- Title
- PCC Courier, March 19, 1987
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- Date of Creation
- 19 March 1987
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- Description
- Student newspaper published and edited for the Associated Student Body of Pasadena City College weekly during the college year by the journalism students.
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PCC Courier, March 19, 1987
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Five Named in President Search
By Natalie Shore and Jennifer Landis
Special Correspondent/News Editor
After a long and arduous search,
Board of Trustee President Susanna
Miele announced Monday the five
finalists for the office of Superinten¬
dent-President.
The five candidates are Dr. Arthur
W. DeCabooter, president of Scottsdale
Community College in Arizona; Dr.
Lawrence W. Tyree, president of Gulf
Coast Community College in Florida;
Dr. Jack A. Scott, president of Cypress
College; Dr. Patricia L. Wirth, super¬
intendent-president of Yuba Com¬
munity College District; and PCC’s
assistant superintendent of adminis¬
trative services, Dr. Bonnie James.
“The five candidates who were
selected have the widest appeal as a
group,’’ said Miele in speaking about
the difficult task of narrowing down the
pool of 88 applicants.
The final selection of candidates took
place in early February, but “only now
were their names made public. This
was mainly to protect their privacy for
as long as possible,” Miele said. During
this time the trustees did extensive
reference checks on the candidates.
The criteria followed in the applica¬
tion process was devised through a
campus wide approach. “We received
input from all sections of the campus,”
Miele said.
The qualifications required of appli¬
cants for the president’s position werea
master’s degree from an accredited
institution (a doctorate was
preferred); possession of a valid Cali¬
fornia Community College Chief
Admnistrative Officer Credential; a
minimum of four years of recent ad¬
ministrative experience; college-level
teaching experience; a commitment to
the community college system and its
educational philosophy; experience in
educational equity programs suited to a
multi-ethnic environment; a strong
background in college finance; and
experience in working with a governing
board and legislative officials.
The new superintendent-president
must “communicate effectively with
all segments of the college and be a
creative, forward looking leader. He or
she must have good communication
skills for the collegiate style of govern¬
ment,” Miele said.
The search began nine months ago
when the college contracted with the
Association of Community College
Trustees (ACCT) to conduct the
search.
Search committee members had
originally intended to select the finalist
by, November and make the appoint¬
ment in December, but the search was
plagued by numerous delays. The con¬
cern about Proposition 61, which would
have placed a ceiling on the position’s
salary, prompted the search commit¬
tee to reopen applications until January
31.
The five candidates were narrowed
down from a pool of applicants that
“almost doubled” after Prop 61 failed,
Miele said.
The original schedule also would
have required the new superintendent
to report to work in February. This
discouraged some potential applicants
who may not have been willing to have
broken their existing contracts in the
middle of the academic year, accord¬
ing to Marion S. Murphy, dean of
personnel services. Murphy’s office su¬
pervised the entire search.
The candidate’s review process, con¬
ducted by the ACCT and PCC’s ad¬
visory committee for the search, was
done completely on paper. Any photo¬
graphs of the applicants received by
the search committee were removed so
that the evaluations would be totally
unbiased.
Students and staff are invited to
attend the all-campus reception for
each candidate in the campus center’s
Circadian Room. The receptions began
Wednesday with Wirth whose 4 p.m.
reception followed her interview with
the trustees and a tour of the campus.
The remaining receptions will be
held for Scott today from 4-5 p.m.;
Monday, March 23 for Tyree from
3:30-4:30 p.m.; Tuesday, March 24 for
DeCabooter from 3:30-4:30 p.m.; and
finally Wednesday, March 25 for James
from 2-3 p.m.
When the interviewing process is
finished and the the two finalist are
chosen there will be an on-site visit to
their home campuses. This visit will be
conducted by two members of the
Board of Trustees and a member of the
Faculity Senate.
The new superintendent-president
will be announced April 2 and will
report to work July 1.
Parking
Revisited
Page 2
Heather
Haley’s
Zellots
Lancers In the Swim
Page 3
Page 5
COURIER
VOL. 64, NO. 5 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA MARCH 19, 1987
Deukmejian’s New Budget Not Enough
“A statewide initiative known as the General Obliga¬
tion Bond (G.O. Bond) for instructional equipment
passed. However, we have not received any instruc¬
tional equipment monies because the bonds have not
been sold. It’s unclear to us in the field as to why
those G.O. bonds have not been sold.”
