BOT Adopts Tentative FY 2020-21 Budget
At the July 9, 2020, Regular Board meeting the YCCD Board of Trustees approved the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Tentative Budget and set October 8, 2020 as the date for a public hearing and adoption of the final proposed fiscal year 2020-2021 budget.
The delay in adopting the tentative budget and date for adoption of the final budget comes from an Executive Order from the State Chancellor’s Office issued on May 13, 2020. The order suspended current regulations surrounding adoption of tentative and final budgets for community colleges and established new deadlines for local budgets, annual financial and budget reports, and district audit reports due to the pandemic.
The Tentative Budget for YCCD is built upon the State’s Enacted Budget. The following strategies/assumptions have been vetted with the Academic Senate Leadership and the Chancellor’s Cabinet for building the Fiscal Year 2020-21 budget.
These strategies/assumptions compliment but not replace the Board’s current fiscal planning principles:
- Acceleration in implementation of key initiatives and strategies (i.e. Guided Pathways, Online Education, AB, and Open Educational Resources, etc.)
- Implementation of Institutional Efficiency Measures:
- College and District Services reorganizations supported if they make reductions to expenditures
- Enrollment management strategies for making improvements to schedule efficiencies
- Consider sharing qualified employees across the district to avoid layoffs
- Delay many staffing activities until October 2020 to determine Federal Stimulus Package status. Key principle to make reductions or delaying of positions is surgically based on each individual entity needs.
- Build a contingency in the fund balance from 2019-20 Surplus:
- Cover revenue shortfalls from Apportionment
- Cover enrollment management efficiencies shortfall
- Assumes Loss of Revenue from Cosmetology Program
- Mitigate fund balance usage until 2021-22
- Maintain the funding in Irrevocable Trust and Retiree Health Benefits Fund for Retiree Health Benefits Liability
- Keep categorical commitments for regular employee salaries and benefits to no more than 75% of total allocation (phased in approach over a multi-year period).
YCCD Board of Trustee’s 2020 Planning and Development Session
The YCCD Board of Trustees held their annual planning and development session on July 8th and 9th online. The July 8th session included a presentation and discussion on the recent system-wide “Call to Action” facilitated by Mr. David DeLuz, a discussion on current YCCD Police Services, and a report of all Student Success annual metrics from the YCCD Institutional Effectiveness Research Team.
The second session, on July 9th, included a discussion on the upcoming YCCD Strategic Planning process and review of the YCCD Governing Board’s annual self-assessment facilitated by Dr. Mitchell Rosenberg. The Trustee’s identified four areas for future planning: (1) Ethics and Ethical Behavior; (2) New Board Member Integration; (3) Board Community and Public Relations; and (4) Role of Board regarding individual vs. board point of view.
Madera College Recognized as the 116th California Community College
Master Plan for Higher EducationThe Board of Governors officially recognized the Madera Community College Center in the State Center Community College District as Madera Community College, making it the 116th college in the nation’s largest higher education system.
According to a July 20, 2020 release from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Madera Community College has an enrollment of approximately 5,600 students and is the fourth college in the State Center Community College District. The current 114-acre site, donated by local landowners in 1996, includes an administrative building, an Academic Village Complex with 50,000-square feet of classroom and laboratory space, a sports and fitness complex and advanced manufacturing center.
Projections indicate Madera Community College’s service area will be among the fastest-growing population centers in the Central Valley. More than 80% of its students are from historically underrepresented populations and the campus has been recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).
Master Plan for Higher Education
The Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education released their review of the proposed plan. Chair Marc Berman and the members had conducted a series of hearings examining the various aspects of higher education in California as relates to California’s Masterplan for Higher Education.
Among the key findings of the committee as listed in the report:
- California’s student population has changes significantly since 1960.
- The transfer process is complex and difficult to navigate.
- California’s higher education system faces capacity issues.
- California faces a shortage of highly educated workers.
- Students are increasingly shouldering the cost of their higher education.
- Students’ total cost of attendance is more than just tuition.
- Students are struggling to meet their basic needs.
- Faculty and staff are critical to meeting the needs of students.
- Infrastructure at public institutions is aging.
