PCC Courier, March 26, 1982

Program Competency Analyzed By John Pierce Staff Writer The Faculty Senate received preliminary results on a college pro¬ gram efficiency study this week from private consultants Fred and Joan Carvell. Other items discussed at the meeting were sabbatical leave policies, evalua¬ tion of the four campus vice presidents, possible weaknesses among associate of arts graduates, Assembly Bill 2394 (parking fee ceiling bill) and instructor book buyback policies. PCC, through Vice President of In¬ struction Steven A. Cerra, hired the Carvells on a six-month contract to review the 115 active credit programs. In their study they held a survey of the faculty, distributing 702 poll forms to 340 full time instructors, 300 evening instructors, 26 administrators, 19 de¬ partment chairpersons, and 17 counsel¬ ors. Overall, 67 percent of the daytime faculty returned the surveys, with only 33 percent of nighttime instructors returning them. The preliminary results showed more strengths than weaknesses, ac¬ cording to Fred Carvell. Of the faculty polled, 75 to 90 percent believed that other employees were trustworthy, showing an unexpected solidardity among the faculty, said Carvell. Another question, “Do people want to do a good job?” received a positive response in a range of 77 to 95 percent. An average amount of the faculty members, 32 to 59 percent, said we “share a common perception in com¬ munity goals.” Weaknesses, however, were present. “This school seems to suffer from low self-esteem,” said Carvell. “There is too much discussion about the school weaknesses and not enough concentra¬ tion on its strengths.” For example, 15 to 32 percent of the faculty polled said that they were informed enough to make decisions. “This shows that decisions are not made on data,” said Carvell. Also, the faculty's opinion of how it serves the community was questioned, with only 17 percent believing it to be favorable. But two general questions asked to all the faculty members in the survey revealed a positive concensus. “There is a general agreement as to what are essential programs,” said Carvell, “and only some philosophical dif¬ ferences as to what the school’s strenghts and weaknesses are.” The program review is based on the time between Spring 1980 and Fall 1982 semesters with these six elements act¬ ing as determinants: 1. Taxonomy of Programs” (TOPS), a cross section of courses that make up college programs. 2. “Weekly Student Contact Hours” (WSCH). 3. “WSCH Fulltime Equivalent,” ap¬ proximately 15 teaching hours. 4. Retention rates. 5. Passing grades, as in pass/failure. 6. Assigned instruction costs, such as faculty salaries, supplies, travel ex¬ penses and staff costs. The Carvells, and a task force of 21 prominent faculty members formed by the Carvells, will study these elements within the goals of identifying facts, interpreting them for the review and for a future use. At the close of his report, Carvell recommended that no course be of¬ fered without it being an essential component for transfer, enriching or broadening information needed for transfer (a supplement to a “core” course), or it was a “nice to offer” course (an upper level supplement). “Decisions being made about this college are no longer being decided within the Faculty Senate or Board of Trustees,” said Carvell, “They are being decided also by outsiders (vot¬ ers) who often know nothing of what is going on.” The program review will cost the campus $30,000. It began in mid-De¬ cember and is planned to end sometime in May. “The findings of this review will not be used to eliminate any courses but to show the best places for im- provememt,” said Carvell. In other Faculty Senate business, assistant professor of English Wallace Calvert cited the present sabbatical Psychotherapist Relates How To Avoid Stress leave procedures based upon merit as being potentially “subjective.” Some members present agreed but it was pointed out that the sabbatical leave procedures are part of the in¬ structor’s contract and would be dif¬ ficult to change. This item was tabled for a future meeting. Professor of business Allen Davis and Dr. Joseph Muha, also a professor of business, proposed regular evalua¬ tions of the campus vice presidents. A committee was suggested for the evaluations, tentatively made of three business instructors, one English in¬ structor and one communication in¬ structor. The motion passed unani¬ mously. Faculty Senate Treasurer Harold White, associate professor of life scien ces, brought to the attention of the board that an associate of arts grad¬ uate from PCC was having difficulties working as a golf course worker. According to White, the graduate was particularly in trouble in math and English and White asked if there was any way to test or examine AA gradu¬ ates for competency. Faculty Senate vice president Anthony Georgilas, communication in¬ structor, said in reply to White’s com¬ plaint, “We cannot guarantee student performance on the outside.” Assembly Bill 2394 was mentioned briefly, mainly by Faculty Senate pres¬ ident Fredrick Holland, professor of social sciences. He said that the Col¬ lege Council and the Faculty Senate had rejected the parking fee ceiling bill, but the Board of Trustees support it. Unsolicited textbook buyback poli¬ cies were reviewed by Holland. In a department chair conference a year ago the subject came up about how instructors should take care of text¬ books they rejected for classes. Dr. Bonnie James, vice president of business services, suggested a plan in which instructors would sell the books back to the publishers, giving 10 per¬ cent of the sale to the bookstore and the rest going into campus scholarships. James brought this proposal to the Faculty Senate, where it was rejected because the faculty members believed the books supplied by publishers were private property. It was discovered later that James approached the Col¬ lege Council with his proposal, which they passed. 