College has an enrollment of over 100,000 people each year.

Here is my idea in brief: City College should be at the center of health care delivery and health care education in San Francisco. The Student Health Center already exists; however, only credit students can access it. There is so much more that can be done to test students for hypertension, diabetes, Hepatitis B, and other chronic conditions. The students in health-related programs can assist with the testing as part of their training. Helping people understand their health issues is an important first step in treatment.

With such a sizable and diverse student population, an educational mission, and a commitment to student success, City College could mobilize resources within health programs, graphic arts, student organizations, and related fields to educate students about good health, to encourage them to get tested, to help them understand the importance of prevention efforts, and to either deliver services directly or through expanded partnerships with government and nonprofits.

My goals are to elevate good health to a central issue at City College, to offer real-life, practical opportunities to enhance educational programs, and to support the College's focus on student success. I welcome partners in this effort, and hope to report again soon on my progress.

Creating a culture of civic engagement and nonprofit careers

2009-09-16T23:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a statement that students and career counselors at City College should keep in mind:

"The bottom line is this: nonprofits deserve recognition as a major source of employment in this country."

That quote comes from "Nonprofits are small business employers too" that you can find on the blog of Commongood Careers at
http://www.cgcareers.org/blog/comments/nonprofits_are_small_business_employers_too/
Commongood Careers is a Boston-based, for-profit search firm that helps non-profits attract and retain employees.

While there are programs in service learning and mentorship at City College, plus a new civic engagement center sponsored by the Vice Chancellor of Student Development, Mark Robinson, these programs are not able to involve more than a very small percentage of students at City College. Without greater financial resources -- and an institutional recognition of and commitment to civic engagement -- City College students most likely will not become engaged in their community or seek out careers with nonprofits. What can we do to overcome these lost opportunities?

First, we should confer with other educational institutions about how their programs for civic engagement and nonprofit work experience are handled: what resources are devoted to these programs, how many students are served, do the nonprofits in the community feel a connection to the community college, are new ways to take on issues and problems in social service delivery being developed by community college programs?

In the Bay Area, De Anza College has an Institute of Community and Civic Engagement (see http://www.deanza.edu/communityengagement/). San Francisco State University's Urban Institute, while no longer operating as a research center on civic issues, could provide some important feedback on what works and what does not in an educational setting.

We should also seek out assistance from the Community College National Center for Community Engagement at Arizona's Mesa Community College (see http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/other/engagement/)

With 9,000 nonprofits in the Bay Area that could benefit from involvement of the 250,000 community college students in our region and that could offer employment to many of these students, City College should embrace civic engagement as a core institutional value.

College Board committee meetings September 10th

2009-09-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

I am so pleased that the committee structure I proposed earlier this year -- and formally adopted by the College Board last month -- is working. While we still have some things to work out, we now have a College Board that has increased its commitment to considering important matters in public meetings with more deliberation in the past.

Tomorrow night, two committees will meet.

With its meeting starting at 6 pm at 33 Gough Street, the Facilities, Infrastructure, and Technology Committee (chaired by John Rizzo) has on its agenda:

Update on the Chinatown North Beach Campus Construction Project, schedule and costs
Update on John Adams Campus and Joint Use Facilities Construction Projects
Report on status of hiring Local Hiring Monitors for Chinatown and Joint Use projects
Discussion and possible recommendation to Board of adding a Chief Technology Officer position to the staff (committee may chose to vote and forward results to full Board of Trustees)
Discussion and possible recommendation to Board of maximizing parking revenues while minimizing student costs, and the possible use of a parking consultant (committee may chose to vote and forward results to full Board of Trustees)
Update on soccer field construction project

At 7:30 also at 33 Gough Street, the Community Relations Committee (chaired by Chris Jackson) has a full agenda, too:

