ACCT Trustee Quarterly Winter 2012 by Moire Marketing Partners

Honoring Excellence in Community Colleges | ACCT Leadership Congress Coverage

winter 2012

ACCT Chair Roberto Uranga is committed to empowering trustees to break down the barriers between institutions in their communities.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2011-2012 Chair

Roberto Uranga Long Beach City College, CA

Chair-Elect Jean Torgeson North Iowa Area Community College, IA

Vice Chair John W. Sanders John A. Logan College, IL

Secretary-Treasurer LeRoy W. Mitchell Westchester Community College, NY

Immediate Past Chair Peter E. Sercer, Sr. Midlands Technical College, SC

Central Regional Chair Jeffrey A. May Joliet Junior College, IL

Northeast Regional Chair Bakari Lee Hudson County Community College, NJ

Pacific Regional Chair Anita Grier City College of San Francisco, CA

Southern Regional Chair David H. Talley Palm Beach State College, FL

Western Regional Chair Colton J. Crane Central Wyoming College, WY William E. Coleman, Jr. Mercer County Community College, NJ Stanley Edwards Halifax Community College, NC Robert “Bob” Feit Southeast Community College, NE Mary Figueroa Riverside Community College District, CA Jim Harper Portland Community College, OR

From the Chair Responsibilities Take Root ELECTION YEARS PRESENT THEIR SPECIAL challenges for community colleges. The progress gained during off-election years often slows and priorities shift for those in Washington, D.C., and in statehouses across the country. These are challenging times for not only community colleges but also for our country. I am committed as ACCT Chair to keeping our focus on what matters to us most: Helping our students succeed in today’s shifting economy. This focus, however, is easier stated than sustained, and to illustrate my point, allow me to expand on a metaphor I used during the 2011 ACCT Leadership Congress this past October in Dallas. When speaking about our need to partner more closely with K-12 schools and continue our efforts to advance the student success agenda, I described our work as “a seed that must be given water and nurtured so that it will take root and grow.” We have begun this process at Long Beach City College, and many of you have done the same at your colleges. Now that the seed has sprouted, we have the responsibility not to let it die on the vine — not because of election-year politics or for any other reason, but for the benefit of the students we serve. Like this metaphorical seed, our students are very much alive, and we owe every one of them our dedicated and ongoing efforts. Let us nurture student success by continuing the dialogue and engaging our partners in working together to make a difference in students’ lives. Together, we can be the change agents many of us committed to be. ROBERTO URANGA LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE, CALIFORNIA

Donna Horgan Cecil College, MD Randall “Mack” Jackson, Diversity Committee Chair Midlands Technical College, SC Vernon Jung Moraine Park Technical College, WI Clare Ollayos Elgin Community College, IL Clemon Prevost College of the Mainland, TX George Regan Robeson Community College, NC Dorothy “Dottie” Smith State Center Community College District, CA Robin M. Smith Lansing Community College, MI Nancy Watkins Hillsborough Community College, FL Frederick “Fred” Whang Tacoma Community College, WA Roberto Zárate Alamo Colleges, TX

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Trustee

QUA R T ERLY

The Voice of Community College Leaders

From the President & CEO

Winter 2012

Editorial Team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF J. Noah Brown President & CEO

Managing Editor David Conner Marketing & Communications Specialist

Editor Mark Toner Editor AT LARGE Laura Peters CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jee Hang Lee Director of Public Policy

Narcisa A. Polonio Vice President for Education, Research & Board Leadership Services

Ira Michael Shepard ACCT Legal Counsel

EDITORIAL ASSOCIATES Julie Golder Alion Elizabeth Alvarado Keyshia Jimerson John Steinecke PROOFREADER Kit Gray Wolverton Design & Production www.moiremarketing.com – Washington, D.C. Your Opinion Matters contact:

David Conner (866) 895-ACCT (2228) dconner@acct.org

TRUSTEE QUARTERLY (ISSN 0271-9746) is published three or four times per year as a membership service of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). ACCT is a not-for-profit educational organization of governing boards of public and private community, technical, and junior colleges. Membership is also open to state coordinating boards, advisory boards, and state associations. The mission of ACCT is to foster greater understanding of and appreciation for community college boards; support boards in their efforts to develop public policies focusing on meeting community needs; help build board governance leadership and advocacy capacity through in-service education and training programs; and support boards through specialized services and programs. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and values of the Association of Community College Trustees. Non-members may subscribe to TRUSTEE QUARTERLY for $60.00 per year (plus postage for international subscriptions). Third-class postage paid at Washington, D.C.

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w i n t e r 2 0 1 2 TR U S TEE Q U A RTER L Y

A Look Back at a Look Forward In the winter 2009 issue of this magazine, I discussed a new paradigm for community and technical colleges. I argued that community college boards needed to balance focusing solely or primarily on educational access with a need to include student success and college completion as important outcomes. Three years later, I am pleased to note colleges are making headway in this vital endeavor, as evidenced by the increased level of board focus and an increase in graduation and completion rates. Now seems like a good time to take stock. The following six strategic priorities were established by the ACCT Board of Directors in 2009: 1. Advocate for federal funding and programmatic priorities that balance access and success; 2. Help to define benchmarks for student success; 3. Partner to refine and expand the practice of effective governance; 4. Help boards shift from enrollment-driven policies to student success and completion policies; 5. Advance a more holistic approach to education, including alignment between K-12 systems and community colleges; and 6. Assist boards’ efforts to communicate with their communities and policymakers. Since these priorities were established, ACCT and our partners and allies in these endeavors have not looked back. Through the Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA), ACCT, AACC, and the College Board have released the first of many measures that are being adopted and customized by colleges. Through the Governance Institute for Student Success, a partnership with the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we have worked closely with three state systems to analyze available data, define statespecific benchmarks, and forge statewide communities that can collectively synchronize policies to give students the best possible outcomes. ACCT continues to focus on integrating key strategies and approaches in its programs and events, including the Annual ACCT Leadership Congress, Community College National Legislative Summit, and Governance Leadership Institutes. In this issue, you’ll read about the 2011 ACCT Leadership Congress (p.14), as well as its lead-in Symposium on Student Success (p.10). Participants at these meetings debated and developed policy priorities, which ACCT will release later this year. This issue also profiles ACCT’s first-ever Latino Board Chair, Roberto Uranga (p. 20), who in Dallas declared his commitment to doing even more to align K-12 systems with community colleges, as he has done at Long Beach City College in California. Has the new paradigm caught on? To answer that question, turn to page 26 and discover why the Aspen Institute awarded its first million-dollar prize for community college excellence. Our landscape has changed tremendously over the past few years, and it is certain to continue evolving. Through ACCT events, publications, and other programs and services, we are here to help and protect the interests of our colleges throughout the process. We are pleased to continue working as your partner in 2012. J. Noah Brown ACCT President and CEO

Contents

TRUSTEE QUARTERLY | WINTER 2012

Departments 8

Advocacy The New Political Reality Jee Hang Lee

32 LEGAL

Recent Case-Law Rulings of Interest to Higher-Ed Administration Ira Michael Shepard

40 CASE STUDY Maneuvering Change in the Makeup of the Board Narcisa A. Polonio, Ed.D

in every issue

From the Chair

From the President & CEO

News

Features

24 Around the Regions

Moving the Needle — Mark Toner

38 ACCT Lifetime Members

ACCT’s Symposium on Student Success focused on developing a course of action for community college boards.

41 Searches and Retreats

Bold Moves — Mark Toner

As community college leaders convened in Dallas for the ACCT Leadership Congress, the need for decisive action has never been greater.

A Lifetime of Firsts — Mark Toner

ACCT Chair Roberto Uranga is committed to empowering trustees to break down the barriers between institutions for the sake of their communities.

Honoring Excellence in Community Colleges — David Conner

Five community colleges were honored by the Aspen Institute for improving student outcomes. Joshua Wyner explains how they did it — and the important role trustees played at each institution.

45 Interface 48 Advisor

30 The Year of Living Darkly — Major Garrett

Major Garrett explores what went wrong with Congress and the supercommittee — and what its failure means for the road ahead.

34 From Graying to Gaps — Narcisa A. Polonio, Ed.D

What boards need to know about the aging of presidents and disparities in pay. TR U S TEE Q U A RTER L Y w i n t e r 2 0 1 2

News Annual ACCT Association Awards The 2011 ACCT Association Awards were presented on Friday, October 14, during the Annual ACCT Awards Gala in Dallas. For photos and videos of the Association and Regional Awards, visit www.acct.org/events/annualcongress/11/.

2012 ACCT Leadership Congress: Leveraging Student Success Through Partnerships, Innovation, and Evidence ACCT is now accepting presentation proposals for the 2012 ACCT Leadership Congress, to be held October 12-13 in Boston, Mass. Registration for the 2012 Congress opens in mid-February at www.acct.org/events/ annualcongress/12. ACCT seeks presentations that relate to the following tracks: 1. Financial Realities — Budget strategies, expanded fundraising, partnerships 2. Workforce Demand — Emerging fields, retraining, technology initiatives 3. Institutional Accountability/ Effectiveness — Student success and completion 4. Equity and Diversity — Serving at-risk and underserved populations, remedial education, and ensuring access 5. Sustainability — Ensuring environmental as well as economic sustainability through entrepreneurship, enterprises, and strategic partnerships 6. Effective Governance — Procedures, practices, and policies that work For more information and to submit your presentation ideas, go to www.acct. org/events/annualcongress/12.

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2011 M. Dale Ensign Trustee Leadership Award David Mathis Mohawk Valley Community College, N.Y.

2011 Marie Y. Martin Chief Executive Officer Award Mary Spilde Lane Community College, Ore.

2011 Charles Kennedy Equity Award Kentucky Community & Technical College System

2011 William H. Meardy Faculty Member Award John Wadach Monroe Community College, N.Y.

2011 ACCT Professional Board Staff Member Award Pamela Perkins Seward County Community College/Area Technical School, Kan.

Dr. Frank Chong Appointed To Calif. College Presidency In November, the Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Frank Chong to serve as its superintendent/president, effective January 11, 2012. Selected from a pool of 42 applicants, Dr. Chong succeeded Dr. Robert F. Agrella, who retired after 21 years. Most recently Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges at the U.S. Department of Education, Dr. Chong formerly served as President of Laney College in Oakland and Mission College in Santa Clara. In his role at the U.S. Department of Education, Dr. Chong spoke at both the ACCT Leadership Congress and the Community College National Legislative Summit. As of late January, the Education Department had not announced his replacement.

CASE And Carnegie Recognize Outstanding Community College Professor Kathryn C. Wetzel from Amarillo College in Texas was recognized as the 2011 CASE Outstanding Community Colleges Professor of the Year. Sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and administered by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, the awards recognize professors for their influence on teaching and commitment to undergraduate students. In addition to the four national winners, 27 state Professors of the Year awards were given. National and state winners of the 2011 U.S. Professors of the Year awards were honored at a luncheon and awards ceremony at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. A professor of mathematics and engineering, Wetzel is department chair of mathematics, sciences, and engineering at Amarillo College. Judges said they were impressed by Wetzel’s approach to teaching math and engineering to students using realworld applications. They also cited her efforts at program building, including reestablishing her college’s engineering program and creating an award-winning math outreach center, which each year provides more than 22,000 hour-long tutoring sessions for students. ACCT sponsors the annual U.S. Professors of the Year Awards program, along with ACCT Corporate Council member TIAA-CREF, the American Association of Community Colleges, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the American Association of University Professors, the American Federation of Teachers, the Council of Independent Colleges, Datatel Inc., and the National Council of University Research Administrators. For more information, go to www.usprofessorsoftheyear.org.

Let the LAW work for you Timing is everything when it comes to advocacy, but not everyone has time to pay attention to pending legislation day in and day out. ACCT’s Latest Action in Washington (LAW) Alerts do the work for you. Since 2008, nearly 2,000 people have signed up to receive ACCT’s LAW Alert e-mails — brief summaries of legislative actions e-mailed to subscribers as legislation happens, giving community college trustees, presidents, and other leaders and advocates time to contact their representatives and exert influence before it’s too late. Please encourage your fellow trustees, presidents, and colleagues to stay up to date about legislation that affects their community colleges by joining the LAW E-Alert network. To join, simply e-mail publicpolicy@acct.org with “LAW Alert” in the subject of the e-mail. For more information about ACCT’s advocacy services, visit www.acct.org/advocacy.