1 “The (College Council) law is im¬ possible to enforce,” said Holland. “How are we going to stop it? Keep the publishers off campus? Besides, I don’t see how four students, four managers and four classified people should have the power on what we do with our private property.” Past Faculty Senate president Dr. Gordon Brown, associate professor of social sciences, received a “gavel” plaque for his service to the Faculty Senate Board for 1980-1981. Brown is currently on sabbatical. VOL. 53. NO. 6 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE. PASADENA. CALIFORNIA MARCH 26. 1982 Joe Figueroa Remains in AS В Office Council Reinstatement Not Binding By Doug Brown Staff Writer In a recent decision of the spring semester Supreme Council, ASB Vice President-elect Paul Kelly and AMS President-elect Brian Blair were re¬ instated in office as of Feb. 26, 1982. This decision reversed last semester’s Supreme Council decision which stated that Kelly and Blair were not qualified to hold office. However the Supreme Council de¬ cision was rendered invalid because it did not follow due process as stated in the ASB Constitution, said Dean of Student Activities Alvar L. Kauti. Kauti said that neither Kelly nor Blair followed due process as stated in the ASB Constitution. This states that if a student thinks his civil rights have been violated, he can write a request for hearing before a review committee. The decision of the review committee shall be advisory to the president of the college. Kauti explained that Kelly and Blair did not follow these procedures, thus there was no formal declaration of any violation of civil rights. Kelly and Blair were deemed not qualified for office before the ASB election. However, three supreme council members that made this de¬ cision were not qualified for the Coun¬ cil due to credits dropped during the semester. When this was determined, ASB Advisor Jennifer McKinney re¬ assigned three members of the Griev- ence Committee to the Supreme Coun¬ cil. The Supreme Council scheduled a meetng before the election, arid when they met only four members were present. The Supreme Council voted 4-0 that Kelly and Blair were not qualified to run for office. Kelly and Blair appealed this decision and ran in the election with the understanding that they might not be qualified for office. The Supreme Council then met to vote on Kelly and Blair’s appeal, how¬ ever the election had already taken place. ASB President John McTeague, Barry McGowan, and Jay Polly spoke on behalf of Kelly and Blair stating they should be in office because they were qualified for their office when they ran. The Supreme Council discussed the appeal, and voted 3-2 to uphold their original ruling. The Supreme Council also interpreted the ASB qualifications clause to state that a candidate must have a certain number of units in the preceeding semester of candidacy. Thus, Kelly was removed and runner- up candidate Joe Figeroa became ASB vice president. Blair was removed from his position as AMS president, and no one has been appointed to fill it.. When the spring semester Supreme Council was appointed, and ratified by the Student Senate, their first order of business was to reverse the decision of the old Supreme Council, and reinstate Kelly and Blair. Kauti dismissed this decision saying “it’s (Supreme Council decision) not binding. It’s a decision after the fact, something like ex post facto.” Both Kauti and McKinney said this decision will not affect the out¬ come of the fall semester Supreme Council decision. According to Kauti, the only re¬ course available for Kelly and Blair would be to write for a hearing before a review council. “There was no written statement of any violated rights presented to Dr. Henry P. Kirk, vice president for student personnel serv¬ ices. If Kelly and Blair feel that their rights have been violated, that is what they should do." By Gia Mancini Associate News Editor Stress isn’t just one facet of our lifestyle today, it has become a way of life. Students, professionals, even little children are under stress continuously, and instead of people using it and controlling stress properly, it has begun to control the lives of millions creating frustration, a' feeling of pow¬ erlessness and eventually “burnout.” Mrs. Jean Thompson, a psy¬ chotherapist from the Pasadena Men¬ tal Health Center gave a talk in the Forum on Monday about how to effec¬ tively handle stress, instead of stress handling you. Mrs. Thompson began by saying that the first step in keeping stress under control is the ability to recognize the warning signs and understand what it is. Everyone has a substance called adrenalin in their bodies, and this substance stimulates the body, keeping it in a constant state of high energy output. Stress is caused when that adrenalin surge is at a constant high level. The body has no opportunity to relax until bedtime, but this is not enough rest to compensate for all the energy that was released during the day. After a given period of all this high level activity, the body begins to rebel. It is being mistreated, and as Mrs. Thompson said, “you have to take care of yourself because no one else will.” If you become sick from stress, then basically only you can decide not to let stress affect you in that way again. Relationships with people un¬ doubtedly create stress. There has to be some kind of equilibrium in a rela¬ tionship, and “you cannot only give energy to people, but you have to get energy back from various rela¬ tionships,” said Mrs. Thompson. Some of the physical and mental signs of stress are migraines, insom¬ nia, difficulty in concentrating and a nervous stomach. Stress can also lead to mental or emotional outlets such as forgetfulness, a feeling of powerless¬ ness, frustration, and suddenly crying for no reason. The eventual outcome of unrelieved stress is “burnout.” Burnout is a total loss of interest and feeling, both emo¬ tionally and physically. Coping with even the easy aspects of life is almost impossible and your relationships with other people suffer because of an emo¬ tional apathy. Illness and depression are also com¬ mon outcomes of burnout. Burnout is ) often caused by reality versus ectations. For