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Question of the Month

February 2003

What are you doing at the local level to lobby against the budget cuts affecting community colleges?


Please e-mail responses to Communications Director Keri Goulart, kgoulart@faccc.org by Feb. 28 (use the subject "February Question")
Your responses will be published here at www.faccc.org and may be published in other FACCC publications.


ANSWERS RECEIVED:

Thu 2/27/2003 3:55PM, AMValle@vcccd.net, Ana Maria Valle
EOPS at Oxnard College has:

Tue 2/25/2003 5:01 PM, scottk@arc.losrios.edu, Kim Scott
The campus as well as the programs are doing the letter campaign. ARC has generated approximately 4,000 signed letters by students to be delivered Thursday to the capitol; EOPS will be doing a letter campaign, and I have been at some senate and assembly hearings to testify.

We're educating people and keeping visible

Thu 2/20/2003 8:48 AM, Kay@sbcc.edu, John Kay
We are circulating petitions, which individual faculty members can sign, and we will forward them to the governor and state legislators. We have had information sessions, an editorial in our faculty newsletter, and we are encouraging (and will send some faculty) attendance at the Sacramento rally.

Wed 2/19/2003 5:45 PM, hudelsonputnamc@mail.yosemite.cc.ca.us, (Cecelia Hudelson-Putnam)
We are working at the local level with meetings—our board trustees and state Assembly members—and planning to put a large half-page ad in the local paper the day prior to March 17 to encourage the community to write legislators in support of community colleges.

Wed 2/19/2003 1:59 PM, elviabg@yahoo.com (Elvia Barajas)
I am currently collecting postcards from my students and forwarding them to the AFT Guild. I understand they will provide postage stamps and forward them to the appropriate legislators. In addition to that, I have requested additional postcards from FACCC to give to the rest of my students. I am also calling non FACCC members on my campus for membership.

Wed 2/19/2003 1:04 PM, jhjacobs@paccd.cc.ca.us (John Jacobs)
[We] have sent out to faculty, approximately 900 full and part-time, a 4-page kit for letter writing: your legislator, legislator list, talking points, do's and don'ts instructions for the personal letter.

Tue 2/18/2003 2:27 PM, EHackett@collegeofthedesert.edu (Eileen Hackett)
There is a legislative committee that is having an informational session tomorrow for the college followed by a meeting. E-mail messages have been sent by individuals and the campus administration is keeping the staff and faculty apprised of all the developments, and lack thereof.

Mon 2/17/2003 9:02 PM, cbutcher@santarosa.edu (Craig Butcher)
An e-mail per day to keep the gov at bay!!!!

Fri 2/14/2003 2:36 PM, saterfield@earthlink.net (Sondra Saterfield)
To date, I have given to faculty on my campus over 400 FACCC post cards (those that were to be addressed to legislators from students). Faculty have given these post cards to student and some students have returned completed post cards to me for mailing. Canada's college president, in consultation with me, sent two e-mails to all employees on campus encouraging them to write to their legislators, and specifically for faculty to contact me (and listed FACCC's Web site) directly about lobbying information and FACCC's lobby day.

At the colleges last collegewide meeting held by President Perez, I was called on to give specifics about the March in March planned for March 17th. I am on the planning committee that is setting up the logistics for busing students and staff to Sacramento on March 17th. I have been asked by faculty on my campus to get them information on how to lobby your legislator and talking points.

I have posted on a district faculty sponsored discussion board information about FACCC's Lobby Day and informing faculty about contacting their legislators. I have written a letter to both Assemblymember Simitian and Senator Sher.

Thu 2/13/2003 9:31 PM, hpreschler@avc.edu (Heidi Preschler)
I'll probably be attending the March 17 Lobby Day. I'm also encouraging our college president to use the college media staff to get more exposure in the local paper to make the community aware. Our faculty union president is trying to work with students to get a bus or something chartered to get lots of students up to Lobby Day.

Thu 2/13/2003 7:45 PM, ErlichR@scc.losrios.edu (Richard Erlich)
I am helping LRCFT organize our district in a letter-writing campaign, and also attending FACCC's Lobby Day March 17. I plan to meet with both my assembly and senate representative on March 17. I plan to bring both students and faculty to lobby day and sign letters protesting the budget cuts and increased tuition.