T R U S T E E Q U A RT E R LY W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

News Five ACCT Member Trustees Win iPads During the Regional ACCT Caucuses and Meetings held on Thursday, October 13, five lucky ACCT member trustees won iPads. One trustee was randomly chosen from each of ACCT’s five regions — Central, Northeast, Pacific, Southern, and Western. Eligible contestants fulfilled the contest’s requirement to add their email addresses to the ACCT membership database. Congratulations to the five lucky winners!

New Book On Student Success Now Available ACCT is excited to announce the release of our newest publication, Making Good on the Promise of the Open Door: Effective Governance and Leadership to Improve Student Equity, Success, and Completion. This new book offers a valuable “howto” guide for community and technical college board members, chief executives, and other senior administrators who are serious about changing the policy paradigm from an access-only to an access-for-success student model. The book provides a framework, examples, and the necessary terminology for datainformed discussions around how to best achieve the goals of increasing student success and completion and closing the college degree attainment gaps that threaten to weaken our nation’s economic fabric. Making Good on the Promise of the Open Door is authored by Dr. Byron McClenney and Dr. Margaretta Mathis from the University of Texas at Austin’s Community College Leadership Program, ACCT’s partner in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-supported Governance Institute for Student Success. Making Good on the Promise of the Open Door is available to ACCT members for $30, and to non-members for $42. Turn to the inside back cover for an order form.

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Central Region Carol Larson, McHenry County College, Ill. Northeast Region Robert DiFalco, Mercer County Community College, N.J. Pacific Region Deborah C. Belanger, Guam Community College

Southern Region Allen L. Mims, Jr., Johnston Community College, N.C. Western Region John Davies, Northeast Community College, Neb.

President Brown Speaks at MATC Convocation, Futures Assembly ACCT President and CEO J. Noah Brown kicked off the new year with two speaking engagements that promoted the important work being done by community college trustees throughout the country. On January 10, President Brown spoke at the first Madison Area Technical College (Wisc.) convocation of 2012. In keeping with the convocation theme, “Honor the Past. Imagine the Future,” he discussed five macro trends affecting community colleges today: accountability, governance, resource scarcity, completion, and leadership. Brown drew on lessons of the past in order to suggest how community colleges can go “back to the future” and reinvent themselves to address America’s economic and workforce challenges in the new century. For more information about Brown’s speech, visit MATC’s website at http://matcmadison.edu/in/past-convocation-archive. President Brown also served as the closing keynote speaker at the 2012 Community College Futures Assembly in Orlando, Fla., on January 31. The Community College Futures Assembly is an independent public policy forum sponsored by the Institute of Higher Education of the University of Florida. The purpose of the assembly is to identify critical issues facing community colleges and to recognize and competitively select Bellwether programs for colleges to consider for replication. It has been held annually since 1995. For more information about the Futures Assembly and Brown’s speech, go to http://futures.education.ufl.edu/index.html.

NEW TRUSTEEGLI

Governance Leadership Institute

Washington, DC AUGUST 1 - 3, 2012

In response to requests from trustees and presidents, ACCT is proud to present an opportunity in 2012 for new trustees to gain a crucial orientation to board governance.

Registration is now open www.acct.org/events For registration and hotel information contact: Christina Sage Simons 202.775.4462 csage@acct.org

For Boards of Trustees, About Boards of Trustees

GLI

This is a unique opportunity for community college trustees and presidents to work together on important and timely issues. A team of trustees (three or more) and the president is most effective.

Governance Leadership Institute

For additional information contact: Narcisa A. Polonio, Ed.D. 202.276.1983 narcisa_polonio@acct.org

New York, NY

Hosted by Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY Located near the National September 11 Memorial and Museum

Please join us at the nationally acclaimed governance leadership institute to gain insight on roles and responsibilities, and the board/president partnership.

For registration and hotel information contact: Christina Sage Simons 202.775.4462 csage@acct.org

For additional information contact: Narcisa A. Polonio, Ed.D. 202.276.1983 narcisa_polonio@acct.org

2012

MARCH 29 - 31 Registration is now open http://acct.kma.net/GLI-New-York T R U S T E E Q U A RT E R LY â&#x20AC;&#x192; W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

advocacy

The New Political Reality Recent cuts to Pell eligibility and the looming threat of sequestration serve as reminders that no federal program is untouchable.

by Jee Hang Lee

Over the past year, reforms to federal spending have occupied the attention of Congress and the Obama Administration. Political flashpoints such as raising the debt ceiling, tax reform, and appropriations have dominated the agenda and paved the way for significant changes to programs and funding for community colleges. Historically, there was a common belief that certain federal programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, and the Pell Grant program, were sacrosanct. However, that assumption was challenged this past year, when the Pell Grant program experienced far-reaching cuts through student eligibility restrictions and an end to the year-round Pell. The new political reality? No program is protected. To preserve the most important ones, effective advocacy is essential.

The Pell Grant program has received significant attention and scrutiny in the past few years because of the large influx of students and the corresponding need for additional funds to support the program. The current projection for the 2012-13 academic year is that 9.4 million students will receive a Pell Grant. In the summer of 2011, the Pell Grant program was facing an $18.3 billion shortfall over the next two academic years. During the debt ceiling negotiations, Congress and the Administration sought to address most of the shortfall by providing $17 billion for the Pell Grant program through passage of the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011. This bill provided the Pell Grant program with $10 billion for fiscal year 2012 and $7 billion for FY 2013. It is noteworthy 8

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that the BCA did not pay down the full Pell Grant program shortfall; instead it passed along $1.3 billion in debt for FY 2012.

Closing the Door on Needy Students In its FY 2012 Omnibus Appropriations bill, Congress supported maintaining the maximum Pell award at $5,550. However, by maintaining the maximum, Congress still had to address the remaining $1.3 billion shortfall. It did so by temporarily eliminating the grace period for the loan interest subsidy for undergraduate students, as well as implementing a number of Pell Grant eligibility changes that have disproportionately impacted community college students. Those changes include: 1. Elimination of Ability-to-Benefit

Students: Ability-to-Benefit students are those who have not received a high school diploma or GED but have demonstrated their capacity to benefit from college access through testing or course completion. As of July 1, 2012, new Ability-to-Benefit students will not be eligible for student aid. Consequently, an estimated 65,000 students will not be eligible to receive any Pell Grant funding in 2012-13. 2. Changes to Income Levels for Zero Expected Family Contribution (EFC): The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is the amount a student or family is expected to contribute toward college costs. Under the omnibus, the maximum income for automatic zero EFC students has been reduced from $32,000 to $23,000. This modification

ILLUSTRATION: Dave Cutler

Addressing the Pell Grant Shortfall

will eliminate 12,000 students from eligibility for an average Pell Grant of $4,098. An additional 274,000 students will receive an average of $715 less in Pell Grant funding, but remain in the program, as a result of this change. 3. Elimination of Students Receiving 10 Percent of the Maximum Award: Students receiving the minimum Pell Grant award of $555 will no longer qualify to receive Pell Grant funding as of July 1, 2012. In 2012-13, this means that approximately 3,000 students will not receive an average grant of $506. 4. Reduction in the Maximum Number of Semesters: Students currently may receive a maximum of 18 full-time semesters of Pell Grant awards. However, starting on July 1, 2012, this will be reduced to 12 full-time semesters, and it will retroactively impact students currently exceeding 12 semesters. For students who are less than full-time, the cap is applied proportionally to their enrollment. As a result, approximately 63,000 students will not receive an average award of $3,905 in 2012-13. These changes will generate $11 billion in savings over the next 10 years, but they will also knock hundreds of thousands of students out of the Pell Grant program in the coming decade. In the short term, 145,000 students will not receive awards in 2012-13. For community colleges, the elimination of the Ability-to-Benefit students represents the greatest impact.

Sequestration: A Threat to Pell The passage of the Budget Control Act has put enormous pressure on Congress to curtail spending and generate fiscal savings. Central to this plan was the formation of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, better known as the “supercommittee.” However, the supercommittee was overwhelmed by partisan divide over changes to the tax code. Its almost inevitable failure has served as a symbol of congressional dysfunction, and, more importantly, its failure to find at least $1.2 trillion in fiscal

savings has triggered what is known as sequestration. Sequestration is an across-the-board cut of discretionary federal programs designed to be painful enough to serve as an incentive for Congress to compromise. Sequestration requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to cut $984 billion ($1.2 trillion minus $216 in interest savings) for the 2013-2021 fiscal years. Several key programs are exempt from sequestration, including Social Security, Medicaid, veterans’ benefits, military and civilian pay, and a number of mandatory programs aimed at low-income individuals and children. The discretionary portion of the Pell Grant program is exempt in FY 2013, but starting in 2014, it would also be eligible to be cut by appropriators. Considering that this would coincide with a projected $8.15 billion shortfall for the 2014-15 academic year, Pell would be a prime target for significant cuts.

What Does Sequestration Mean for Community Colleges? In addition to threatening the Pell Grant program, sequestration mandates an across-the-board cut to FY 2013 funding for almost all other Department of Education and Department of Labor programs. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is estimating a 7.8 percent cut to all non-defense programs. However, other nongovernmental entities have projected cuts as high as 9 percent. This across-the-board cut in FY 2013 is on top of lower annual spending caps set by the Budget Control Act. Additionally, for FYs 2014–2021, appropriators would have to cut $54.7 billion annually in addition to the Budget Control Act spending caps. To put those numbers in perspective, Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education State Grants would be looking at a minimum cut of $87 million in 2013 alone. Since a firewall has been set in 2013 between sequestration of defense and non-defense spending, several

members of Congress have expressed a desire to introduce legislation to remove the Department of Defense from sequestration. If this were to happen, non-defense programs such as education would face much greater cuts. However, President Obama has already signaled that he will veto any efforts to modify the percentages and reach of sequestration. It is important to note that while sequestration has already been triggered through the failure of the supercommittee, cuts will not begin until January 2013, which leaves Congress an additional year to figure out an alternative. While the future is unknown, one certainty is that federal spending will continue to face increased scrutiny.

The Importance of Advocacy According to the Department of Education, the participation rate within the Pell Grant program has flattened. With the current level of funds provided for the Pell Grant shortfall, the program is on stronger ground, with a projected $1.5 billion surplus for the 2013-14 academic year. While this bodes well, the enacted eligibility changes will have a negative impact on community college students. Additionally, according to estimates, the program will face another $8.1 billion shortfall in 2014-15. Congress and the Administration will need to address this shortfall, and they may choose to do so once again through eligibility changes that negatively impact community college students. We need your advocacy and support for Pell Grants and other programs. We encourage you to utilize ACCT’s online policy center to communicate with your members of Congress and follow federal legislative updates through the Latest Action in Washington (LAW) e-mail alerts. ACCT Director of Public Policy Jee Hang Lee can be reached by e-mail at jhlee@acct.org, or by phone at 202-775-4667. TR U S TEE Q U A RTER L Y W i n t e r 2 0 1 2

ACCTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S Symposium on Student Success focused on developing a course of action for community college boards.

THE

B y Ma r k T o n e r

The facts remain stark, and the statistics are sobering: As President Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s call for the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community colleges to graduate 5 million additional students by the end of the decade passes the two-year mark, the U.S. has slipped to 15th place in degree attainment among developed nations. If nothing changes, the next generation could be the first in this country to have lower educational attainment levels than their parents, and a person born poor could be more likely to remain poor than at any other time in our history. 10

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Symposium participants debated board priorities at roundtables throughout the two-day meeting, which immediately preceded the 2012 ACCT Leadership Congress in Dallas, Texas.

But the true importance of increasing the number of community college students who complete a degree or credential goes beyond the numbers, said Deborah Santiago, vice president for policy and research for Excelencia in Education, at ACCT’s Symposium for Student Success. “There’s a face to all this policy work we do — it’s the students,” she said. Held immediately before the 42nd Annual ACCT Leadership Congress in October, ACCT’s Symposium on Student Success brought together more than 80 trustees, 14 college presidents, and representatives from 10 state associations and 22 national organizations to discuss how trustees can advance the completion agenda on their own campuses. Sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the symposium’s attendees spent much of the two days developing model policy goals that governing boards can use to “consider how well they are helping guide their colleges towards an even stronger commitment to student success,” ACCT President and CEO J. Noah Brown said at the Congress opening session. “We are very proud of this work and our ability to engage in it,” Brown told symposium attendees. “You cannot underestimate the importance of putting the right people in a room for a set amount of time. That’s how you move the needle.”

