PCC Courier, October 15, 2015

Serving PCC Since 1915 Pasadena City College О U R I E R I ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT PCCCOURIER.COM October 15, 2015 VOLUME 112 ISSUE 06 Katja Liebing/Courier A Chinese dragon created out of hand-carved pumpkins at RISE of the Jack O'Lanterns in Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, on Sunday. PAGE 8 Campus safer, report shows John Orona News Editor With weekly mass shootings becoming the norm and sexual assault on campuses consistently in the news, students can take comfort knowing that there is at least some relative safety in attending Pasadena City College. Late last month PCC released its annual Clery Crime Report, which compiles statistics for specific crimes and arrests that happened on and around campus over the last three years. The report, which has been federally mandated since 1 990 by the Jeanne Clery Act, includes offenses such burglary, assault, arson, and others from 2012 to 2014. With the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2013, the Clery Act was amended to require all higher education schools that participate in federal student aid programs to include statistics on sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and domestic abuse, as well any policies, procedures, and programs the school has in place relating to those crimes. According to the report, there has been one forcible sex offense — defined as any sexual act directed at a person against their will or when they are unable to give consent — on the main campus each of the last three years. All other crimes, however, are trending slightly downward. There were 12 reports of burglary and robbery in 2013 but only one the year after. There has yet to be a single instance or a vawa crime reported since their inclusion in 2013. “We’re fortunate, we have a pretty safe campus,” said Sgt. Bill Abernathie of the Campus Police. Compared to other junior colleges in the area, PCC appears very safe. The latest data available for Glendale Community College shows six burglaries last year, up from the three incidences the year prior. At Mt. San Antonio College, there were 17 reports of motor vehicle theft in the last two years and 12 burglaries in 2014 alone. Abernathie attributes some of the low crime to the increased visibility of campus police and cadets, who patrol more on foot now instead of in carts. Where PCC does fall behind these schools, however, is in the abundance and clarity of their programs and procedures. Both GCC and Mt. SAC provide new student orientation on sexual assault and also offer programs on prevention, education, the bystander effect, and affirmative consent. Some programs and services that are employed include police escorts between buildings Ul IU uxro, the RAVE alert system, and Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) training. RAD is a women-only safety education program of¬ fered several times per year that offers realistic, hands- on techniques and tactics to avoid victimization. The program is offered when there are enough interested parties signed up and the next class is expected to fill in late October or early November. A copy of the report, daily crime logs, and informa¬ tion on campus safety programs are available in the В building. PCC’s plan to protect campus community Elissa Saldana Staff Writer The ongoing wave of gun violence at college campuses raises the question of how well prepared students and staff really are in regards to this nation-wide issue. Mass shootings, including the recent incident at Umpqua Community College in Oregon where nine people were killed, have become far more common than they should. According to Every- town for Gun Safety, there has been 143 school shootings since 2013. Some inci¬ dents have been domestic disputes that took place on campuses. But regardless of their nature and the number of lives lost, it is of crucial importance to be prepared and know how to react to an emergency. President Rajen Vurdien sent out a statement to PCC’s staff last week expressing his feelings about the recent tragedy. “On behalf of the college commu¬ nity, I would like to send our thoughts and prayers to the families and friends affected by this senseless tragedy,” he wrote. He also reiterated the importance of cdfetv and reminded stoff r»f the “comprehensive security system” the college already has in place to deal with an active shooter scenario. “We try our best to provide as much information as we can, we have an active shooter plan,” PCC Interim Police Chief Steve Matchan said. “We posted posters all through out our campus, through all classrooms and offices and we do hand SHOOTING PAGE 2 Pasadena Art Night showcases art of all mediums by Pasadena's creative community Pages 4&5 New integrated planning model adopted John Orona and Kristen Luna News Editor Since July, when the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges placed Pasadena City College on academic probation citing nine recom¬ mendations that need to be met by next October, the college has been working on how to get off probation as quickly as possible. The most crucial recommendation called for the col¬ lege to create a planning system that drives the budget, instead of the ad-hoc budget development system currently in place. And now, it looks as if the school is ready to put their Integrated Budget Planning Model into place. The model came from a draft developed this April with input from the planning committee as well as con¬ stituency groups college-wide and brings together the planning, program review, and resource allocation pro¬ cesses. The IBPM was revised several times throughout the summer before heading through the various shared governance committees in September. “One of the big selling factors of this model is we’re not trying to create a model that lasts forever. We’re trying to create a model that is built on an un¬ derstanding that every year we need to see how well it’s working,” said Ryan Cornner, associate vice president of strategic planning innovation. “There’s no such thing as creating perfect,” Cornner . continued. “We need to make sure that we create something that is built to change as our institutions need change.” The model begins with the annual program reviews of each academic department or program. After eval¬ uating the review, each dean or supervising manager will review any requests in the budget from faculty in their respective departments. The requests should be in line with PCC’s strategic plan, which sets up five broad goals for the school to focus on over three years. From those requests, the model will prioritize any faculty hiring recommendations while all other requests will go to the president and executive directors to be ranked in order of importance. The ranked list from the president then goes to the MODEL PAGE 2 Lancers football team scores their first win of the season at Saturday's game against East Los Angeles College - Page ? Simplified Planning Program Review: Annual Update Institutional Effectiveness Committee Staffing Request Facilities Request Supplies/Equipment HUggRequest Faculty ■нипптдпм Committee Review Committee Review r" j . jj . -'-••• Committee Review Academic Senate Council on Academic & Professional Matters PCC is in the process of developing an Integrated Planning model that will broaden participation in the annual review of program and department needs, and increase transparency and involvement in the budget development process. Source: Shared Governance Integrated Planning website