Thu 2/13/2003 7:36 PM, ASmith@rh.cc.ca.us (Anza Smith)
Writing to legislators

Thu 2/13/2003 6:21 PM, starfii@msn.com (Wilbur P. Cotton)|
We at Compton College have held joint meetings with administration, academic senate, classified and faculty unions. Ongoing meetings are being considered.

Thu 2/13/2003 5:26 PM, suzancraw4rd@cox.net (Suzanne Crawford)
At the local level, I've encouraged students and colleagues to write their legislators and the governor. My OCC classes just started last week, so I had passed my FACCC postcards on to a colleague to use at a school that started earlier than OCC. (My one Saddleback evening course did not have a problem with overenrollment.) I have sent two handwritten letters to legislators in the last week.

Thu 2/13/2003 4:17 PM, vhunnicu@ccsf.edu (Veronica Hunnicutt)
We are participating in the rally in Sacramento, and we will be urging students through their teachers to understand the consequences of the budget cuts.

Thu 2/13/2003 2:59 PM, canderson@santarosa.edu (Anderson Courtenay)
For starters, we have circulated a message asking everyone to contact their legislators using the e-mail system set up by the League. It is fast, and it is easy.

Thu 2/13/2003 2:07 PM, piercebob@fhda.edu (Robert Pierce)
I am rallying my students: I am going to Lobby Day and urging them to do the same; I am informing them of the tax that is being levied on them in the name of a fee increase.

Thu 2/13/2003 12:33 PM, ryanaga@mail.occ.cccd.edu (Randall Yanaga)
We have written our local officials!

Thu 2/13/2003 12:09 PM, lamontr@mail.yosemite.cc.ca.us (Rose LaMont)
There have been letter-writing and e-mail campaigns, as well as a student petition organized by the Student Union.

Thu 2/13/2003 1:09 PM, peirce_karen@smc.edu (Karen Peirce)
I have sent e-mail letters to the legislators and will follow up with handwritten letters. I have also suggested that all teaching faculty encourage students to write a letter in their classes—either by giving them time in class or by assigning it as an optional assignment. This suggestion will hopefully be taken to the academic senate for consideration. If all students at SMC contacted Sacramento I think it could make a real difference.

Thu 2/13/2003 12:02 PM, quizzler2@scccd.org (Bryon P Spicci)
I have been writing letters to my elected representatives including the governor. I've been involved in this on a personal level.

Thu 2/13/2003 11:57 AM, mludder@santarosa.edu (Michael Ludder)
I am distributing "The Bootleg" Adjunct Newsletter to 800 adjuncts at SRJC and will get them to contact legislators and the governor in Sacramento. I hope to bring a contingent up to the Capitol on Lobby Day, too. I am hoping others might use The Bootleg to create their own newsletter.

Thu 2/13/2003 11:48 AM, kshah@taft.org (Karen Shah)
I am not only writing letters to our public officials, but asking others to do so as well.

Thu 2/13/2003 11:32 AM, jstroh@SWC.CC.CA.US (Joan Stroh)
Our ASO gathered over 6,000 signed letters from students to send to the governor and legislators. Our faculty have been using the CCLC's letter-writing Web site, but I have no statistics on that.

Thu 2/13/2003 11:29 AM, Smith_John@rsccd.org (John Smith)
We held a conference call with Sen. Ackerman on Tuesday, the 11th, with our college president, Juan Vazquez, myself, Bob Deegam, VP of Student Services, and Jim Gates, ass. prof of water utility science. In the fifteen minutes we argued against budget cuts, told the senator how budget cuts affected his constituents, and got advice on who to follow up letters with in the governor's office. Jim Gates knows Steve Peace from work on past water bills and will follow up with a letter there. At the Tuesday senate meeting, the CCLC's letter campaign was announced and each faculty senator present was to contact their own legislators. I was to speak at a student rally at noon today and again at six this evening, but rain is canceling those rallies until better weather. The Academic Senate voted to pass out sample letters to students denied entry into classes beyond the room limits ( 30 additional students in one beginning algebra section whose names went on a petition mailed to Sen. Ackerman) to be forwarded to the legislature. I e-mailed all faculty the FACCC postcard and our office duplicated that postcard to pass out to part-time teachers. I followed up with a presidential message to all full and part-timers informing them of the academic senate actions and the policy of urging student to write their legislators. I do not have data on how many responses this effort generated.