Partners and Priorities As symposium attendees began the challenging work of identifying priorities for the student success agenda, a range of experts provided perspective on the importance of the issue — and the broad scope of potential partners focused on helping address it. Brown discussed the proliferation of initiatives ACCT has undertaken to advance the student success agenda,

including the fruition of several years’ work on the Voluntary Framework of Accountability; the Governance Institute for Student Success (GISS), undertaken in partnership with the Community College Leadership Program (CCLP) at the University of Texas at Austin and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and partnerships with Single Stop USA and other organizations. The association also has published a new book, Making Good on the Promise of the Open Door: Effective Governance and Leadership to Improve Equity, Student Success, and Completion by Dr. Byron McClenney of CCLP and Dr. Margaretta Mathis (see p. 6 for more details). Dr. Anne Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association, told symposium attendees that community colleges and the K-12 systems her boards represent must work together to address the challenges of students needing remediation at a time when expectations are higher and the needs are greater than ever before. “I believe that collaboration between community colleges and K-12 education is the most likely opportunity to meet these challenges,” she said. “We can get this right by working together. How we align ourselves to serve the neediest students is absolutely critical.” Bryant acknowledged that too many K-12 students graduate from high school “without the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in your classrooms.” She highlighted examples of K-12 districts that have partnered with community colleges, as well as states such as Florida, where K-12 boards have worked with their community college counterparts to develop distance learning programs and other shared initiatives. Completion by Design, the five-year initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is now in the planning phase on 21 campuses in four states. Emphasizing programs that “start with scale” and reach broad swaths of students, Completion

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Reminded of the trustee role in driving the success agenda, Symposium participants spent much of the two days brainstorming potential strategies.

Attendees heard presentations from an array of partners focused on student success issues, including representatives from the National School Boards Association, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and others.

by Design has also led to a change in mindset among its four managing partners. “What intrigued us was the capability to be transformational,” said Dr. Richard Carpenter, chancellor of Lone Star College, whose Completion by Design efforts will reach one-third of all community college students in Texas. Dr. Linda Baer, former senior program officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, stressed that trustee leadership is critical in sparking similar momentum shifts at all institutions. “We can’t invest in anything more important than the leadership of the trustees for the important work to be done — building and sustaining community colleges to optimize student success,” she said. Completion remains a key priority for the Gates Foundation because of its potential to break the cycle of poverty, Baer told attendees. However, “time is the enemy,” she said. “You have to keep insisting that you review [your colleges’] timely completion processes — not just entering and exiting, but what you do in between.” Baer also stressed the importance of community colleges working closely with workforce boards to address skill gaps that have already left jobs unfilled at a time of high unemployment. Along with Gates, Lumina Foundation for Education, and other organizations that first joined the fight to improve student success, new partners are arriving on the scene. Excelencia in Education, for example, addresses the persistent achievement gaps for Latino college students, in part by identifying programs that work through its Examples in Excelencia program. The common threads shared by successful programs include the following: alignment with institutional priorities, a focus on ongoing support that goes beyond merely improving access for minority students, outreach to students, and monitoring to ensure that programs are effective, Santiago told attendees. The Kresge Foundation, a private national philanthropy that once focused on building facilities on college campuses, now works to improve low-income minority student access

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and success, said program officer Caroline Altman Smith. “We determined that if you care about boosting college attainment and opportunity, your institutions are where the action is these days,” she said, noting that the foundation is focusing on community college completion in several key states, including Texas, Michigan, and California. “Students are taking a leap of faith when they come to your institutions,” she said. “They’re counting on you to make sure they are equitable, fair, and well-run.”

The Role of the Trustee Symposium speakers related proven practices that have emerged from the growing body of research on student completion issues, including simplifying choices for students, providing clearer pathways, engaging students through programs such as orientations, advisories, cohorts, and supplemental instruction, and tracking student progress from their first days on campus. But they also urged trustees to focus on the big picture — namely, using their governance role to ensure that their colleges weave completion into their overall mission and strategic goals. “Most colleges do not have a plan for student success,” said Dr. John Gardner, president of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. “What they have is a plethora of programs but no plan… If you owned your power with respect to the issue of student success, the conversation on the campuses you govern could be very different.” “The hardest work is not changing practice, but changing cultures,” added Dr. Kay McClenney, director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin. “The board plays an extremely important role in...shifting to an understanding that access without success in 21st century America is an empty promise... and [that] we’re not talking about itty-bitty changes around the edges.” McClenney told trustees it is critical to “frame the way you

“You cannot underestimate the importance of putting the right people in a room for a set amount of time,” ACCT President & CEO J. Noah Brown told Symposium attendees. “That’s how you move the needle.”

ACCT Vice President Narcisa Polonio encouraged trustees to commit to the hard work of determining a policy agenda focused on student success and “taking it to the level that counts.”

think about what you need to think about. It’s not your role to decide what the curriculum and interventions are going to be,” she said. “But it surely is your role to ask questions about what the college is doing and monitor the data to see if these actions are closing achievement gaps.” For trustees, that means making completion a key focus of board deliberations. “Do you spend your time talking about what ought to be the most important thing to discuss?” asked Dr. Byron McClenney, project director of the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin. “Student success ought to be front and center.” Hiring and supporting a president or CEO committed to student success, setting explicit public goals, ensuring that success is part of the strategic plan, encouraging honest conversations about completion goals, and asking tough questions are all things trustees must do, speakers said. But near the top of the list is ensuring that data on student outcomes is measured and used on an ongoing basis. “Trustees must be persistent on requesting more and better data and using it to shape outcomes — not just once in a while, but incorporating it into every board meeting,” Altman Smith said. Speakers acknowledged that the current fiscal climate has made addressing this work all the more difficult. “The system’s broken,” Baer said. “As you go home and face 20, 30, 40 percent cuts, your students and your country need you to be as creative as you can be.” Louis Soares, director of the Center for American Progress’s postsecondary education program, urged trustees to think about the role of disruptive technology in meeting the goals of the success agenda. With at least half of all students expected to take at least one online course by 2014, such technology offers one way to scale enrollment and completion, Soares said, pointing to states like North Carolina where more than one-third of all community college courses are now offered online. Open learning content, which is freely available online for many gateway

Incoming ACCT Chair Roberto Uranga of Long Beach City College, Calif., stressed the importance of working with K-12 leaders to improve student success.

and remedial courses, should also be explored, Soares said. However, “a failure online is just like a failure face to face,” Baer cautioned, as other speakers noted that online courses average a 60 percent attrition rate nationwide. “Students have to understand what it’s like to be successful in an online setting. We can’t just let them float out there.”

Developing an Agenda While speakers stressed the strategic roles trustees can play in improving student success, it was the community college leaders who attended the Symposium that began developing a plan that other trustees could use to promote the completion agenda on their own campuses. “Sometimes I think we’ve studied things to death,” Baer said. “It’s time to take action.” Symposium participants spent much of the two days identifying and refining proposed model policy goals. In small group and roundtable discussions, participants focused on a range of issues, including the importance of effective partnerships, ways to foster an institutional focus on student success, transfer, technology, workforce needs, and the importance of balancing student success with community colleges’ commitment to access and equity. Working together, they drafted an agenda that sets goals for the institution, fosters stronger partnerships with P-12 systems, industry, and community groups, and applies data on student outcomes to drive policy decisions. Work on the agenda continued after the Symposium ended, first and most immediately during the ACCT Leadership Congress that convened immediately afterwards. At a standing-room-only Town Hall meeting, community college leaders discussed the draft policy agenda developed during the Symposium and provided additional feedback. ACCT is finalizing the forthcoming recommendations, which will be shared with all member colleges via the ACCT website to use as a resource for shaping student success-oriented agendas. “Effective governance has never been more important,” said Lone Star’s Carpenter. “Boards really need to be bold.”

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BOLD MOVES By Mark Toner

As community college leaders convened in Dallas for the ACCT Leadership Congress, the need for decisive action has never been greater. 42nd Annual ACCT Leadership

Congress recap At the San Jacinto Community College District in Texas, the board chair stood up at a meeting and publicly apologized to students and faculty for not making student success a priority. At the Community College of Beaver County in Pennsylvania, the institution’s leaders faced $300,000 in potential losses in tuition revenue — and decided to close early registration just the same. Bold decisions like these are being made at community colleges across the country, and they were showcased at the 42nd Annual Leadership Congress in Dallas, which convened at an uncertain time for the nation’s institutions of higher education — and the nation itself.

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OCTober 12 Day one

1 Seven million people have been out of work since the recession began, and the nation needs to create 21 million jobs to return to full employment. Because of the growing skills gap at a time when two-thirds of all jobs will soon require a post-secondary credential, community colleges have never before had to do so much with so little, speakers told Congress attendees. “We live in extraordinary times,” said Anthony S. Bryk, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. At a time when colleges are being called on to do more with less, like improve student outcomes, help engage growing numbers of students, and do it all with less state funding, “advancing any one of these goals would be ambitious,” Bryk said. “Moving simultaneously on all three is unprecedented.” Throughout the four days of the Congress, trustees were reminded of their role in setting this ambitious agenda. “We are constantly being called upon to be part of the national college completion agenda, because the trustee voice is imperative,” said ACCT President and CEO J. Noah Brown. “We will determine how the next chapters of our nation’s history will be written.” And they were also reminded why it is so important to do so: “Trustees care about students,” said outgoing ACCT Chair Peter E. Sercer, Sr., a trustee at Midlands Technical College in South Carolina.

Crisis Breeds Opportunity While colleges continue to weather a challenging economic climate, speakers reminded Congress attendees that they also can play a role in improving it. “In tight budget times, our colleges don’t have needs. But our students do. Our communities do. 5 Our employers do,” said Dr. Joe May, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. “We’re a means to solving this at every level.” The silver lining of the recession is that it has made policymakers pay more attention to student success issues, Michelle Asha Cooper, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, told attendees. “Early on, we talked about it

1. The Dallas Baptist University Grand Chorus assembled to welcome Congress attendees. 2. Keynote speaker Jim Gibbons, president & CEO of Goodwill Industries International. 3. A mariachi band added a Texas flair to the opening general session.

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OCTober 13 Day two having benefits for individuals and society. Now the completion conversation has been propelled, because we’re talking about the economic security of our nation,” she said. Noting that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a study last fall showing that the U.S. has dropped from 12th to 15th place in an international ranking of countries whose 24-36 year olds hold a college credential, ACCT’s Brown urged trustees to double down on the completion agenda. “We are moving in the absolute wrong direction, which has profound consequences for our society,” he said. “We must do this work… We have to broaden this conversation and break down the silos and barriers so we can finally create a seamless and articulated education system that serves the multiplicity of needs of our country.” New partners have joined the cause, urging community colleges to continue seeking unconventional alliances to address the challenges so many community college students face. “Crisis breeds opportunity,” said Elisabeth Mason, CEO of Single Stop USA, which is partnering with community colleges to provide wraparound services to students. “We’re at a real turning point in our country if we’re going to keep a middle-class dream alive.” “Poverty is a cycle you can break, but not by yourselves,” said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, which has explored a range of partnership models with various community colleges. “But when communities come together, we can take these dismal statistics and bring hope to communities around the country.” Improving completion rates remains a significant challenge. Overall, 21 percent of full-time students graduate from public two-year colleges within three years, and part-time and minority students fare even worse. But focusing on students with stronger credentials is not the answer, said Dr. Margaretta Mathis, formerly of the University of Texas at Austin’s Community College Leadership Program. “As we have higher increases in enrollment and decreasing budgets, the [temptation] is to go for the best and the brightest. That’s not the mission.”