- Revenue volatility leads to unpredictable funding.
- Clearly defined statewide higher education goals are essential to adequately and strategically planning for the future.
The report lays out the following policy themes that emerged during the hearings:
- Build upon recent progress to streamline and improve the transfer process to make it easier for students to navigate.
- Eliminate equity gaps in California’s higher education systems.
- Close the workforce skills gap by improving degree completion.
- Address statewide and regional workforce needs.
- Update financial aid policies to address students’ total cost of attendance.
- Ensure students’ basic needs are met.
- Tackle higher education finance challenge.
- Create a longitudinal data system.
- Explore creating a coordinating body that can carry out statewide oversight and planning.
The committee’s next step is to focus on the process of transfer. As the report notes, the transfer process is essential to access and equity. The original Master Plan never stated how transfer would work for students. Prior to the pandemic, the committee had intended to discuss transfer through a series of hearings. However, they will now move to briefings with stakeholders due to the difficulty of conducting the hearings. They will conduct these briefings over the course of the fall.
Legislative Update
State Budget Update
In their final tax collections update, the Legislative Analyst’s Office posted that through the end of July tax receipts came in about $1.3 billion higher than budget act projections. This is about 5% higher than was anticipated. Collections in the previous two postings had been running significantly higher, but collections slowed down as the month progressed.
With such a low difference between assumptions and action collections, it is unlikely that the budget will be re-opened, and the funding allocated somewhere. The good news is that we are not looking at cuts or additional deferrals in the near future, however, next year’s budget could create some larger issues because mot of the one-time fixes have already been used.
The California Legislature is working to move bills and final budget deliberations through the legislative process to meet the constitutional deadline of August 31st.
Among the issues being discussed:
COVID-19 Liability
The Senate Judiciary Committee chose not to hear either of the COVID-19 liability bills. There was one bill for K-12 and one for higher education. With those two bills dead, there are two different avenues being pursued. One is the budget and the other is through a federal agreement on a COVID-19 package.
Classified Language
Language that was included in the last minute of budget negotiations that prohibits the laying off of certain classified staff was on the table for potential clean-up. Given the sensitivity of the issue, members are not wanting to “open back up” the debate and are intent on leaving the language the way it is.
Lottery Funds for Technology
Budget staff is proposing budget trailer bill language that would allow community college districts to utilize Lottery funds to purchase technology. Ideally, this would enable districts to provide hotspots and other necessary technology to students.
Noncredit Census Date
Supporters are working hard to get noncredit census date language included in budget trailer bill language in the final month of the legislative session. There is resistance from Senate staff, but it appears that the Assembly wants to move forward now.
Broadband Access
The Legislature is taking a close look at areas of the state that have connectivity issues. This is not just ap art of the Democrats economic stimulus plan (see information below), but there are also a number of bills moving through the Legislature to address this issue including AB 1130 (Gonzalez) which would update the California Advance Services Fund (CASF) and AB 570 (Aguiar-Curry) which would extend the ongoing funding deposited into the CASF.
Nursing
As the session comes to a close, Assemblyman Low is trying to address the declining number of clinical slots for community college students. He is proposing AB 2288 which would increase the percentage of simulation that a nursing student could do in their final semester to 75%.
Calbright College
The Calbright College board, also the Board of Governors, unanimously voted in July to have Ajita Talwalker Menon take over as the second president of the college. Menon has been serving as the interim President of the college since February. She takes over for Heather Hiles who resigned in January. Menon is a former higher education advisor for then-President Obama and has also been an advisor to Chancellor Oakley.
In June, the Legislature proposed to eliminate Calbright, but in the final budget agreement, the online college survived. They did receive a significant funding cut. The college will also collect apportionment for the students that it serves.
Calbright faces a state audit. Early in the year, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved an audit of the college contingent upon it continuing to be funded with the most recent state budget. Now that the Governor has signed the budget act, the State Auditor’s office will begin their audit of Calbright College.