Discussion and possible recommendation to Board of the Greater Access and Opportunity in City College’s Nursing Program resolution (committee may chose to vote and forward results to full Board of Trustees).
Discussion of and possible future action for a CCSF Student Ombudsman position.
Discussion and possible recommendation to Board of the Authorization to Propose amendments to Agreement for Exchange of Real Property (Balboa Reservoir) with the District Developing a Plaza at Ocean and Phelan and enforcing Good Faith Efforts in Local Hiring by construction contractors retained to develop the plaza and construction of the reservoir resolution (committee may chose to vote and forward results to full Board of Trustees).
Discussion and possible recommendation to Board of Expanding Contracts to Local Businesses resolution (committee may chose to vote and forward results to full Board of Trustees).

College Board improvements

2009-09-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

Since my last post in May, the College Board has made progress in addressing some of the concerns about how we conduct business and the tension that the Board was causing through some of our actions.

Finally, after many months of discussion through Board meetings and committee meetings, we have a new policy governing our meetings. Among the important changes are:

The President of the Board of Trustees now authorizes the distribution of the agenda for Board meetings, and committee chairs have this authorization for their committee meetings. While agenda preparation will continue to be done collaboratively with the Chancellor, the Board now has final say.
There is now a formally adopted process for introduction of resolutions, for referral to committees, and for consideration of items by committee before they must be returned to the full Board for action. The goal is to enable Shared Governance and other interests to comment on proposed action by the Board in a timely manner (by the second Board meeting after referral to a committee or 45 days, whichever is longer).
Resolutions by Board members must be submitted to the Chancellor no later than 21 days before their consideration, and draft agendas will be ready for review by the Board President no later than 14 days before the meeting and by the committee chair no later than 7 days before the meeting. Again, this is intended to establish a process that feels less rushed and more deliberate than we have had to date.

We will have more, important changes following our meeting on September 24th where, I hope, our Sunshine Policy will be adopted by the Board. I will report on those changes in another post.

Unnecessary tension on the College Board?

2009-05-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

When we finished our monthly Board meeting last night, I realized something about the way we function that contributes to an atmosphere of contention and stress on the part of the Board and the College or members of the public. Unlike other governmental bodies like the School Board or the Board of Supervisors, the College Board has traditionally operated without active committees. Yes, we have had committees with chairs and members for the entire time that I have served on the College Board; however, until this year when I instituted new committees and called for these committees to meet as committees (rather than as the full Board) and to make recommendations to the Board for action.

I am pleased that the new committees and committee structure have been embraced by the entire Board, and that some of the committees have been particularly committed to their heightened role.

But, not every resolution is referred to a committee, and some of the resolutions proposed by the District -- as opposed to those proposed by Trustees -- are seen for the first time by the Board just a few days before our meeting. Often, we are asked to make a decision without delay, and that has caused problems when some of us feel that we have not been given enough information on which to base a rational decision.

Similarly, resolutions proposed by Board members (noticeably increased in number and in content since the Board added two new members in January), have not until this year gone to committee. In fact, few of the Board sponsored resolutions (other than Policy changes that require two readings) are referred to committee and most of the Board is unaware of the existence of the resolutions until the Board packet arrives the Friday night before the meeting the next Thursday.

With both the District and Board sponsored resolutions, there can be significant pressure to adopt them at the upcoming meeting. The stress and contention I spoke of at the beginning of this post result from: 1) the legal requirement that less than a majority of Board members can discuss a resolution prior the meeting in keeping with the requirements of the Brown Act, 2) the "political" strategy that a sponsor of a resolution may be employing in timing the introduction of a particular resolution, 3) the concern/fear that members of the College community or of the general public may have about the consequences of a resolution that became known to them with such a short time before a vote will be taken, and 4) the history of non-functioning committees, few policies guiding the introduction of Board sponsored resolutions, and strategic introduction of resolutions to score political points or to use the pressure of a deadline to force a decision.

I joined with my colleagues, John Rizzo and Steve Ngo, in drafting some Policy changes to bring order to the College Board and to reduce the stress that too often taints our meetings. More on those proposed changes in another post.

