Question of the Month

October 2003

If you could pose one question on community colleges to Governor-elect Schwarzenegger, what would it be?

Please e-mail responses to Communications Director Keri Goulart, kgoulart@faccc.org, by Oct. 31 (use the subject "October Question"). Your response (along with your name, e-mail address and college) will be published here at www.faccc.org and may be published in other FACCC publications.

 

RESPONSES:

Mon 10/20/2003 2:32 PM, BARMANI@fullcoll.edu (Behnoosh Armani, Fullerton Community College)
How will you resolve the budget situation to increase funding to CA community colleges?

Mon 10/20/2003 11:24 AM, hnickols@yccd.edu (Helen Nickolson, Yuba Community College)
If you believe that community colleges should remediate students, how would you structure this task and what would be your parameters?

Mon 10/20/2003 10:41 AM, mcdonald_suzanne@smc.edu (Suzanne McDonald, Santa Monica College)
Why did our governor-elect select a transition team member for education that has received a vote of no confidence from the faculty and students she serves at Santa Monica College and [who] also received a vote of no confidence in Massachusetts?

Mon 10/20/2003 9:39 AM, cbi@isberg.com (Caroline Bliss-Isberg, Cabrillo College)
I have heard that you want to "fix" education funding by eliminating or streamlining categorical funding? How would you then propose to provide effective education for students with disabilities?"

Tue 10/14/2003 7:26 AM, julie@francisdesign.net (Linda Scher-Padilla, L.A. City College)
Where will the money come from?

Sun 10/12/2003 1:18 PM, rlrogers@napanet.net (Ron Rogers, Napa Valley College)
I would like to ask Governor-elect Schwarzenegger if he plans to restore the $500,000,000.00 (that's half a billion!) Gov. Davis removed from the CalSTRS retirement fund in his attempt to balance the budget?

I thought we passed an initiative that stopped elected officials from taking money from the state employee retirement systems after former Gov. Pete Wilson raided the CalPERS retirement system.

Sun 10/12/2003 4:33 PM, Pat.Setzer@gcccd.net (Pat Setzer, Glendale Community College)
In addition to supporting full funding for community colleges as intended in Prop 98, do you also support allocating funds to all community college districts at the same level, on a per-FTES basis, allowing for economy of scale adjustments for smaller districts?

Sat 10/11/2003 8:36 PM, Deegrncs1@aol.com (Dee Gerken, Professor of Nursing, College of the Desert)
Is there anything that you can do to assure that California teachers, who have earned Social Security benefits, do not get SS benefits reduced because they will recieve CalSTRS income. We worked hard for both benefits and should not be shortchanged in one venue because we receive the other benefit. Please
help. Thank you.

Sat 10/11/2003 1:03 PM, PKeller@collegeofthedesert.edu (Pat Keller, College of the Desert)
Many adminstrators and faculty will be retiring over the next three to five years at our community colleges. There will be a major "brain drain" of personnel who are now in positions of leadership. The budget crisis has limited the ability of junior faculty to advance or gain leadership skills at their colleges currently.

Questions: Can we address the need for administrative training programs for faculty? Could a state taskforce be set up to begin to anticipate and plan for future needs of community colleges in California?

I see an opportunity for FACCC to become a major player in strategic planning for the future needs of our students as well as faculty.

Sat 10/11/2003 11:15 AM, Deborahadahl@aol.com (Deborah Dahl Shanks, Diablo Valley College)
Considering the large role community colleges play in higher education, student access and student success, and given that 40 percent of all classes are currently being taught by over 30,000 part-time faculty, what would the governor do to ensure more courses are taught by full-time faculty AND that the courses
taught by part-time faculty include pay/benefit equity for these faculty members (many of whom are working at 55 percent pay parity, with no office hours for student access and no health or other benefits)?

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

Question of the month archives.