State Stimulus Proposal
State Democrats in both Houses of Legislature unveiled an economic stimulus plan for California in July. The plan would run $100 billion but does not include any tax increases. Instead the plan would be funded through an Economic Recover Fund that would authorize the State Treasurer to issue future tax vouchers. The plan would also securitize certain revenue streams by accelerating SB1 funds, CPUC revenues, and future Cap and Trade funds. The plan would also accelerate authorized, but unused, general obligation bonds for infrastructure projects.
Among the plan’s proposals are the following:
- Expand broadband services throughout the state to benefit distance learning and other activities;
- Help students return safety to in-person education while balancing costs to schools, and provide expanded broadband access, particularly in rural and unserved communities, so students who cannot return to the classroom are not left behind during distance learning;
- Loaning public higher education institutions funds to build more affordable housing.
Federal
In July, Senate Republicans introduced what they are calling the Health, Economic, Assistance, Liability protections, and Schools (HEALS) Act. The total cost of the bill is $1 trillion in new stimulus funding and represents the Republican Senate caucus’s priorities for ongoing pandemic relief.
The Act contains $105 billion for an Education Stabilization Fund:
- $29 billion for a Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
- $5.2 billion for Governors’ Emergency Relief Funds, which can be used for emergency grants for educational institutions of all levels
The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund is distributed as follows:
- $24.7 billion for institutions using a formula based on 90% of an institution’s relative share of full-time equivalent Pell recipients and 10% on non-Pell FTE students
- $2.9 billion for individual awards to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions
- $1.5 billion for institutions most in need of assistance
Under the provisions of the bill, institutions would be able to use their formula funds to backfill lost revenue and provide emergency grants to students at their discretion. Unfortunately, those funds would be distributed on a formula that is incredibly disadvantageous to community colleges. The HEROS Act proposed to distribute emergency funding based on a formula that accounted for headcount, not FTES.
In addition to the funding proposals contained in the HEALS Act, the measure contains a 5-year liability shield for educational institutions, businesses, and healthcare providers.
This is a starting point for the Senate in negotiations with the House to put together a final stimulus package.
Bills of Interest
AB 694 (Irwin) This bill was amended to move the bond to the March 2022 ballot from the November 2020 ballot. The bill would enact the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2022 to authorize the issuance of bonds in an amount not to exceed $600,000,000 to provide additional funding for the VHHPA. The bill would provide for the handling and disposition of the funds in the same manner as the 2014 bond act.
AB 1930 (Medina) This bill passed out of Assembly Appropriations and will go to the Assembly floor. The bill would require the Trustees of the California State University (CSU), and requests the Regents of the University of California (UC), before adding any changes in student eligibility policy that affects students systemwide of that segment to engage in a multi-step process prior to make said change.
AB 2019 (Holden) This bill passed Assembly Higher Education and will go to Assembly Appropriations. The bill would authorize county offices of education to enter into CCAP partnerships with the governing boards of community college districts in accordance with these provisions.
AB 2030 (Rubio, Blanca) This bill passed Assembly Higher Education and will go to Assembly Appropriations. The bill would change, in accordance with a prescribed formula, the maximum Cal Grant award for tuition for a new recipient attending an independent institution of higher education, commencing with the 2021–22 award year. This bill would provide that the award amount for a student attending an independent institution of higher education may instead be determined in the annual Budget Act if the independent institutions of higher education, as a group, do not accept the specified number of transfer students who have been given associate degree for transfer commitments.
AB 2190 (Medina) This bill passed out of Assembly Higher Education and will go to Assembly Appropriations. The bill would eliminate the prohibition against a student member of the Board of Governors voting during the student member’s first year on the board.
AB 2341 (McCarty) This bill passed the Assembly Higher Education Committee and will go to Assembly Appropriations. The bill would authorize the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to establish a program, named the Rising Scholars Network, to enter into agreements with up to 50 community colleges to provide additional funds for services in support of postsecondary education for justice-involved students.
AB 2282 (McCarty) This bill passed out of Assembly Appropriations with amendments to allow the use of email instead of text. The bill will go to the Assembly floor. It would require the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to establish a CalFresh student outreach text messaging program to provide students who are not enrolled in CalFresh with a link to an internet website with information on applying for CalFresh benefits.