Thu 2/13/2003 10:38 AM, motoyama@smccd.net (Kate Motoyama)
We @ CSM, especially in Language Arts, have been organizing the trip to Sacramento for FACCC Lobby Day. I have been trying to get colleagues to join FACCC and our senate has sponsored a FACCC budget workshop and endorsed a FACCC new faculty orientation. Lyndon [FACCC Membership Director] will also come to walk our campus.

My public speaking class will research and present on issues within the CA Community College system for their persuasive speeches. I hope to get all students to register to vote and to vote, as well as to write to their legislators. During the first week of class, students who weren't able to get into class were offered the FACCC postcard. None wanted to sign. It shows how far they have to go to realize that they can have some say in their destinies as community college students.

Thu 2/13/2003 10:07 AM, TCerda@yar.miracosta.cc.ca.us (Teresa Cerda)
We have done several things: Our EOPS students have written letters (we posted a sample one on the EOPS web page for them), signed and carried around petitions. The Associated Student Government had me speak to them about the cuts. They then hosted a two-day letter-writing campaign, furnishing stamps, envelopes, paper, some form letters and managed to collect 800 letters in this period. EOPS and DSPS staff have taken petitions to community events/activities for signatures. For example one staff member took the petition to her son's soccer game and basketball practice as well as her church. One of our counselors took the petition to a gospel concert for Black History Month. We also have been faxing and emailing like crazy to different governmental reps. Oh, I have been interviewd three times already by a couple of local and campus newspapers.

Thu 2/13/2003 9:58 AM, chaumondep@cos.edu (Chaumonde Pyatt)
I have already lobbied at the Capitol in early January with 12 legislators (including key people from the Education, Higher Education, Budget, Appropriations Committees) and have put together a team of lead people to coordinate local district office visits throughout the state on Friday, February 28. I have delivered current state updates to my local faculty, and have instituted a campus letter-writing campaign to our Assembly/Senate representatives. Our letters have already been received and several replys from the legislators on thanking us for our efforts have been received. With the FACCC Lobby Day being on Monday, March 17 with the added rally, I have designated Thursday, March 13 as the CCA Lobby Day at the Capitol.

Tue 2/11/2003 4:35 PM, ennisk@mail.yosemite.cc.ca.us (Kathleen Ennis)
Nothing too out of the ordinary. I faxed my assembly reps and senator on January 21, complaining about the disproportionate cuts to the community college system. I also e-mailed all of them again on Monday of this week (2/10) after reading the CCL LeagueAlert urging us to do so. I teach a Library Research Strategies class, and the topic I am demonstrating as we go through the different resources is the California budget deficit. As we find articles and Web sites on the subject, we discuss the implications. When I give instructional sessions in the library I point out the databases we WON'T have next semester because of the cuts, and I talk about the fact that they may need to [request] interlibrary loan research materials from UCs and CSUs because their budgets will be much healthier than ours. Basically, I am trying really hard to let the students know that these cuts are going to affect them beyond increased tuition. I hope to raise a little consciousness, if not downright ire. I worry that I am just being another "negative librarian", but I so want them to wake up and fight this disproportionate stripping of the CCC system.

Thu 2/13/2003 9:59 AM, kpluta1@ix.netcom.com (Kate Pluta)
I receive the budget updates from Scott Lay. I forwarded the one asking all faculty to contact our state legislators by email, fax, letter asap. We also forwarded the individual legislators' contact information using their Web sites. (Florez, Ashburn, Parra, McCarthy). Our college president called an all-college meeting for January 31 to explain the situation and to urge everyone to tell their friends about our situation and to have them contact our legislators. Our campus is conducting a unit-by-unit campus audit to see how we can cut for 03-04, affecting students as little as possible. Our Web site is www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/budget/ . Our student newspaper published a special edition urging students to contact legislators. http://www.therip.com/news/ . I attended the CCA Winter Advocacy conference last weekend. And I am on sabbatical!

Thu 2/13/2003 9:58 AM, lsmith@ccsf.cc.ca.us (Leslie Smith)
We have held a press conference where over 43 media representatives were present, resulting in TV coverage, front page stories, and editorial support. On Friday, January 10 we went to the district offices of our legislative delegation with faculty, students and staff. Our students have held teach-ins to educate our students about the potential impact of the event. We are participating in March 17 to the tune of 2,000 students, staff, faculty, and supporters.

Do you have suggestions for future questions?
E-mail FACCC Communications Director Keri Goulart with "Question Idea" in the subject line.

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