Setting the Agenda Frank Chong, former deputy assistant secretary for community colleges at the U.S. Department of Education, told attendees that momentum for improving student success is clearly building. “Traveling around the country… I have seen the momentum getting stronger and stronger,” he said. “There’s been a viral effect acknowledging the connective tissue between education, our economy, and displaced workers.” But addressing completion means fundamental change in community colleges, argued Dr. Byron McClenney, project director of the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin. “You’re perfectly designed to get the results

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1. Participants vote on agenda priorities during the standing-room-only Town Hall meeting 2. ACCT President & CEO J. Noah Brown 3. 2011 ACCT Chair Peter E. Sercer, Sr., and trustee of Midlands Technical College, S.C. 4. College Board Vice President Ronald Williams 5. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching President Anthony S. Bryk

OCTober 14 Day three

3 1. 2011 ACCT Diversity Committee Chair Robin Smith, trustee, Lansing Community College, Mich. 2. IHEP President Michelle Asha Cooper, Excelencia in Education President Sarita E. Brown, and Achieving the Dream President & CEO William E. Trueheart 3. 2011 ACCT William H. Meardy Trustee Leadership Awardee David Mathis, trustee, Mohawk Valley Community College, N.Y. 4. 2011 ACCT Vice Chair Jean Torgeson, trustee, North Iowa Area Community College

that you’re getting,” he said. “You cannot keep doing things the way you’ve always done them.” This means that colleges need to forge even closer partnerships with businesses to address workforce needs. With 14 million Americans out of work and 3 million unfilled jobs, the skills gap is becoming “a fundamental problem to this country,” said Ronald Williams, vice president of The College Board. It also means tackling the “black hole” of developmental education and improving student entry. With 14 percent of community college students not receiving a single credit during their first term, “We’ve got to talk about what we can do in the first few weeks, not that first semester,” Evelyn Waiwaiole of the University of Texas at Austin told attendees. Among the strategies that have been proven to work: integrating student success courses with developmental education, ending late registration, tracking students as they progress, providing supplemental instruction, and creating learning communities. And increasingly, colleges and their partners are finished chipping away at the edges of these problems and instead pushing for wholesale change. To address the more than 2 million students who entered community colleges in 2008 and have yet to complete a college-level math course, Carnegie is developing new curricula and building “networked communities” focused on researching improvements in developmental math, according to Bryk. “Failure rates in developmental math are an aggregate consequence of numerous problems working together,” he said. “We need to decompose these big presenting problems and analyze the connections among them.” The use of data reflects “a watershed change in thinking in higher education that has taken place in less than 10 years,” said William E. Trueheart, president and CEO of Achieving the Dream, which has invested $150 million in community college partnerships. Data can also reveal surprising patterns. For example, Excelencia in Education found that Hispanics applied for financial aid in equal proportions as other students but received less. “That’s Exhibit A for why you should look at data,” Excelencia President Sarita E. Brown told attendees. San Jacinto College found out just how much of a challenge it faced when it examined completion data for the first time as part of its participation in Achieving the Dream. “It was like… someone turned on the lights, and the picture was not pretty,” said San Jacinto College Chair Marie Flickinger. The college quickly shifted its priorities from enrollment to completion, added a dollar to tuition to pay for counselors in K-12 districts, instituted a schoolwide focus on data, eliminated late registration, and updated its vision and mission statements to include the idea of “empowering students to achieve their goals.” “We finally had to quit doing pilots and start big pieces,” said Chancellor Brenda Hellyer. “You reach a point where you’ve got to move forward.”

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OCTober 15 Day four Eliminating late registration remains one of the most challenging pieces to consider. At the Community College of Beaver County in Pennsylvania, officials feared the worst — losing as much as $300,000 in tuition — when they ultimately eliminated late registration in 2009. “What happened? Nothing,” said Brian Hayden, the school’s IR director. “We set a record enrollment instead.”

The Leadership Role Bold strategies only work, however, when board members set the tone and press for change, Congress speakers said. Trustees “have a responsibility to do things differently if they expect anyone at the college to do things differently,” said McClenney. “Only the board can do that.” Board members must also share information about what works on their campuses, urged Philip “Uri” Treisman, professor of mathematics and public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. “Good ideas from good people do not spread in our sector of higher education,” he said. “One of our roles in governance is creating structures... for making that happen.” The Governance Institute for Student Success (GISS) has become a key resource in enabling trustees to take a leadership role in the completion agenda, Congress speakers said. In Ohio, where 22 of the state’s 23 community and technical colleges participated in GISS, virtually all now have data on their regular agendas. Trustees were also able to successfully broaden policymakers’ definition of success as the state began shifting to a performance-funding model, said Ronald Abrams, executive director of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges. “The whole notion of using data to make decisions was important, but just as important is that presidents need support from trustees to make difficult decisions,” he said. Congress attendees also weighed in on a draft action agenda that trustees can use to advance the completion agenda on their own campuses. During a standing-room-only Town Hall meeting, attendees discussed a draft policy action agenda developed by their peers during the ACCT Symposium on Student Success (see story, p. 10). Focused around setting strategic goals for the institution, fostering stronger partnerships with Pre-K-12 systems, industry, and community groups, and using data on student outcomes to drive policy decisions, the agenda “begins to hone in on what needs to be done,” said Dr. Linda Baer, former senior program officer with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Baer urged attendees to begin their own policy audits to determine “what’s getting in the way of a completion agenda” on their own campuses. “It is not acceptable to allow failure,” she said. “[Students] pay their money, we say that they’re ready, and we owe them a success pathway. We owe that to them.”

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1. 2011 ACCT Chair Peter E. Sercer, Sr., is presented a plaque by incoming 2012 ACCT Chair Roberto Uranga 2. Uranga, a trustee at Long Beach City College in California, takes the gavel to helm the ACCT Board for the 2012 term 3. Closing keynote speaker Philip “Uri” Treisman, professor of mathematics and public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin 4. 2011 ACCT Secretary-Treasurer John W. Sanders, trustee, John A. Logan College, Ill.

Newly elected ACCT Board members take the oath of office during the closing general session on Saturday.

When the draft policy agenda is completed and shared with trustee boards across the country, its strategies can “help us move from being institutions providing access to institutions providing access and the support to succeed,” said Rod Risley, executive director of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. “This truly is transformational.”

Policy Priorities In the face of ongoing gridlock on Capitol Hill, Chong reassured Congress attendees that community colleges remain “a bipartisan issue” for lawmakers and highlighted the Obama Administration’s work in helping raise their profile. “It’s rare that the president speaks and doesn’t mention community colleges,” Chong said. “That’s intentional. He gets the role they play in the economic vitality of our communities.” Chong noted that the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges, held last fall, has helped kickstart important collaborations such as the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence (see p. 26); Skills for America’s Future, an industry collaboration aimed at addressing skills gaps in high-demand areas such as healthcare, information technology, and advanced manufacturing; and a series of regional summits that brought together community college leaders, employers, and local philanthropic organizations. “Oftentimes... a summit is a photo op,” Chong said. “I’m proud to say we followed up on the promises we put forward.” Given the gloomy fiscal climate, however, public policy experts from ACCT and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) warned Congress attendees that it is no time to become complacent. “Congress is going to have less money to spend overall on our programs in the coming years,” said David Baime, AACC senior vice president for government relations and research. “It’s going to mean some belt-tightening for our institutions, regardless of what happens.” While education spending represents only 3 percent of the overall federal budget, “cuts represent a huge impact on us,” said Jennifer Stiddard, ACCT’s senior public policy associate. “We really need to communicate urgently the damage that these cuts will impose on our campuses and the more than 12 million students who attend them.” The Pell Grant program was the only federal program to receive added funding in 2011, and the $2 billion Community College and Career Training Grant (CCCTG) program has also survived

budget cuts thus far, with 32 states and consortia receiving awards last September. Community colleges and their partners submitted more than $3 billion in proposals in 2011, making it critical that community colleges fight to maintain funding for the remaining three years, said Jim Hermes, AACC director of government relations. “We’ve already fended off two semi-serious threats to funding for this program, and we anticipate there will be more,” he said. “There’s incredible demand for these programs, and ... continued vigilance will be required for all of us.” With an uncertain future ahead of community colleges, ACCT’s Brown looked back at the unprecedented commitments to education made by the government at the end of World War II and following the launch of Sputnik. “If we think back about what we were prepared to invest as a nation, do we 1 still remember what we knew then — and are we prepared to commit to it again?” he asked attendees. “That will allow us to do the work going forward.”

‘Planting a Seed’ As the 2011 Congress drew to a close, incoming ACCT Chair Roberto Uranga stressed the importance of continuing to build on the commitment made to student success and working more closely with K-12 schools. “Last year, we planted a seed,” said Uranga, a trustee at Long Beach City College in California. “[This year’s] symposium and lively town hall meeting represented the sprouting root of that seed. I look forward to working with ACCT’s visionary board and talented staff to make that sprout grow and blossom as we keep moving forward with our goal of increased student success.” The first Hispanic trustee to serve as ACCT Chair, Uranga cited the success in growing membership and expanding the ACCT State, Province, and Territory Coordinators Network over the past year. He stressed the importance of community college boards working with K-12 school systems and their boards, saying his top priority as ACCT Chair will be to develop a toolkit to help foster and promote school board and college board collaboration. “We need to do it together,” he said. Uranga closed the 2011 Congress on a note of change. “The changes taking place will continue to challenge our boards,” Uranga said. “But I know we’ll be rewarded in the short- and long-run. ACCT has never been positioned so well to make a difference.”

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ACCT Chair Roberto Uranga is committed to empowering trustees to break down the barriers between institutions for the sake of their communities. By Mark toner

Roberto Uranga likes to tell a story about family and the value of hindsight. While watching a basketball game together, one of his grown sons asked him a question: “You and Mom are elected officials with busy schedules. You raised three kids, and we all came out okay,” he recalls his son saying. “How did you do it?” Uranga thought for a moment before replying: “Well, son, I work hard, I play hard, and I love harder,” he recalls saying. “My son just shook his head as if to say, ‘I should have known you’d have an answer like that.’” This past October, Uranga’s three children and his wife, former City of Long Beach Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga, were at his side in Dallas, Texas, as he took the gavel at the conclusion of the ACCT Leadership Congress. “The family bond is strong,” he says. In taking the gavel, Uranga became ACCT’s first Latino chair, but that milestone was far from the first of his firsts. A member of the Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees since 2000, Uranga was the first in his family to be born in the United States. He was also the first to go to college, and throughout his long career of civic service and community involvement, he has worked to bring together representatives of different organizations to tackle common problems, both in Long Beach and on the national stage. As the public face of community college leaders, Uranga is unapologetic about insisting that trustees work with their counterparts in both higher education and K-12 systems to help improve education and career opportunities for students of all ages and backgrounds.

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“Community colleges are at the forefront of the economic recovery because there’s an awakening realization that they are the institutions that can really make the difference in providing not only an educated workforce, but also a highly skilled workforce,” he says. “One of the things we’re struggling with in this economy is not a lack of jobs — the jobs are there — it’s the skill gap. That’s where we have opportunities to make a difference.”

‘Asking a Question’ With his deep voice and distinctive mustache, Uranga is hard to miss in person — or, for that matter, even over an e-mail, where he closes each message with a distinctive emoticon that recalls his signature facial feature — (;{. “It’s who I am,” he says. Uranga’s early experiences aren’t all that different from many of the students who now pass through the doors of community colleges across the nation. The first in his family to be born in the United States, Uranga grew up in East Los Angeles, the son of an immigrant father who worked as a waiter and busboy and ran a small store with the help of his homemaker mother. His older brother who served in the military, and with the help of the GI Bill, bought a home in Santa Fe Springs for the family, where Uranga graduated from high school and then attended California State University, Long Beach. After graduating with a major in English and a minor in Spanish, Uranga began his career on the CSULB campus by working as an administrator of a retention program sponsored by TRIO. When funding for TRIO was cut in the mid-1980s, he took a job with the City of Long Beach as the city’s recruitment officer, which began a career that has spanned more than a quarter-century. Along with his role as the city’s recruiter, Uranga managed the police impound yard, increasing its contribution to the city’s general fund nearly sixfold, and he currently serves as the administrative officer of the 400-employee city health department. He also began an equally long career of community activism, which included serving as state deputy director of the League of United Latin American Citizens and as a member of the board of directors of the American Red Cross of Greater Long Beach and Centro Shalom. He has also been involved in such groups as the NAACP, the Puente Project, and the National Association of Latino Appointed and Elected Officials. While working for the city, Uranga became interested in issues affecting students and their ability to succeed in high school and college. As a member of a variety of different community groups, he established a series of committees with representatives from area colleges and the city’s K-12 district that tackled issues including dropout and retention rates. He also helped convince the Long Beach school system to implement uniforms in the city’s public schools — a model that’s since been implemented across the country.

