By Dennis Frisch

The Community College Board of Governors met in San Francisco on November 2 and 3.   They took two actions of interest and importance to faculty.  First, the board passed a resolution finding that there was insufficient funding to trigger the Faculty Obligation Number (FON).  Given that there was no COLA or growth money in the budget and the serious cuts to categorical programs, no one expected a vote to trigger the FON.  In another action, the board passed a motion to accept a first reading of  a proposed language change to Title 5 defining “serious hardship” when a  college or district applies for a waiver to the Fifty Percent Law.  The proposal will be acted upon in a second reading in January, 2010.

The reason for the language change was the severe cuts to categorical programs and the ruling by the California State Department of Finance that Federal ARRA funds must be considered general fund money and not specifically earmarked for categorical programs.  Originally, the legislature had designated ARRA money coming to community colleges specifically for backfilling categorical programs’ funding reductions.  The ruling meant that if a district chose to use ARRA funds to backfill all or part of reductions to their categorical programs, they could possibly be out of compliance with the Fifty Percent Law.

To address this potential problem, the Title 5 language change referred to above has been proposed to the Board of Governors.  The proposed language change would permit districts who use ARRA funds to backfill funding for categorical programs and are then out of compliance with the Fifty Percent Law to apply for a waiver to the Fifty Percent Law citing that decision as a justification for the waiver.  The Board of Governors still must approve all applications for waivers, but they would have an additional criteria defining “serious hardship”.

On November 12, 13, 14, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) met in Ontario, CA in their Fall Plenary.  The theme of this plenary was “Finding Equilibrium”; this was very well timed with both the ongoing budget issues and accreditation issues.  Among the many informative  breakout  sessions and panels, there were several interesting discussions   about  the   current   status  of community colleges, the 50% Law, and the future of  California’s community colleges.  The Executive Director of FACCC, Jonathan Lightman, participated in two of the panel discussions:  “Protecting the 50% Law” and “The Current Status of the Community Colleges”.  He was joined by  Scott Lay, President & Executive Director of CCLC and Jane Patton, President of ASCCC.

On the last day of the plenary, ASCCC delegates voted on resolutions that had been developed in area meetings or in the executive committee or during the previous two days.  A couple of votes are of interest.  A resolution opposing efforts to establish “Accelerated Learning Colleges” (and urging local Senates to do likewise) was passed with overwhelming support.  Another resolution and a series of amendments were passed urging further actions on and efforts to publicize the effects of categorical programs’ funding reductions.  After much discussion from the floor, four resolutions (and amendments) addressing the 50% Law were referred to the executive committee for further study  and work, with a directive to bring a resolution back to the spring, 2010 plenary.

And, lastly, there was very spirited discussion and debate over a resolution to encourage formation of caucuses within the Academic Senate.  This resolution grew out of a spring, 2009 resolution to create a process for formation of Diversity Caucuses within the Academic Senate.  The discussions and debate centered on the words “all faculty voices” or “all faculty” and whether the current resolution incorporating those phrases realized the intent of the spring, 2009 resolution or diluted it and defeated it.  Ultimately, the resolution was passed.

The most recent news from Sacramento indicates a worsening budget, with the most recent projection being $21 billion for the current budget year (defined as the next 18 months) and $44 billion over the next two years (2011-12; 2012-13).  While these are projections and await actual data to determine their accuracy, this news indicates how important it is that the Santa Monica College Faculty Association supports FACCC as a contract school.  FACCC is THE most effective voice for community colleges in Sacramento.