example, going into a for the first time and having high, у ideas, only to find that if e'xpecta- is are built up too much, satisfaction never be within reach. “Realize t you can only do so much in a given e,” Mrs. Thompson stated, here are both positive and negative rs of dealing with stress. The ative ways can be tranquilizers, jking, drinking gallons of coffee or drinking alcohol in excessive amounts. Any of these ways of dealing with stress are only temporary, though. Once the effect of the drug has worn off, you’re right back where you started, under pressure with no valid or lasting way to relieve it. The continued and increased use of drugs or alcohol can only lead to more problems, and then you’re caught within a vicious cycle. The positive methods of relieving stress take a bit more time and effort, but in the long run lead to lasting results and increased satisfaction. Yoga is a good relaxing exercise as is meditation. A simple way of calming down the body during the day is simply to be aware of how tense it is and then consciously relaxing it. “Reassess yourself and how your body reacts to stress,” stated Mrs. Thompson. Taking a few moments just to be by yourself can be quite effective when practiced often. “Visualize a favorite place,” suggested Mrs. Thompson, “and take it with you.” Then when a few quiet minutes can be found, concentrating on something familiar and loved can be very relaxing. In this way, the warning signs of stress are quickly held in check in the beginning stages. “It is not selfish to take time for yourself,” Mrs. Thompson said. Some¬ times people feel guilty for doing some¬ thing just for themselves. But it is not bad to be a bit indulgent at times, because too much of anything, be it (Continued on Page 6) KPCC Staff Cut To Ease $2.4 Million Deficit By Valerie Provines Opinion Editor In order to eradicate a $2.4 million deficit the Board of Trustees initiated personnel cuts which may affect the future existence of KPCC. Dr. John Gregory, general manager of KPCC was on the list of approved managerial cuts. This would mean Gregory may be reassigned to the position of instructor. However, the Board has until mid-May to make the final decision, pending a formal study of KPCC. An analysis is being made of KPCC and how it meets or relates to community needs. Issues being dealt with include the instructional role of the station, funding available and how revenue might be generated. “One-third of the budget (KPCC) is locked up in the general manager’s position. We’re trying to unlock that money so the station can have the funds it needs,” said John S. Madden, vice president of administrative services. “Anyone getting cut is serious. I’ve got a third of the resources tied up in one person and he isn’t an on the air person.” Madden said, he doesn’t want to cut any on the air personnel • and was forced to look at the managerial overhead. Approximately 88 per¬ cent of KPCC’s budget is allocated for personnel costs, with the remaining percentage tied up in equipment costs. If Gregory is reassigned, Madden will assume at least one fifth of the duties of the general manager. However, Madden stated that he already devotes that much time to the station and will not present any real changes. Gregory said, the cost effectiveness of this change is not in the best interest of PCC. His reasoning is that in addition to Madden, a station manager will be brought into the system for a salary that he feels might exceed $30,000. Gregory said that this classified position should be filled by someone with an extensive broad¬ casting background. Not apprised of how Gregory arrived at the $30,000 figure, Madden could not comment on that amount. However, he did state that the expenditure would depend entirely on the con¬ figuration. “There would be a minimum of $24,000 savings. With other configurations it could be larger without a reduction in services.” To maintain the integrity of KPCC, Gregory said, it is imperative that the position of station managec be filled by the right person. He further stated that the change would place a non-certified person in that supervisoral posi¬ tion. “A move of this type is not in the best interests of the students,” said Gregory. “The bottom line on the suggested transfer of the current general manager to the classroom is: It is not cost effective. It would cost the school district $30-$40,000. The instructional aims would not be served. It would mean a loss of the expertise of the current general manager. The recommendation is not based on a rational proposal.” “When you are saving money, you are able to cut out money. But, many times it’s not so much cutting out money, but being able to re-allocate money,” said Madden. Empty Seats Exceed Student Senators at Meeting : •* - тятттттять. Ш i *№£*$№* j If ' • i s. . - ч ' ШЗ&ь APATHY — Once again the Student Senate meeting could not items were put off until the next regular meeting on Tuesday at be officially held as a quorum was not present. The agendized noon. —courier photo ьу LynnShepodd The regular Student Senate meet¬ ing could not be held this week as not enough senators were present for a quorum. Gary Minissian chaired the unofficial meeting as Senate Presi¬ dent Barte Masciarelli was unable to attend due to another commitment. Despite the fact that a quorum was not present, Student Trustee Joe Krovoza reported that the Board of Trustees approved a resolution sup¬ porting Assembly Bill 2394, a bill that will remove the ceiling on parking fees. Krovoza expressed concern that parking fees could go as high as $50 per semester. Dean of Student Activities Alvar L. Kauti discussed the student service fund. The funds come from cafeteria profits, the food truck profits and bookstore profits. Guidelines for ap¬ propriation of funds are based on the value to the students, Kauti said. The Student Senate meets every Tuesday at noon in R109. Topics that will be discussed at future meetings include the affects the management cuts will have on student programs, further updates on AB 2394, and dis¬ cussion of financial aid cuts being proposed.