Creating a culture of civic engagement and nonprofit careers

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

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:

1. Update on the Chinatown North Beach Campus Construction Project, schedule and costs
2. Update on John Adams Campus and Joint Use Facilities Construction Projects
3. Report on status of hiring Local Hiring Monitors for Chinatown and Joint Use projects
4. 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)
5. 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)
6. 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:

1. 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).
2. Discussion of and possible future action for a CCSF Student Ombudsman position.
3. 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).
4. 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

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?

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

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

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

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!