AB 2341 (McCarty) This bill passed out of Assembly Appropriations with amendments to remove general fund references and clarify that only existing funds will be used. The bill will go to the Assembly floor. It would authorize the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to establish a program, named the Rising Scholars Network and to enter into agreements with up to 50 community colleges to provide additional funds for services in support of postsecondary education for justice-involved students.
AB 2388 (Berman) This bill passed out of Assembly Higher Education and will go to Assembly Appropriations. The bill would require each campus of the California Community Colleges to establish the position of Basic Needs Coordinator, commencing on or before July 1, 2021.
AB 2884 (Berman) This bill passed out of Assembly Appropriations and will go to the Assembly floor. The bill would expand the acceptable uses of restricted lottery proceeds provided to California Community Colleges to include students’ basic needs. Specifically, the bill expands the definition of “instructional materials” to include housing and food assistance for students.
AB 2972 (Limón) This bill passed out of Assembly Appropriations and will go to the Assembly floor. The bill would require the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and encourage the University of California, to create an systemwide training program for administrators to be completed annually regarding undocumented students, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policies, federal and state laws related to immigration generally, and state law relating to exemption from nonresident tuition.
AB 3137 (Voepel) This bill passed the Senate Education and will go to Senate Appropriations. The bill would require that a student who is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States and is called to active duty may withdraw from participation in the California College Promise and resume participation in the program upon the student’s return from active duty without losing eligibility for the fee waiver or any other benefit of the program. The bill would also provide that the time during which the student was obliged to withdraw because of active duty shall not count toward the limit of the period of that student’s eligibility for participation in the California College Promise.
AB 3374 (Committee on Higher Education) This bill passed Assembly Appropriations and will go to the Assembly floor. The bill would delete the requirement that the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) submit a final report on the progress of the Basic Skills and Student Outcomes Transformation (BSSOT) grant program, and clarify that full-time or part-time clinical nursing faculty may be employed by a single community college district (CCC) for up to 4 semesters or 6 quarters within any period of 3 consecutive academic years, and would also make clarifying and non-substantive changes.
ACA 5 (Weber) This constitutional amendment passed out of Senate Appropriations and from the Senate floor. The measure will now go to the November ballot. It would overturn Proposition 209 of 1996 which prohibited affirmative action.
SB 956 (Jackson) This bill passed the Senate floor and will go to the Assembly. The bill would request the University of California, through a new or existing research center, to perform a comprehensive assessment of the major tax expenditures and to present a comprehensive, peer-reviewed assessment to the board by July 1, 2022, at a public hearing of the board.
SB 1173 (Durazo) This bill passed the Senate floor and will go to the Assembly. The bill would impose liability on a public employer for violations of the requirements related to providing information on newly hired employees if the violations occur 3 or more times in a 12-month period. In this instance, the employer would be liable for the reasonable expenses of an employee organization incurred in enforcing its rights, including staff time and payments to associated counsel.
SB 1232 (Glazer) This bill passed the Senate floor and will go to the Assembly. The bill would require that specified CalWORKs eligible individuals participating in a full time or part time educational activity at a publicly funded postsecondary educational institution and making satisfactory progress, as specified, receive a standard allowance of $250 to $500 per semester or quarter, which may be provided, in whole or in part, in the form of a book voucher, or reimbursement for verified actual expenses for ancillary services.
Chancellor’s Calendar
August 2020
3 – Meeting with Trustee Wheeler
3 – Meeting with Trustee Teagarden
4 – Meeting with YC Student Trustee Kelton Bower
4 – District Services Convocation
4 – District Consultation Council
5 – Facilities/Audit and Finance Committee Meetings
5 – YCCD Foundation Board Meeting
6 – CCCCO Forum on Law Enforcement Education
6 – Meeting with Institute for the Future
10 – Kick-off WCC Management Retreat
10 – New Employee Orientation
10 – YCCD Town Hall
11 – Chancellor’s Cabinet
12 – Colleges’ Convocations
13 – Meeting with Trustee Savarese
13 –Policy / Student Access & Success Committee Meeting
13 – Regular Meeting of the Governing Board
14 – CCCCO Budget Workshop
17 – Fall Semester begins
17 to 28 – Vacation
28 – Vision for Success Trustee Fellowship