New term on the College Board

2009-01-20T11:40:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of the day, and having just heard our new President's Inaugural Address, I wanted to share some of my words after being sworn in for my third term on the College Board on January 5th:

"It is an unsettling time. Things could improve or get much, much worse. In the face of this uncertainty, it is our obligation to secure the future for those who depend on us. Community colleges serve the most vulnerable people in our society whether they are starting their higher education, about to enter the workforce, or who are returning for a career change. They are banking on the future…a future where there will be a job for them. They are hoping that, in their future, there will be a world that will accept them for who they are and for what they offer and a world where they will want to be.

As we find ourselves facing profound events, whether related to the state of the economy or war, it is easy to get dispirited or despondent. My goal is to not allow that to happen to me, and my invitation to you is to join me in always believing that what we do at City College is equally profound and life altering. The big difference is that City College is about positive change and life affirming actions.

We are being tested by all that we are facing. We have to have the courage to face these challenges and to secure the future for those we serve and those we represent. I am confident that our new Chancellor and our new Board will do this.

We each have personal goals and agendas for our work at City College. Mine continue to be centered on sustainability, open governance, health care and health education, community service, and collaboration. My hope is that the Board of Trustees can come together in unity – not shying away from heated debate, however – to foster a collegial spirit that can shape all that goes on at City College. The future depends on us. We depend on each other."

Social Equity and Social Justice

2008-10-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

The Board of Trustees is conducting interviews this week for the three finalists for Chancellor of City College. Selecting the Chancellor is one of the most important roles for the Board; creating a climate for strong and positive interaction between the Chancellor and the Board is critical to an effective Board that helps City College meet its mission.

One of the candidates talked about social equity and social justice in a way that I found compelling. I want to share this person's comments:

"Social equity is that everyone has opportunity. Social justice is that there is equity in outcomes."

These comments are important to keep in mind as we design programs to better ensure equitable outcomes. It is not enough to provide "opportunity" if the outcomes differ between groups. With all of the talk about the "achievement gap" in San Francisco, we need to embrace social justice as a primary goal for City College. I will be advocating for that as a Board priority.

Policy changes at City College

2008-09-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

The Board of Trustees of any community college district uses its policy decisions to direct the administration to act. At both the August and September 2008 meetings of the College Board, my colleagues approved (at the required second reading) policies that I authored.

The one that we passed just tonight goes a long way to correcting a long-standing problem in how the College Board operates. For years now, it has bothered me that we have no minutes of our Closed Sessions. Instead, our General Counsel makes notes for what he reads out at the Open Session about any actions taken in Closed Session. The Board never reviews these notes for accuracy or completeness. Unlike our Open Sessions, our Closed Sessions are not audio- or video-recorded. The arguments have been that recording will either dampen candor or it can be used to reveal legal strategies to an opposing side.

Unfortunately, there have been too many instances either where we can cannot agree on what we decided in Closed Session, or where the College Administration may interpret "the will of the Board" on a variety of subjects. Until tonight, we did not require any documentation. That is now changed.

Here is the text of the amendment to Policy Manual Section 1.05 – Meetings (thanks to Trustees Anita Grier and John Rizzo for co-sponsoring):

"To ensure an accurate record of the Board of Trustees’ decisions and the direction it gives to the Administration and to avoid future confusion and uncertainty, every “action” (see following definition) by the Board of Trustees must be by a documented vote on a written resolution or other document.

The meetings for which this applies include, but are not limited to: worksessions or committee meetings, open session, closed sessions, special meetings, and retreats.

“Actions” include, but are not limited to: written resolutions, direction given on labor negotiations, legal actions, real estate matters, and personnel issues as well as on programs, projects, and plans that are presented for Board review, comment, and feedback.