—Bonnie James
By Catherine F. Reynolds
Editor in Chief
Gov. George Deukmejian’s proposed
budget for the 1987-88 fiscal year will
have serious implications for PCC if
adopted, according to Dr. Bonnie R.
James, assistant superintendent for
administrative services.
“It affects us severely in a negative
direction,” said James.
The governor’s proposed budget of¬
fers a 2.7 percent increase beginning
Jan. 1, 1988 for the 1987-88 fiscal year.
This rate, when annualized, actually
provides only a 1.35 percent increase.
The rate hovers well below the current
rate of inflation.
“Many provisions were eliminated
from the current 1987-88 budget. One
provision not funded this year is declin¬
ing enrollment stabilization,” said
James.
Many districts in the state of Califor¬
nia are experiencing the problem of
declining enrollment.
“Stabilization funding softens the
blow for those districts that have been
experiencing declining enrollment,” he
said.
However, PCC is not among those
districts and has experienced a grow¬
ing enrollment.
PCC was directly affected, however,
when a portion of the funding for
equalization was cut from the current
year’s budget after the funds were
granted and built into the budget.
“Equalization is a mechanism within
the formula which tends to squeeze the
high-wealth and the low-wealth to¬
gether toward an average or mean. The
objective of funding for community
colleges is to provide equal funding for
each student over the long haul,” ex¬
plained James.
Efforts to restore the equalization
funds include the use of lobbyists to
present PCC’s case to the legislature.
Their efforts could mean an additional
$217,000 approximately for PCC, James
said.
Another funding concern plaguing
PCC involves money to subsidize in¬
structional equipment.
“A statewide initiative known as the
General Obligation Bond (G.O. Bond)
for instructional equipment passed.
However, we have not received any
instructional equipment monies be¬
cause the bonds have not been sold. It’s
unclear to us in the field as to why
those G.O. bonds have not been sold.
We’re trying to get an advance from
the state coffers and that advance
would be paid once the bonds are sold.
But the state governments are ex¬
periencing a cash flow problem, and
they’ll only advance the money when
the bonds are sold,” explained James.
The bond issuance is a two-year
appropriation for the 1987-88 fiscal year
and was designed to subsidize the
Senator Ibrres Visits the Campus
Shows Empathy Toward C.C.’s
By Coleen Meyers
Associate Opinion Editor
Senator Art Torres met for lunch with the legislative contact
committee and other school officials Friday to discuss campus
budget and building needs. They focused on the immediate need to
improve the learning resource center. According to Bill Goldmann
administrative support member for the legislative contact commit¬
tee, the library was built for a college half PCC’s size and the men’s
gym “has seen better days. The backlog of building needs are no
longer on a wish list. They are out-and-out necessities.”
For solutions, Torres suggested that students talk to their
legislators to let officials in Sacramento know their concerns. He
also suggested the using of public service announcements to win
public support in solving these problems.
Torres sits on the budget, education and legislative joint
judiciary committees for review of the master plan for higher
education in Sacramento.
He spoke of the Community College Reform Act which has been
introduced to deal with overall college reforms. Specific recom¬
mendations from a special task force regarding funding are due to
the joint committee on March 31.
A product of East L.A. Community College, Torres expressed
empathy for colleges affected by the budget cuts.
PCC receives funds through the average daily attendance of
students. Goldmann says this method doesn’t truly reflect the cost
per student.
Goldmann and the legislative contact committee’s co-chairs,
Dr. Robert Wright and Maryann Montanez, invite legislators like
Torres and Richard Polanco to visit the campus.
“We are bringing them on the campus to let them see for
themselves our needs. We gave them a list of what we need.
Legislators have been appreciative. They have found out a lot they
didn’t know before,” said Goldmann.
He hopes to build “political clout” which the community
colleges lack.
Other luncheon guests included Susanna Miele, president of the
Board of Trustees, Walter Shatford, board member, Jane Hallinger,
English professor, Steve Amezola, student body president, and Scott
Svonkin, student trustee.
At a recent meeting with the PCC’s legislative Contact Committee
Senator Art Torres discussed PCC’s needs as well as the needs of the
community college system. — Courier photo by Jeanine Graham
current budget for instructional equip¬
ment. These funds would go directly
into the classroom. Therefore, the de¬
lay in the sale of the bonds greatly
affects these instructional programs.