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“It all starts with asking a question,” Uranga says. “If private schools can enforce uniforms for students, why not public schools?” Uranga quickly realized that the city’s education institutions had done little to partner directly with each other, and began asking another question: “Why not work together towards a bettereducated community, which could result in a viable citizenship, with good jobs, contributing to the community?” That question, in turn, helped lead to the Seamless Education Partnership: a collaboration of Long Beach City College, the Long Beach Unified School District, and Cal State Long Beach that helped improve transfer and articulation requirements at all three institutions. Launched in 1994, the partnership quickly took root and was called “a defining feature of the community and a model for the nation” by the Business Higher Education Forum. It continues to this day, and in 2008, made national headlines when it launched the Long Beach College Promise. Along with career preparation and support programs, the College Promise offers students attending Long Beach schools a free semester of tuition at LBCC and guaranteed admission to CSULB. “We had to work together if we were going to graduate more students with certificates and diplomas and successful transfers,” Uranga says. “We got to the meat of the matter.” Along with their work with community organizations, Uranga and his wife both sought elected office. Uranga ran unsuccessfully for the LBUSD school board in 1988, and Reyes Uranga first sought a seat on the city council in 1994, where a narrow 26-vote victory was overturned by a recount. Undaunted, both became heavily involved in redistricting efforts that led to the first Latino elected official in Long Beach’s history, as well as the first African American trustee elected to the Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees. Reyes Uranga would ultimately win a seat on the city council in 2002, and when the African American trustee who the couple had helped elect decided not to seek reelection in 2000, she encouraged Uranga to run for her seat on the community college board. He’s since run unopposed twice, serving as LBCCD board president for two years. This past December, Uranga announced his intention to seek re-election for a fourth term on the board later this year. “As a trustee, my basic philosophy is being an advocate,” Uranga says. “There are tons of definitions to what leadership is — for me, it’s being an advocate. I advocate for students and the community I represent and for faculty and staff, and other trustees. I advocate for education. It’s not about power. It’s not about control. It’s about making things happen for other people — most importantly, our students.” Along with the College Promise, Uranga is proudest of his part in helping pass bond issues that upgraded facilities at Long Beach City College and providing other support for students there. “One of my big pushes has been not only getting

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“One of the things we’re struggling with in this economy is not a lack of jobs — the jobs are there — it’s the skill gap. That’s where we have opportunities to make a difference.” students in, but retaining them by getting them services and support services,” he says. Uranga also mentors both K-12 and community college students — a role he urges other trustees to play. “It helps you keep up with what’s going on,” he says. “It also keeps you young.” As a new trustee, Uranga also quickly became involved in ACCT, serving on the finance committee, becoming president of the Association of Latino Community College Trustees, and ultimately winning election to the ACCT Board of Directors in 2007. He was instrumental in helping shape ACCT’s support for what would become the DREAM Act, the proposed bipartisan legislation that would provide a path to legal status for undocumented students brought to this country as children and return to the states the decision of whether to extend in-state tuition to undocumented students. “The fastest-growing population in the U.S. is Latino,” Uranga says. “We should address the diversity of a community that is being underserved.” In late 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the DREAM Act, but the legislation failed to pass in the Senate. The following summer, however, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a similar bill into law in that state. “We’re going to see an influx of degrees awarded to immigrant students,” Uranga says. “We will continue to work on it nationally. It’s not the political thing to do — it’s the right thing to do.”

‘Coming Full Circle’ As the last decade drew to a close, the Uranga family faced a difficult decision. As her second term on city council drew to a close, Reyes Uranga was barred from having her name on the ballot for a third time in the 2010 elections due to the city’s term-limit laws. So Uranga threw his hat in the ring, and it appeared that the council seat would remain in the family. Then Uranga was elected vice chair of ACCT in 2009, the first time a Latino had attained such a high post in the association. “There were a lot of wet eyes because it was a historic occasion,” Uranga said at the time.

After weighing his options, Uranga ultimately decided to drop his bid for the city council seat his wife was vacating, which came as no surprise to her. “When he was elected as ACCT Vice Chair, I could see that was where his passion was,” Reyes Uranga told the Signal Tribune newspaper. “He was very excited about it.” “It is important to me to be in the leadership of [ACCT] because I want to help take it to a higher level,” Uranga said at the time. Elected by the ACCT Board to serve as chair-elect the following year, he found himself looking back at his work in Long Beach as he planned for his term at the helm of ACCT. “I’ve come full circle,” he says. “At Long Beach, I started with community activism and the advisory groups with the K-12 [system], the community college, and university. If we’re going to make a difference, those three different entities have to work together — they can’t be in their own separate silos. There have to be bridges between the three of them… and my goal as ACCT Chair is to build bridges to organizations that can impact student success. We’re all in this together.” Uranga’s desire to work more closely with K-12 leaders translated into action even before he took the gavel in Dallas. Dr. Anne Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association, was one of the highlighted invitees at ACCT’s Symposium on Student Success (see story, p. 10). A toolkit to help foster school board and community college board collaboration is also among Uranga’s goals. “We have to nurture that relationship and give it some water, so that, hopefully, the seed we planted will spring into something wonderful,” he says. Uranga hopes to continue building on existing relationships with other organizations, including the American Association of Community Colleges, the Association of Colleges in the United Kingdom, and other community-based partners such as Single Stop USA and Goodwill. “A big part of trusteeship is establishing, nurturing, and maintaining relationships,” he says. “It’s a big task, a major undertaking, and a highly intensive commitment,” he says. “But we have to take it upon ourselves as trustees to reach out and work collaboratively to empower our communities.”

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Around Regions the

Pacific Region The California Community Colleges governing board has endorsed sweeping measures to improve graduation and transfer rates across the 112-campus system. The proposals, some of which must also be approved by state lawmakers, include giving priority registration to first-time students and those making progress toward academic goals and eliminating priority registration and fee waivers for those who fail to make adequate progress. The proposals would also require all incoming students to develop education plans, prioritize courses needed for degree and certificate programs, and require campuses to track completion and transfer rates. Community college leaders say the changes are needed to improve completion rates and address dramatic cuts in state funding. Critics say the plan will move the state community college system away from its historical mission of universal access and require additional funding for student counseling and services to help low-income students reach academic goals.

Cuyamaca College received a $535,000 grant from the state of California to lead a partnership of seven state community colleges that will develop additional training in wastewater technology fields. The 21-month grant will allow the seven colleges to develop curriculum that will be available to all 112 of the state’s community colleges. Officials cited a projected shortage of workers in the water industry, in which nearly 40 percent of employees are expected to retire in the next five to seven years. Whatcom Community College in Washington has been awarded a $336,000 cyber security grant. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the grant is part of a $3 million project that will support the creation of a regional center for cyber security at a number of West Coast colleges and universities.

NORTHEAST Region New Jersey community colleges introduced a new training program for qualified veterans. A partnership between the NJ Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic

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Development, the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, and the New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development, the program will be piloted at Middlesex County College. It will offer veterans a 12week program to prepare for careers in the state’s fabricated metal product manufacturing industry, earning a certificate of competency and the opportunity to sit for the National Institute for Metalworking Skills certification exam. High enrollments have sparked an increase in “mini-semesters” and other non-traditional programs at New Jersey community colleges. At Atlantic Cape Community College, more than 400 students are taking the two-week courses offered between the fall and spring semesters. Cumberland County College is offering “Powerpack” weekend courses that meet Friday night and all day Saturday for three consecutive weeks. Remedial courses are among the shortterm courses offered by community colleges across the state. Maryland has launched a pilot program at the Community College of Baltimore County that will train math and science teachers in best practices for educating women and minority students. The Educators’ Equity STEM

Academy is funded by an $886,000 National Science Foundation grant and is supported by the National Alliance for Partnership in Equity Education Foundation. After an initial year during which 15 CCBC instructors will test strategies for improving STEM training, the program will expand to a statewide system of training and collaboration between high schools and community colleges, officials said. Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland is one of a dozen colleges participating in a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundationfunded project to adapt several of the United Kingdom’s Open University online courses for use by United States higher ed institutions. Courses to be adapted focus on college-level study skills and math. Massachusetts community colleges have received a $20 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to develop training programs for unemployed adults in high-growth fields, including health care, biotechnology, information technology, health care, financial services, entrepreneurship, and clean energy. The state’s 15 community colleges plan to serve at least 4,000 students during the three-year grant, which will be used to purchase technical equipment and develop curricula.

Following the release of a report calling for the creation of a state community college to improve services in rural areas, The Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges urged lawmakers to avoid duplication of services and efforts by supporting the state’s 14 existing community colleges. More than 46,500 credit students, many of them in rural areas, were served by college satellite campuses in 2010-11, representing more than one out of every five Pennsylvania community college students. With trustees announcing their support of a $14 to $16 million, 300-bed dormitory, Corning Community College in New York will become the latest State University of New York community college to provide student housing. Approximately 23 of the 30 SUNY community colleges either provide student housing or are considering doing so.

western Region Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead’s proposed budget includes nearly $50 million to help the state’s two-year colleges increase enrollment and an additional

$1 million to fund initiatives to help improve completion rates, he said at an education summit sponsored by the Wyoming Association of Community College Trustees. Only 36 percent of Wyoming residents have a two-year college degree or higher, while the percentage of jobs requiring post-secondary education in the state is expected to increase to 63 percent by 2018.

Southern Region Virginia’s community college system has partnered with a non-profit organization in India to promote skillbased education in that country. The agreement between the Virginia Foundation for Community Colleges Education and the Wadhwani Foundation will allow Virginia’s community colleges to share information with counterparts in India, lawmakers said. Community college leaders in Tennessee told state lawmakers that the Complete College Act passed in 2010 has helped improve student success. The performance-based

funding formula has also prompted community colleges to increase dualenrollment programs with the state’s high schools and improved transfer policies with four-year universities. Blue Ridge Community College in North Carolina received a $1.6 million grant to improve the skills of students in its basic skills and GED programs. Part of Accelerating Opportunity: A Breaking Through Initiative, the grant will give students training and job skills to help them find work, and help the college integrate GED and college courses to help students work towards a certificate or degree. Surry Community College in North Carolina introduced “FAFSA Fridays,” a weekly counseling session to assist students applying for federal student aid. The free service is available to current students and those intending to attend college the following year. Pearl River Community College in Mississippi received a $286,000 grant to upgrade equipment at the school’s wellness center. The first time the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation has awarded a grant to a community college, the funds will be used to replace exercise equipment and build a one-mile walking track on campus.

central Region Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled a College to Careers plan which will encourage partnerships between the Illinois city’s community colleges and employers to train students for jobs in such areas as aviation mechanics, healthcare, computer technology, business services, and hospitality. Emanuel cited a persistent “skills gap” that has left more than 10,000 jobs in the Chicago area unfilled. The Illinois Community College Board received $1.6 million grant money from Jobs for the Future’s Accelerating Opportunity: A Breaking Through Initiative to help improve adult education and training programs. Eight Illinois community colleges will receive funding from the initiative. Owens Community College in Ohio received a $325,000 start-up grant from the Gateway to College dropoutrecovery program. The grant will help up to 150 students from Toledo public schools to enter a free dual-enrollment program at the community college.

Around the Regions provides an opportunity to share what’s happening in the states and around the regions. This section focuses on state legislative and budgetary issues, economic development, and finance. Please e-mail items from press releases or newsletters to ACCT at dconner@acct.org. Fax submissions to 202-223-1297. T R U S T E E Q U A RT E R LY W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

Five community colleges were honored by the Aspen Institute for improving student outcomes. Joshua Wyner explains how they did it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the important role trustees played at each institution.

Honoring Excellence in Community Colleges B y d av i d c o n n e r

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (left) and Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden (right) were on hand to honor the winners and finalists of the first annual Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. Center: Dr. Sanford Shugart, president of winner Valencia College. Photos by Patrice Gilbert.

The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence Winner Valencia College, Florida Finalists With Distinction Lake Area Technical Institute, South Dakota Miami Dade College, Florida Walla Walla Community College, Washington West Kentucky Community and Technical College 26

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Trustees contributed in important ways to the excellence of the winner and four finalists with distinction.

Following a year-long intensive research process, the Aspen Institute has honored five community colleges for delivering high levels of success for their students in (1) gaining knowledge and skills; (2) completing degree or certificate programs; (3) obtaining jobs with competitive wages after graduation, and (4) striving to ensure equitable outcomes and success rates for all student populations. The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence celebrates these top performers both to help elevate the community college sector nationwide and help other community colleges understand how to improve outcomes for the 7 million students — nearly half of all in postsecondary education — attending community colleges. Trustee Quarterly spoke with Joshua Wyner, executive director of the College Excellence Program at the Aspen Institute to find out more about the prize, judging process, and what lessons can be gleaned from Aspen’s top five community colleges.