At its subsequent worksession, committee meeting, open or closed session, the Board of Trustees will approve the accuracy of the written record of the immediate past meeting of a similar nature (i.e. open session and next open session, closed session and next closed session). Following a special meeting or retreat, the Board of Trustees will approve the written record at its next open or closed session as appropriate."

I am very pleased by the passage of this resolution.

At our August 2008 meeting, the College Board passed another policy change to Policy Manual Section 7.26 7.27 – Commitment to the District’s Small Business Enterprise and Small Local Business Enterprise Programs. Prior to the passage of this policy change, City College did not use past performance on agreed to small business participation in the recommendation of awarding new contracts. Whenever we approve a contract for some construction project, there usually is a 15-35% small or small local business participation goal. Unfortunately, there seems to be limited oversight of these promises made by contractors to, at least, try to include local businesses. I am standing strongly behind the principle that the San Francisco Community College District should do whatever it can to keep local dollars within our community.

Thanks to Trustees Anita Grier and Julio Ramos for co-sponsoring this policy change:

"The Board of Trustees directs the District, when evaluating firms seeking contracts with the District, to include in its consideration, to the extent permitted by law, of past performance towards Small Business Enterprise and Small Local Business Enterprise goals in previous contracts with the District in recommending future contracts to the Board of Trustees, and The Board of Trustees requires that, in any resolution where the recommended contractor has had prior contracts that included Small Business Enterprise and/or Small Local Business

Enterprise goals, resolutions for future contracts list all past Small Business Enterprise and/or Small Local Business Enterprise contractual goals and performance towards those goals so that the Board of Trustees can consider, to the extent permitted by law, the past performance(s) in awarding a new contract."

Another successful meeting!

Keeping my word

2008-08-28T00:45:00.000-07:00

During all San Francisco elections, candidates seeking organizational endorsements are required to fill out (sometimes lengthy) questionnaires prior to being interviewed. One of these I completed recently was from the San Francisco Women's Political Committee. I am pleased to have received the SFWPC Endorsements Committee's recommendation (thanks to them for their continuing confidence in me), and look forward to being endorsed by the full membership.

I wanted to share some of the SFWPC's questions as well as my answers. You will note that I pledged to ask the Chancellor for information on a number of these, and plan to make these requests both in writing and at our College Board meeting on August 28th.

****************

1. Do you support raising wages so that all San Francisco workers can meet their family’s basic needs with one full-time job? If you support this concept, what will you do to advance sustainable wages for all workers?

No one should have to work more than one full-time job to support a family’s basic needs. I cannot say for certain if there are any employees at City College who have to work more than one job; however, I will ask the Chancellor to report to the Board on this to see if we need to adopt a policy directing the District to raise all employees to the level where their City College job is sufficient to support a family.

2. According to current federal comparative statistics, females make $0.85 to the dollar for a man in a comparable position. Do you support the concept of pay equity in the workplace for comparable work? If you support this concept, what will you do to advance pay equity in the workplace?

I can think of no justification for not having comparable pay for everyone. It is amazing to me that women still make less than men; the only thing less acceptable than that fact is the realization that we allow this disparity to continue to exist. We have the power to change this!

As a Trustee at City College, I will ask for an analysis of pay at the College to see if this disparity exists there. Once we have this information, I will then be able to act to establish policies to make any corrections that we need. Hopefully, the situation at City College will be better than in society at large.

3. What should the role of the government be in expanding quality, accessible childcare, early education and elder care resources?

Given the evidence of the importance of pre-school, the demand for childcare, and the growing need for elder care as the population ages, the role of government should be to guarantee all of these things at a reasonable rate and in an accessible way. City College has an excellent reputation for child development programs, though I am not certain how much wait there is for spots to open. I will find out how the College manages demand for child development programs for its students as well as for people who work at the College, and I will propose a Board policy requiring the District to provide child development services for anyone at the College who desires it.

4. What will you do to help eliminate sexual harassment and sexual discrimination in the workplace and society in general?