“We have stopped processing requi¬
sitions which were based upon a ‘what
if? ’ scenario— what if the bond issuance
had passed? Well, the bond issuance
passed. Based upon that, we felt the
bonds could be sold prior to the begin¬
ning of this fiscal year. We have had to
put a hold on those requisitions.
They’re being held in purchasing now,
awaiting some word from the state,”
said James.
Reasons why the bonds have not been
sold are as yet unclear and are not for
public knowledge. Also lacking clarity
from the State Controller’s office is
what they plan to do about the problem.
When asked to speculate on the reasons
why the bonds have not been sold,
James said, “I’ve heard that they are
backlogged in terms of bond issuance.
There were a number of bonds issued
on this year’s ballot— more than last
year. It takes time getting through the
backlog.”
“Another reason I’ve heard is that
there are some questions expressed
about the revised federal tax provision
law. One of the benefits in the past was
that an investor could purchase corpo¬
rate bonds as a tax advantage. Dealing
under the revision of federal law people
are uncertain of the status of tax
exempt bonds. They prefer to wait until
the answers are clear before floating
the issuance.”
“A third possibility is that the econ¬
omy is somewhat depressed in terms of
interest rates for bonds. There are
better investments in the stock market
other than bonds, even though they are
tax exempt. Once that question is
cleared up, then perhaps the bonds will
become a more attractive invest¬
ment.”
Regarding lottery funds, James in¬
dicated that the greatest portion of
those funds are presently earmarked
for salary increases.
“The Board of Trustees will make a
decision fairly soon as to what it wishes
to do with the other portion of those
funds. By that time we’ll have a better
picture of what’s going to happen to the
G.O. bonds,” said James.
The current budget for instructional
equipment hardly provides enough
funding for the $2 million worth of
requests, according to James. “What
the state bond issuance would do would
be to fund more toward that theoretical
$2 million need. The instructional pro¬
grams do have money, but simply not
enough money to buy the equipment
they have requested over the years.”
“The question is, how much further
can the state afford to go above the 1.35
annualized rate? We have tremendous
facility needs that are not being ad¬
dressed. There are deferred main¬
tenance projects that are backlogged.
We are in need of learning resources
that would improve the library facility,
one of our strongest needs here on
campus.”
This week begins a three to four
week process of campus budget hear¬
ing meetings when each department
presents its budget for consideraton
against what will be granted by the
state.
“The state legislature will have the
opportunity to debate the issue,” ex¬
plained James.
“Their budget process is also under¬
way. They have to adopt their budget
by July 1. The Board of Trustees isn’t
required to adopt our budget until
September.”
After the State adopts its budget, the
amount provided for PCC will be
known, according to James. The legis¬
lature can change whatever the gov¬
ernor proposes.
“The legislature starts out with the
budget he presented on January 10 and
will modify it according to its objec¬
tives and priorities. The legislature and
the assembly, as well as the senate,
will work on the same budget and
essentially there will be three budget
proposals: the governor’s, the as¬
sembly’s and the senate’s. Somehow
those three must come together into
one budget. That’s the negotiating
process between the legislature and the
governor’s office. In the meantime, we
have to wait. Hopefully, we can affect
that process by talking to our legisla¬
tors, senators and assemblymen to get
them to add things in the budget that
the governor has not included,” he
said.
“We have a huge influence in that
negotiating process,” according to
James. The 1.35 percent cost of living
adjustment in the governor’s proposal
is simply not enough and should be
increased.
RTD Rate Hikes
College students would be the biggest
losers if RTD’s latest fare hike
proposal is approved, according to fig¬
ures provided by the district. Not only
would “College/Vocational” pass hold¬
ers suffer the largest price increase,
they would lose their express
surcharge exemption. A line 401 rider
who currently pays $15 per month
would have to pay $48 for the same
privilege that cost a mere $4 two years
ago.
RTD will conduct a public meeting at
10 a.m. Saturday, Mar. 21 at their Los
Angeles headquarters building located
at 425 Main St. to receive testimony
concerning the proposed fare increases
and cancellation of 19 bus lines. Re¬
served speaking times are available by
calling RTD Community Relations at
(213 ) 972-6456. You do not need a
reservation to address the board. Written
comments may be submitted to: Office
of the Secretary/Southern California
Rapid Transit District/425 South Main
Street/Los Angeles, CA
90013/
Attn:
June 1987 Proposed Changes.
—Eric P. Scott