On December 12, Dr. Jill Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Aspen and other education leaders in announcing the Aspen Prize winner and four top finalists. Why is the education world focusing so much attention in community colleges now? President Obama set a goal of the U.S. becoming first in the world in college attainment by the year 2020, and the administration’s focus on community colleges is tied to that goal. What those in his administration see are the same things that drive so many of us working in higher education to focus on community colleges. First and foremost is the sheer number of community college students. There are today [at least] 7 million community college students who aim to earn a degree or certificate. Second is a recognition that we need to improve the current community college student graduation rate which, depending on whether you count transfer students as successes, is somewhere between 20 and 40 percent for full-time students. At those rates, fewer than 2 million of the 7 million current community college students will graduate, and another million or so will transfer to another college without first graduating. Finally, demographic and fiscal trends are driving more attention to community colleges. Specifically, in an era of belt-tightening, the low tuition offered by community colleges (as compared to four-year and for-profit colleges) is attracting more and more students, including a significant share of the growing minority college student population.

What was the judging process? The prize selection process took a full year and was conducted in three rounds. A prominent prize jury co-chaired by former Michigan Governor John Engler and former Education Secretary Richard Riley reviewed all of the information we collected and selected the prize winner and four finalists with distinction. Throughout the process, we were looking for community colleges that stood out as excellent in four areas of student success: completion of degrees and certificates as well as transfer to four-year colleges; exceptional practice to achieve high levels of learning; strong outcomes in employment and earnings for graduates; and commitment to equitable outcomes for all students, including those from under-represented populations and low-income backgrounds.

What did Valencia College do to be identified as the best of the best? Valencia excelled in each of the four areas we examined. First, the college’s graduation and four-year transfer rates are far above the national average. It achieves that success through very intentional policies and practices that affect all 70,000 students. For example, Valencia has improved course success rates significantly by not letting students add courses after the first day of class, based on its examination of data showing that students who join a course late are much less likely to complete it. Second, on learning outcomes, Valencia works very hard at getting all professors to consistently strive to improve their teaching and student learning through a teaching-and-learning academy. Among other things, the academy helps all pre-tenured faculty engage in annual action research projects that rigorously test interventions in their classrooms. The most effective of these classroom-based experiments not only improved practices of the professor who conducted them, but also have since been systematically adopted across departments and campuses. In terms of labor market outcomes, state records showed that Valencia graduates had the highest rates of employment of any of the 10 finalist colleges. Given the high unemployment rate in the Orlando area, that is particularly impressive. Valencia achieves strong labor-market results through many effective workforce partnerships and campus-based practices, including embedding career advisors in the classrooms of many career/technical programs, from filmmaking

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to information technology. Finally, Valencia very intentionally works hard to make sure that student outcomes are strong for every student, including the 46 percent of its student body that is either Hispanic or African American. The college has paid particular attention to, and been quite effective at, reducing gaps by race/ ethnicity for students transferring to its main four-year partner, the University of Central Florida.

What about the other four finalists — what made them stand out? First, let me emphasize how many excellent community colleges we had the privilege of visiting and learning about during the past year. Many that did not share in the million-dollar Aspen Prize purse are doing remarkable things to provide student access and ensure student success. The four “finalists with distinction” stood out in many ways, but let me mention a couple of impressive things about each. • Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI) in South Dakota has tremendous graduation rates, with 66 percent of its students completing a degree and another 10 percent going on to a fouryear college prior to graduating. LATI graduates are in very high demand when they graduate, largely due to the institute’s very strong hands-on, job-relevant instruction model. • Miami Dade College has achieved remarkable success for its Hispanic population, both graduating the largest number of Hispanic students of any college in the country, and ensuring very high employment and earnings rates for its graduates. • Walla Walla Community College in Washington state exemplifies how to use labor-market data and workforce partnerships not only to prepare excellent workers for the regional economy, but also to partner in driving regional economic development in areas like water management, winemaking, and wind energy. As a result, its new graduates earn more than twice the wages of other new hires in the area. • West Kentucky Community and Technical College has seen unbelievable improvement in graduation rates over the past five years, which now stand at more than twice the national average. The college has achieved this by tackling the biggest issues impeding student achievement, from completely revamping remedial math instruction to infusing the entire curriculum with new strategies for improving reading comprehension.

Did the evaluation criteria involve any details of governing board involvement and role in student success and completion initiatives? From the point of view of the Aspen Institute, what role can trustees play in helping their colleges to meet the rigorous criteria of the Aspen Prize? As part of the site visit process, Aspen spent time with the governing board of each finalist college. We were impressed by the incredible level of dedication to the community college that we

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observed in so many trustees we met. There is no doubt that trustees contributed in important ways to the excellence of the winner and four finalists with distinction. Perhaps most importantly, each of these colleges has a dynamic and focused leader who has led the college for a decade or more. That cannot happen without a very strong relationship and common vision between the boards and the CEO. In addition, so many board members understood the student success orientation of these leaders and supported them, whether through the corporate partnerships board members helped establish, fundraising, or other things. Finally, we met a few board members who served as critical friends of the institution, asking the college to present evidence of how it was progressing towards meeting its student success goals. Our sense was that the college presidents by and large welcomed this kind of engagement, again revealing a true partnership to achieve and consistently improve student success.

How much of a difference do you think the $1 million prize and recognition will make in these colleges’ work toward helping students succeed? We have already seen evidence that the recognition is having a significant positive impact. Community colleges in the top 10 are leveraging their standing to secure significant corporate partnerships, recruit faculty, and highlight the importance of their success at the state level. As importantly, we hope the entire community college sector gains recognition due to the prize. We too infrequently recognize in our country, our states, and our communities how important community colleges are to meeting our country’s job-training and educational goals. With the prize, Aspen seeks to highlight how effectively those goals are being met by many community colleges.

What’s the next step in the Aspen Institute’s work with community and technical colleges? Aspen has already begun working on next year’s prize, which will be offered at the same level as this year’s. In addition, we are working hard to synthesize and share the lessons we have learned from the winner and finalists for this year’s prize so that other community colleges can better understand the practices and policies that correlate to strong levels of student success. As a starting point, we have prepared profiles of the top five colleges, [which are] posted on our website (www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/ aspen-prize-community-college-excellence). It is this information sharing that lies at the heart of the prize — helping community colleges learn from one another how to improve student success. In addition, we are incorporating what we have learned into a book proposal, articles, and conference presentations, and our next initiative — the New College Leader Project — which aims to inform the recruitment and training of future community college presidents. But that is a subject for another day.

acct’s Public Policy Resources for Community College Trustees

community college

national Legislative Summit

Held each February in Washington, D.C., the Community College National Legislative Summit (NLS) is an important opportunity for community college leaders to become informed on cutting-edge policy issues and advocate to key Members of Congress and the Administration on behalf of community and technical colleges. www.acct.org/events/legislativesummit

LAW

Latest Action in washington

ACCT’s highly successful Latest Action in Washington (LAW) e-mail alerts offer immediate, concise updates on legislative activity important to community colleges. Sign up to receive LAW E-Alerts by sending an e-mail with “LAW E-Alerts” in the subject line to: publicpolicy@acct.org

ACCT has launched a blog forum to highlight activity in Washington focused around legislative activity. Readers can choose to receive daily post summaries automatically by e-mail, share posts with others, and comment on all posts. www.communitycollegebeltwaynews.blogspot.com

visit acct advocacy online www.acct.org/advocacy

ACCT’s website contains resources for trustees on advocacy and public policy. Information includes: legislative priorities and federal funding; ACCT letters to Congress; tips on becoming a federal advocate for your college; and an action center to write your representatives.

www.twitter.com/cctrustees

www.facebook.com/cctrustees

Major Garrett explores what went wrong with Congress and the SuperCommittee — and what its failure means for the road ahead.

darkly By major garrett

This article is excerpted from December 3, 2011 issue of National Journal.

The great Greek historian Herodotus wrote of a solar eclipse in 585 B.C. that so terrified the warring Medes and Lydians that soldiers in both armies laid down their weapons and declared peace. The ancient Chinese believed that an eclipse was caused by a celestial dragon devouring the sun; villagers would bang drums and pots, hoping to frighten the dragon away. For Congress, 2011 has been the year of the eclipse. Though hardly celestial, three events this year — the prospect of a government shutdown in May, the looming government default in August, and the deadline for the deficit-reduction supercommittee to act in November — have overshadowed everything else. In each case, a tiny band of lawmakers – sometimes leaders, sometimes ad hoc negotiators, sometimes members of a special committee — huddled in secret and stumbled their way to either a resolution or a standoff. Meanwhile, everyone else in Congress stood by, waiting for the crisis to pass. Virtually all other productive work ground to a halt. In many ways, congressional leaders have reacted like primitive tribal elders transfixed by the disappearance of light, leaving the powerless rabble confused, fearful, and immobile. Now, as the sun starts to reappear after the demise of the supercommittee, lawmakers must confront the results of their year of darkness.

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Behind the Failure In retrospect, the committee lacked everything necessary to succeed, starting with lawmakers who know how to, or might want to, cut bipartisan deals. Stacked with partisan hardliners motivated by base (political) motives, the panel’s substantive deliberations were rare and staked by mistrust. Although committee members now somberly speak of “disappointment” and “missed opportunities,” they quickly lapse into icy disdain of their rival’s negotiating positions. “They never gave us a piece of paper,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., of the Republicans’ negotiating posture. “There was a transparent effort to lock in tax breaks for upper-income earners and create a windfall for the super-wealthy.” That’s a reference to GOP demands that Congress resolve the fate of the Bush tax cuts — due to expire on Jan. 1, 2013 — and Republican members’ attempts to reform the tax code to emphasize lower marginal rates for high-end taxpayers. “It’s clear in hindsight there was an asymmetry in incentives,” said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., referring to the partisan calculations of committee Democrats. “The Democratic Party feels very significantly tied to President Obama’s future, and a big bipartisan solution coming out of Congress would have pretty thoroughly stomped on Obama’s message of a ‘Do-Nothing Congress.’”

Bush tax cuts versus Obama reelection. Sound familiar? The supercommittee’s design was meant to isolate its members from partisan pressures. Instead, it acted like a kiln, hardening differences to a fired sheen. The negotiations produced some breakthroughs, short-lived and underappreciated though they were. Democrats can and do mock the GOP’s offer of $250 billion in net higher taxes achieved by closing loopholes and ending certain exemptions. And yet, it is worth noting the historic nature of Toomey’s suggested tax increase. Consider: No prominent Republican holding federal office has seriously proposed raising taxes by any amount since President George H.W. Bush agreed to do so in 1990 and lost reelection two years later. Toomey broke 21 years of unyielding party orthodoxy. “It really was hard,” Toomey said of his tax-increase proposal. “I am adamant we have a spending problem, not a taxing problem. I feel we bent over backwards.” Democrats feel that way, too, when it comes to entitlement reforms. They say they were willing to change the inflation calculation for Social Security to make it less generous and to raise the eligibility age for Medicare. These suggested cuts, especially to Social Security, brought Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to the Senate floor to denounce their Democratic colleagues for entertaining such heresy. “Republicans never had that,” said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. “We felt real pressure from our side.” But Republicans waved off those proffers, branding the Democrats’ proposed entitlement reforms fundamentally dishonest because they all came inextricably linked to at least $1 trillion in higher taxes over 10 years. “I will give them credit,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said. “They did put entitlements on the table. But there was never a proposal that was intellectually consistent. Everything on entitlements was tied to big tax increases.” It’s hard to know how serious any of these proposals were, because none was drafted in legislative form, and committee members refuse to publicly release any of the panel’s negotiating documents. Not only did the supercommittee fail, it didn’t’ even have the decency to explain how or why it failed — except in the self-serving realm of spinning the blame game. At this dark art, the panel was a smashing, if obviously dissembling, success.