I will seek the support of my colleagues on the College Board in requiring an annual report on sexual harassment and sexual discrimination complaints to make certain that laws and policies against both of these are being handled properly. That includes requiring that the offices charged with investigating complaints and recommending action against anyone found guilty of breaking the law or violating District policies is seen as properly trained to handle these complaints and competent in carrying out its duties. If people feel that their complaints will not be handled properly, they will refrain from filing them. The Board need to send a strong signal that it will not stand for inappropriate actions and that it will demand that the College take action to punish those who violate standards.

City College program for homeless and at-risk students

2008-08-12T00:52:00.000-07:00

Recently, I introduced Dariush Kahyan, the Mayor's Homeless Policy Director, to the HARTS Program at City College (Homeless/At-Risk Transitional Students). I was surprised to find that there had been no formal connection between Project Homeless Connect, the nonprofit where Dariush used to work, and HARTS.

In fact, when I looked tonight the orientation flyer for volunteers that is posted on the SFConnect website, there still is no mention about an educational program that could greatly benefit San Francisco's homeless population as well as those at-risk of becoming homeless or returning to homelessness:

Project Homeless Connect – Orientation

"Because each client is unique and the combination of services that they need is different, their individual needs will dictate exactly how they move through the Service Stations.

The list of services provided is growing and includes the following and more:

Medical Care, Dental, HIV and TB Testing, Needle Exchange
Benefits (CAAP, GA, SSI, Food Stamps)
Behavioral Health (Mental Health & Substance Abuse Counseling and Treatment, methadone)
Housing Information and Shelter Reservation –7 day stay
Veterans Assistance
Family Services and Senior Services
DMV Ids
Free phone calls and voice mail
Employment Services
Free vision care and eyeglasses
Domestic Violence Counseling
Legal Assistance
Discharge Planning
Lunch, Activities & Giveaways
Flu Shots and Hair cuts"

I understand that there have been some preliminary conversations between the City and City College. I am going to continue to push for the type of collaboration that would enable HARTS to serve a broader range of students than they can now with their limited resources.

For further information about HARTS, please go to:

http://www.ccsf.edu/Resources/Harts/index.htm

ESL students at City College

2008-07-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I met with two English as a Second Language students who came to the United States from China six months ago. Both Ada and Hannah, their American names that they used with me, come from Guandong.

While we needed a great deal of help to have our conversation -- fortunately their ESL teacher was there, too -- it is clear that both of them are eager to learn English. We went through some of the exercises they did in class: their names, addresses, and the date. I was taught to say the date in Mandarin.

ESL is an enormously important part of what City College does. It represents the entry point into American society for many people coming to San Francisco. Command of English, even in a city like San Francisco with large communities of foreign-born and foreign-language proficient people, is essential for getting good jobs and integrating into our city. Ada and Hannah are determined to learn English, and are grateful that City College offers so many ESL classes.

At a recent Board meeting where we approved the final design for the Chinatown/North Beach Campus, one person spoke to us about the importance of ESL. He said that ESL is the best anti-poverty program. I hadn't made that connection before, but I see the wisdom in that.

While we often say that City College is a great place to study, we may not remember that many students at City College first need to learn English before they can take other vocational or academic classes that can lead to a productive career. Without the vibrant ESL program, approximately 40% of the classes offered by City College, large numbers of students will not be able to access the quality education that City College offers.

Marryin' folk!

2008-06-18T23:19:00.001-07:00

I had the honor yesterday of officiating at three wedding ceremonies in City Hall. The three couples -- Rebecca and Beth, Kate and Kory, and Erika and Linda -- were very different from each other (at least from what what I could tell in the time we spent together!). Yet, they all were clearly in love and devoted to each other (and, in Kate and Kory's case, to their two, young children). It was an amazing way to spend an afternoon, made even more special for me as it was my seventh wedding anniversary.

There's not much more that needs to be said; it was one of those "Wow!" experiences.

Community college training for solar panel installation

2008-05-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Today's SFGate has an article on how Bay Area community colleges are meeting the demand for training workers in solar panel installation.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/10/BUGD10JVGP.DTL

While one of the researchers who presented the report on training workers to meet the demand for solar panels is at City College, the article does not mention how much training is happening at City College. I will get this information for a future post.

This is further confirmation of the importance of vocational training for green jobs for City College.

Can Green Jobs Save the Middle Class?

2008-05-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

I just found this article, though it was posted originally last November. It makes a lot of sense, though, as you'll see, not everyone agrees that green jobs will provide the answers that many of us think they will.

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/67138/

City College is in the middle of the drafting of a Sustainability Plan. Part 1 for Construction, Retrofitting, and Operations has been reviewed through the Shared Governance system, starting with the Sustainability Subcommittee of the Facilities Review Committee. Part 2 for Professional Development, Educational Programs, Student Services, and Community Partnerships continues to be developed by the Sustainability Subcommittee, and should be completed later this year.

At the request of the Board President, I am leading an ad hoc group of Trustees including John Rizzo and Rodel Rodis to review Part 1, and to report back to the full Board on our recommendations for moving this part through our approval process. I hope we will be bringing to the Board soon.

At this particularly difficult economic time with so many cuts proposed to fall disproportionately on community colleges and the students we serve, it is essential that the Board of Trustees recognize the opportunity that green jobs have for San Franciscans. As more and more of the world embraces "green" for its environmental, social, AND economic benefits, San Francisco should take a leadership role in fostering the green economy and in providing the training needed to help our students succeed.

I will be pushing this agenda, and hope others will join with me. If you agree that this is a vital role for City College, please get in touch with me.

Transfer opportunities beyond UC and CSU

2008-04-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle this past Monday on how difficult it is to be a low-income student at Stanford, revived a question that I have had since I joined this Board of Trustees: Why does City College talk almost exclusively about SF State and UC Berkeley for transfer? While those institutions are quite good and make sense for many San Franciscans, they are not the only option. In fact, they may not be the best option for everyone who wants to transfer from City College.

Experiencing life in another part of the country, finding a college that focuses on undergraduate education, and realizing the possibilities that a small college can provide are only some of the reasons why City College students should examine all of the opportunities available.

The article from the Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/31/BAIMVHBG9.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea) is particularly relevant for many students at City College. Being able to afford an expensive institution like Stanford is beyond the means of a large segment of the population.

The good news from Stanford and Harvard (http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1042997120071210?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews) is that both institutions have recognized that they are limiting the pool of applicants to only those who can afford the high fees that they charge. What's heartening about the news from both colleges is that they now recognize that they need to put the resources of their enormous endowments to good use in lowering or eliminating fees for deserving students. Hopefully, this will attract more City College students to consider transferring to one of these colleges.

As the article points out, however, living expenses are another cost that many students cannot afford. Wouldn't it be great if we could find a way to raise funds to help City College students who transfer to meet the costs they incur after transferring? Seems like something we should pursue with the College's Foundation.

The launch of CityCollege:SF

2008-02-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

This is the first posting for CityCollege:SF. My goals in launching this site are: first, to encourage everyone interested in community colleges the opportunity to understand and comment on important issues facing City College of San Francisco. Second, I want to better connect the College's Board of Trustees with the students, faculty, staff, and administrators.

I invite you to check this site frequently. My hope is that I will launch a new topic weekly, and welcome broad discussion on these issues. Most often, I will also post a news article or some other document to help frame the online conversation we will have.

If you have ideas for future topics, please email me at mmarks@ccsf.edu.

The first article I want to share with you is from Inside Higher Ed. It addresses the issue of remedial education, focusing on the programs supported by the Hewlett Foundation. City College is one of Hewlett's grantees.

Please take a look at "Rethinking Remedial Education" by clinking on the following link, and post a comment, question, or reply to get our conversation going.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/29/california

Thanks.

Milton Marks