About Everything, About Nothing The supercommittee had other structural problems — deep and paralyzing from the start. In interviews, a dozen lawmakers, top congressional aides, and lobbyists identified them: lack of frame, scale, and scope. Without a framework, everything was on the table, and everything was discussable. This proved unwieldy. The committee also lacked scale, meaning that key interest groups and lobbying shops never knew what to prepare for or how to help lawmakers cushion the blow of any big policy changes that might need some inventive public-relations backing. Last, the panel had no

scope or overarching policy goal. Was the mission $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction? Was it deficit reduction merged with economic growth fueled by stimulus spending? Was it deficit reduction through efficiency, or comprehensive entitlement, or tax reform? The breadth of the mandate offered ample room for opacity, imprecision, and policy wandering. The supercommittee was about everything and therefore about nothing, which is precisely what it produced. “For the rest of our lives, I believe everyone in Congress will look back at this as the great missed opportunity of 2011,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner. The irony of Steel’s lament is as thick as the cigarette smoke in the Ohio Republican’s Capitol Hill study. Boehner helped create the supercommittee in a semi-panic as he and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid groped for a solution to the debt-ceiling crises — a standoff that Boehner willfully provoked with Obama. The supercommittee, its architects now acknowledge, was a contraption that satisfied immediate political needs but wasn’t all that well thought out. Boehner wanted a process that would tie future spending cuts to the amount of the August increase in the debt ceiling; Reid wanted the committee itself, a long nurtured idea that he thought could break through the filibusters and give him a lever to partially control the fate of the Democratic spending priorities and the Bush tax cuts. The other player in the game, McConnell, simply wanted a process that would keep Republicans from having to vote directly on any increase in the debt ceiling before the 2012 elections. The politicians got what they wanted: a new mousetrap with unprecedented procedural protections (no amendments or filibusters) that solved the GOP-created debt crisis – the first of its kind in American history — that had unnerved U.S. and global stock and bond markets. “Reid and Boehner put a lot of capital into this,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of the budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. “How do they lead their troops going forward? They are in a worse spot than they were before.”

Signs from Heaven Last year’s miscalculations in Congress have nothing to do with predicting eclipses — and everything to do with initiating them. But with an approval rating mired in the high single digits and a backlog of unfinished business that underscores Congress’s indolence and partisan strife, lawmakers might ask themselves if they have the capacity to emerge from the shadows and lead themselves into the light.

Major Garrett is a Congressional correspondent for the National Journal.

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legal

Recent Case-Law Rulings of Interest to Higher-Ed Administration

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business. One of the employees used her personal computer for work and deleted the job-related files from this personal computer. While the case was dismissed for other reasons, the federal judge concluded that this section of the CFAA “appears to prohibit damaging (not accessing) a computer without authorization.” (N.D. Ill., No 11 C 4476) In past cases, some employees have prevailed in CFAA suits on the argument that they were authorized to use the company computer in question at the time of destruction. Here, the judge

appears to have ruled that, whether or not the defendants were authorized, they violated the statute because of the destruction of computer files. The judge appears amenable to the case being re-filed and believes it to be actionable under the CFAA. Student Worker Class-Action Settlement: In Summa v. Hofstra University, a federal district court judge recently approved a $485,000 settlement agreement covering 250 student workers who claimed they were not paid minimum wages or overtime during a period that

“And don’t go whining to some higher court.”

Three recent case-law developments should be on the radar of higher education legal service providers. The first ruled that employees’ use of personal laptop computers to destroy job-related e-mails hosted on the employer’s server may be actionable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The second approves a studentworker class-action FLSA minimum-wage and overtime settlement of $485,000. And finally, a UPS employee with Type 2 diabetes was denied an appeal to work only during daytime hours because he failed to demonstrate a life-affecting disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Destruction of Job-Related E-mails: Although the courts have largely held that the use of a personal computer is not actionable under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a federal district court trial judge recently ruled that the plaintiffs in ER James Real Estate Services LLC v. Spinell et al. may be able to pursue a claim against employees for the impermissible destruction of company files or data. In this case, company e-mails were destroyed by an employee’s use of a personal laptop computer and the judge ruled that the employer’s claims may be actionable under section 1030(a)(5)(A) of the CFAA. The specifics of the case are not unusual: The employer — a consortium of real estate companies — alleged that a group of employees, prior to resigning and while they still had authorized access to the company’s computer and server, deleted incriminating e-mails immediately before joining a competing

by Ira Michael Shepard ACCT General Counsel

Model Standards of Good Practice for Trustee Boards In support of effective community college governance, the board believes: That it derives its authority from the community and that it must always act as an advocate on behalf of the entire community;

commenced in 2006. The suit was initially brought by one student who claimed she received only a $700 stipend for work as an undergraduate student during the fall semester of 2006 while working at least 40 hours a week as the manager for the football team and holding other on-campus jobs. In late 2008, the federal court certified a class action, including graduate and undergraduate assistants who also alleged that they were not paid minimum wage or overtime payments. The settlement agreement now includes a class of 256 student workers and was approved by the federal district court judge in the case (ED NY, CV 07 3307;10/24/11). Of the $485,000 settlement, $200,000 will go into a pool to be divided among the student plaintiffs, and $285,000 will go for legal fees and other expenses incurred by plaintiffs in litigating the lawsuit. Student workers who were primarily paid by stipend will get 20 percent of the fund, and 70 percent of the fund will go to student workers who were paid hourly. The remaining 10 percent will go to student workers who worked in both categories. According to the settlement agreement, any unclaimed portion of the fund will go back to the university. ADA Qualifications for Disability Claims: The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which had previously ruled in another case that diabetes was a disability protected under the ADA, affirmed the dismissal of a diabetic United Parcel Service employee’s lawsuit holding that under the facts of his case, his diabetes did not rise to the level of a disability under the ADA. Even

if the employee’s diabetes had been disabling, the court held that under the facts of his case, the company’s refusal to grant him only daytime hours was not a failure to accommodate. (5th Cir, No. 10-30854, 10/19/11.) In Griffin v. United Parcel Service, the trial court judge granted summary judgment in favor of the employer, holding that the Type 2 diabetic plaintiff had no triable issues because as a result of his treatment regimen, he requires only modest dietary and lifestyle changes. The prior 5th Circuit precedent, which held that diabetes was a protected ADA disability, turned on the fact that the disease had a major impact on the plaintiff’s eating in that case and therefore substantially limited a major life activity. The judge added that even if the plaintiff’s diabetes did constitute an ADA-protected disability, a reasonable jury could not conclude that the employer did not engage in a good-faith interactive process in considering his accommodation request because there was no evidence from the plaintiff or his doctor that the requested daytime hours were necessary to manage his diabetes. The case underscores the importance of a plaintiff demonstrating that what he or she claims as a disability substantially limits a major life activity in order to be legally actionable.

Ira Michael Shepard is a partner with the law firm of Saul Ewing, LLP, in Washington, D.C., and ACCT’s general counsel.

That it must clearly define and articulate its role; That it is responsible for creating and maintaining a spirit of true cooperation and a mutually supportive relationship with the college president; That it always strives to differentiate between external and internal processes in the exercise of its authority; That its trustee members should engage in a regular and ongoing process of in-service training and continuous improvement; That its trustee members come to each meeting prepared and ready to debate issues fully and openly; That its trustee members vote their conscience and support the decision or policy made; That its behavior, and that of its members, exemplify ethical behavior and conduct that is above reproach; That it endeavors to remain always accountable to the community; That it honestly debates the issues affecting its community and speaks with one voice once a decision or policy is made. Adopted by the ACCT Board of Directors, October 2000. *The term “board” refers to a community college board of trustees or appropriate governing authority.

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B y

What boards need to know about the aging of presidents and disparities in pay 34

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N a r c i s a

P o l o n i o

Presidential Issues for the Board: A Series of Quick Guides. As they contemplate nurturing, supporting and sustaining the value of the community college presidency, boards must be aware of two emerging trends â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the graying of the pool of presidential candidates, and the disparities in pay among different higher education institutions.

It was over a decade ago that our sister organization, the American Association of Community Colleges, reported that over 75 percent of all community college presidents were approaching retirement age. Last September, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported in an article titled “The Graying of the Presidency” that all of higher education is confronting an exodus of presidents due to retirement (Sept. 25, 2011). One significant finding was that during the last two decades, the average age of presidents increased from 52 to 60. A related finding from a survey conducted in 2008 by the Council of Independent Colleges was that one-third of chief academic officers at independent colleges did not want to become president. The report also cited a lack of succession planning and limited mentoring and grooming of successor candidates. Another major concern reported by the Chronicle is the significant pay gap among presidents, although some of the issues raised are not relevant to community colleges. For example, in December 2011, the Chronicle listed 39 chief executives who earned more than $1 million in 2009. More relevant was a January 2010 article reporting that the average salary of presidents in public four-year universities was $427,400 and the average salary of community college presidents was $165,000. It is important to note that this data is probably three to four years old at this point. Because of their focus on local communities, community colleges have traditionally had a different compensation scale. In addition, there are significant differences in salary and compensation packages from one state or region to another, as well as differences based on the size of the institution, longevity of the individual president, and other factors. These findings are important for boards to take into consideration when they are negotiating with a new president, renewing or extending the presidential contract, contemplating negotiating with a long-term president, or simply conducting an assessment of leadership succession and the health and well-being of the institution. It is important to remember that regardless of what and how the board handles these issues, there typically are many opinions expressed by college constituencies and the community at large. The contract — and specifically, the length of the appointment and compensation package of the chief executive officer — is a topic of interest to many. What factors should the board consider when negotiating with a new president, renewing a contract, or negotiating with a long-term president? To cover all of the complexity of the plethora of options would require a much longer article. Suffice it to say that the board needs to be ready for the potential for scrutiny by internal and external constituencies. Keep in mind that it is not unusual for community college presidents to be one of the highest paid persons in many communities (although this

is typically not the case in large urban or metropolitan areas). Therefore, it is important for the board to conduct due diligence in compiling data and information to justify and support their decisions. It is also important to have a full understanding of creative approaches that boards should take into account to reward good presidents, achieve stability in leadership, and consider merit-based or performance based rewards. In our society, compensation very often translates to worthiness. It is important to keep in mind that this goes beyond a simple salary. For a leader, it reflects status, security, rewards, and acknowledgement of dedication to a complex leadership role. It is imperative that the boards avail themselves of advice and resources in contemplating and strengthening the total compensation of their president. At a minimum, the board should have information on the salary and compensation benefits for all presidents in the state, and similar size institutions within the region of the country. Information on the cost of living and the tools that the president needs to effectively represent the college and present the appropriate image should also be considered. An understanding of what is important to the chief executive officer and their family is also crucial information for the board. Another factor to consider is the major priorities that the board would like to see achieved by the president and how long they will take. For example, changing leadership when the institution is planning to launch a major capital campaign, right before a major session of the legislature, or during an institutional accreditation review can be difficult and weaken the new president’s capacity to be successful. The hiring of the president is often referred to as one of the most important responsibilities of the board. The college’s continuing contractual relationship with its CEO, including compensation, is clearly part of this responsibility. We encourage boards to reach out to ACCT and your state association to obtain information and resources that could assist with these important areas. ACCT Vice President Narcisa Polonio can be reached at 202-775-4670, by cell phone at 202-276-1983, or by e-mail at npolonio@acct.org.

Citations 1. Stripling, J. (2011). The graying presidency. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Community-College-Chiefs-Are/63382/ 2. Gonzalez, J. (2010). Community-College chiefs are underpaid relative to their 4-year peers. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle. com/article/Community-College-Chiefs-Are/63382/ 3. Stripling, J. & Fuller, A. (2011). Pay gap widens between presidents and faculty. The Chronicle of Higher Education, LVIII(16), 1-3.

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ACCT LIFETIME MEMBERS Edward “Sandy” Sanders, AR Dick Trammel, AR Donald Campbell, AZ Jan Guy, AZ Gloria Guzman, AZ Fred Harcleroad, AZ Debra Pearson, AZ Linda B. Rosenthal, AZ Esther D. Tang, AZ Jane Gregory, BC Chuck Ayala, CA Lewis S. Braxton, CA Lois Carson, CA Carole Currey, CA Denise Ducheny, CA Isobel Dvorsky, CA Dorothy Ehrhart-Morrison, CA Paul Fong, CA Rebecca Garcia, CA Paul J. Gomez, CA Walter Howald, CA Worth Keene, CA Bruce Ketron, CA Brenda Knight, CA Marie Y. Martin, CA William H. Meardy, CA Carl Robinson, CA Herbert Roney, CA Armando Ruiz, CA Evonne Seron Schulze, CA Pete Tafoya, CA Leslie Thonesen, CA Roberto Uranga, CA David Viar, CA John Dent, CO John Giardino, CO George Boggs, DC Ken Burke, FL Jody T. Hendry, FL Nancy Watkins, FL Kenneth R. Allbaugh, IA

Harold Brock, IA* Robert Davidson, IA Joyce Hanes, IA B. A. Jensen, IA Kirby Kleffmann, IA Wayne Newton, IA Wanda Rosenbaugh, IA Linda Upmeyer, IA Steven J. Ballard, IL Mark Fazzini, IL Phyllis Folarin, IL Raymond Hartstein, IL Patricia Jones, IL James Lumber, IL Judith Madonia, IL Robert McCray, IL Michael Monteleone, IL David Murphy, IL Rich Nay, IL Therese G. Pauly, IL Franklin Walker, IL Jerry Wright, IL Robert Burch, KS James D. Hittle, KS Jo Ann Huerter, KS Dick Klassen, KS Ed Nicklaus, KS Jo Ann Sharp, KS Darrell Shumway, KS Lauren A. Welch, KS Mary Beth Williams, KS M. W. “Bill” Wyckoff, KS Joan Athen, MD Daniel Hall, MD Nancy M. Hubers, MD Robert Lawrence, MD Brad W. Young, MD William C. Warren, ME Frank S. Gallagher, MI Robert E. Garrison, MI* David W. Hackett, MI

Fred Mathews, MI Shirley Okerstrom, MI George Potter, MI David Rutledge, MI Anne V. Scott, MI Celia M. Turner, MI* Denise Wellons-Glover, MI James B. Tatum, MO Joann L. Ordinachev, MO Troy Holliday, MS James Stribling, MS John Forte, NC Hugh Lee, NC George Little, NC Helen Newsome, NC* Kathleen Orringer, NC Raymond Reddrick, NC C. Louis Shields, NC Lillie J. Solomon, NC Lynda Stanley, NC Alwin Arce, NJ Angelo Cortinas, NJ Clara Dasher, NJ Nino Falcone, NJ William T. Hiering, NJ Donald Loff, NJ William McDaniel, NJ* Virginia Scott, NJ Charles Tice, NJ Barbara Wallace, NJ Ronald Winthers, NJ Beatrice Doser, NM Gloria Lopez, NM Robert Matteucci, NM Nancy R. Rosasco, NV Arthur C. Anthonisen, NY David Mathis, NY Donald M. Mawhinney, NY Jean M. McPheeters, NY Richard N. Adams, OH Maureen Grady, OH

Rebecca L. Redman, OH Victor F. Stewart, Jr., OH Ken Bartlett, OK Norma Jean Germond, OR Doreen Margolin, OR* Jim Voss, OR Gene P. Ciafre, PA Morrison Lewis, PA Gene E. McDonald, PA Betty K. Steege, PA John Wright, PA E. Stewart Blume, SC Sheila Korhammer, SC Montez C. Martin, Jr., SC William O. Rowell, SC Peter E. Sercer, Sr., SC James Smith, SC Elmer Beckendorf, TX Manuel Benavidez, Jr., TX* Kitty Boyle, TX Don Coffey, TX Diane Olmos Guzman, TX Bennie Matthews, TX Carla McGee, TX Della-May Moore, TX Pattie Powell, TX Steve Salazar, TX Lydia Santibanez, TX W. L. “Levi” Smallwood, TX J. Pete Zepeda, TX M. Dale Ensign, UT Frank Mensel, UT Marilyn Blocker, VA Robert W. Harrell, Jr., VA Melanie L. Jackson, VA Elizabeth Rocklin, VA Ruthann Kurose, WA Naomi Pursel, WA Vaughn A. Sherman, WA Joan Jenstead, WI* Dennis Christensen, WY * Deceased

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They deserve more than just a gold watch. ACCT LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP Do you have board members getting ready to retire? Are you looking for ways to recognize them for their hard work and dedication? Don’t let them go without an ACCT Lifetime Membership!

7 REASONS TO BESTOW A LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP

1 2 3

Giving outstanding and retiring board members a Lifetime Membership to ACCT is a way to thank them for their service, recognize them among their peers, and ensure their ongoing interest in your college. Lifetime Members receive complimentary registration to all ACCT meetings, including the Annual Leadership Congress and the National Legislative Summit, after retiring from their local boards. Lifetime Members receive all of ACCT’s award-winning publications, including Trustee Quarterly magazine, and the Advisor and From the Desk of ACCT newsletters.

4 Lifetime Members are recognized publicly in Trustee Quarterly, on the ACCT Web site, and elsewhere. 5 The Lifetime Membership program supports and promotes ACCT’s continuing trustee education and professional development.

6 Colleges that purchase Lifetime Memberships can deduct the expense from taxes to the fullest extent allowed by law. 7 It’s just a nice thing to do — and haven’t your most exceptional trustees earned it? For applications or assistance, go to www.acct.org/membership/lifetime/honor-trustee.php, contact the ACCT Membership Department by phone at (202) 775-4667, or e-mail acctinfo@acct.org.

2011 GOVERNANCE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ON DIVERSITY | TAMPA, FLORIDA

November 10-12

Success through Diversity

Trustees, presidents, and equity officers from 12 states attended the 2011 Governance Leadership Institute on Diversity in Tampa, Florida, ACCT’s second diversity-focused GLI in the last thee years.

THE ACCT DIVERSITY COMMITTEE SPONSORED ACCT’S 2011 GOVERNANCE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ON DIVERSITY on November 10-12. The Diversity Institute took place at Hillsborough Community College — Ybor City Campus, in Tampa, Fla. The gathering included trustees, presidents, and equity officers from 12 states, including Arizona, California, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. This was ACCT’s second diversity-focused Governance Leadership Institute in the past three years. Participants engaged in discussions exploring the definitions of diversity and inclusion, examined assumptions and values, and learned about strategies and policies that both four-year and two-year institutions have implemented. Trustees also explored how boards can support their campus leadership in promoting diversity throughout the institution.

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“I will take back information to my board and chancellor to ensure we implement a diversity model workable for our district.” ON THE AGENDA • Preparing a College-Wide Diversity Plan • Diversity from Students’ Perspectives • The Lasting Legacy: The African American, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American Experience • Building Coalitions and Representing the Interest of All Groups • Overview of Equity and Diversity Plans: The University Perspective • Community College Equity Officers Panel Discussion • Presidential Perspective on Diversity • Handling Difficult and Controversial Issues Around Diversity • Team Building & Planning: Strategies That Work and Best Practices • Elements of a Leadership Diversity Plan and Reporting Out

Participants engaged in discussions exploring the definitions of diversity and inclusion, examined assumptions and values, and learned about strategies and policies that both four-year and two-year institutions have implemented.

“The quality of materials was right on target.” “ Great selection of presenters. They were very knowledgeable.” Discussions focused on strategies and policies promoting diversity throughout participating institutions.

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Case Study advancing governance

Maneuvering Change in the Makeup of the Board This case is provided as a tool to foster discussion of how to handle changes in the perception, culture, and composition of the board. By Narcisa A. Polonio, Ed.D. with Yobel Gaski

eralded as the jewel of the county, Imperial Community

the disruptions caused by the new trustees, and in turn, the chair

College had a stable board whose chair was in her third

turned to the president for advice on how to handle the situation.

term and a long-term president with a reputation for

Upon reflection, the president made a list of questions

strong leadership and commanding the respect of the board

that needed answers: Why do the new trustees have so many

and the college.

questions? Is it because of their cultural differences, or is it

With board member terms traditionally renewed automatically

because they don’t understand the appropriate policy role of

and most trustees on their third, fourth, or longer term of service,

the board? Or do they have their own personal agenda and

stability had been the defining characteristic of the board. The

want to embarrass the rest of the board? Was the board so

board’s motto was “steady as they go.” Strong friendships and

comfortable for such a long time that the trustees are not used

mutual respect among board members and the president had

to questions being asked? Does the rest of the board feel

evolved throughout the years.

that the new trustees should just sit and listen until they gain

During the last 10 to 15 years, changes in the makeup of the

some real expertise? Are the questions being asked things that

student body reflected the migration of new groups into the

could be answered ahead of time, and are the new trustees

community, including a marked increase in Hispanic/Latino and

just grandstanding?

Middle Eastern students. Board members attributed the changes

The president reflected on what the next steps should be, and

in the student population, in part, to the outward migration of

which resources could be helpful in handling the situation, but in

manufacturing and a greater emphasis on the service industry

truth, he was not sure how to handle the situation. What he did

in the region.

know was that above all, it would be critical that no accusation of

When two long-term trustees decided to retire from public

racism or discrimination rear its ugly head.

service, the governor appointed two new trustees to the board. It was not a surprise that the governor selected trustees with close ties to these growing populations, and the board was excited about diversifying the makeup of the board by welcoming its first trustees from Hispanic and Middle Eastern backgrounds.

Discussion guide 1. What steps should the president take in answering all questions to help the board come together?

To assist the new trustees, the president and chair of the

2. Is addressing this situation the president’s responsibility?

board organized a new trustee orientation and walked the new

3. What role should the chair play? The other veteran trustees?

members through board policies and procedures and provided

4. What resources are available to assist in this situation?

an orientation to the college.

5. What are the best techniques for integrating change in the

Just a few regular meetings later, however, the mood had

composition of the board?

shifted from excitement to concern. The concern stemmed, in part, from the fact that meetings now stretched out as long as three hours, a result of extensive questioning by the new trustees. Their questions appeared to carry an overtone of suspicion and suggested a lack of confidence in the

ACCT Vice President Narcisa Polonio can be reached at 202-775-4670, by cell phone at 202-276-1983, or by e-mail at npolonio@acct.org.

administration. Growing numbers of faculty, staff, students, community members, and media had begun attending meetings. As a result, the board chair and president both came to the conclusion that the orientation had not been successful. Other veteran trustees told the board chair that she needed to manage

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Yobel Gaski is an ACCT board services associate. She can be reached at 202-776-4667 or ygaski@acct.org.

Presidential Searches The Board Leadership Services staff and consultants of the Association of Community College Trustees are pleased to have assisted in the search for the following community college chief executive officers.

Baton Rouge Community College, LCTCS, La.

Cape Cod Community College, Mass.

Dr. Andrea Lewis Miller Chancellor

Dr. John L. Cox President

Former Chancellor

Former Vice President, Finance, Operations and Government Relations

Sowela Technical Community College, LCTCS, La. “Dr. Miller has proven to be an effective leader in her role as chancellor of Sowela, and we look forward to working with her in her new role at BRCC. I have no doubt that she will be an asset to the college serving the faculty, staff, and students well.” — Dr. Joe D. May, President, Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS)

Harford Community College, Md. “Dr. Cox’s breadth of knowledge, depth of experience, and thoughtful responses to both trustee and college community questions continued to elevate his candidacy until he emerged as our unanimous choice. We will be extremely pleased to welcome him as the seventh president of Cape Cod Community College.” — Christopher Oddleifson, Board Chair

Black Hawk College, Ill.

Joliet Junior College, Ill.

Dr. Thomas Baynum President

Dr. Debra Daniels President

Former President

Coastal Bend College, Texas

San Bernardino Valley College, Calif.

“Black Hawk College is looking “Dr. Debra Daniels will bring a great forward to welcoming Dr. Thomas deal of talent as well as proven Baynum as our new President, and leadership ability to Joliet Junior we are delighted about him becoming College. Dr. Daniels definitely a member of the Quad-Cities stood out in a field of well-qualified community. All constituents of the college are excited and look candidates, and our college community has the confidence forward to his leadership.” — Evelyn Phillips, Board Chair in her to continue to build on the legacy of the late Dr. Gena Proulx.” — Barbara DeLaney, Board Chair

NEW ACCT EXECUTIVE SEARCHES WEBSITE Selecting a president or chancellor is one of the most momentous decisions made by a board of trustees. The decision has far-reaching implications for the board, the college, and the community. ACCT is committed to providing membership services that meet the highest professional standards, and are reliable and of the highest quality available. Our commitment goes well beyond providing CEO search assistance. We are your membership organization, and as such, accountable to every member board. Our mission, values, and goals focus entirely on service to our membership.

ACCT’s fundamental purpose is to enhance the capacity of boards through education, advocacy, and by helping boards identify and select the best CEOs to lead their colleges on behalf of their communities. If your college is considering using ACCT's Search Services, we would be happy to submit a formal proposal customized to the needs of your institution.

Visit ACCT Executive Searches online at www.acctsearches.org.

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South Louisiana Community College, LCTCS, La. Dr. Natalie Harder Chancellor Former Vice President of Institutional Advancement Patrick Henry Community College, Va. “I am confident that Dr. Harder will lead both SLCC and ATC with integrity and tenacity. She has a great passion for higher education. Her qualifications to serve in this capacity are second to none, and I look forward to working with her in this new role.” — Dr. Joe D. May, President, Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS)

Board SELF-ASSESSMENTS and PresidentIAL Evaluations ACCT would like to thank the following colleges, which have taken advantage of our Board and/or President Evaluation Services. Baltimore City Community College, MD Community College of Baltimore County, MD Crowder College, MO Napa Valley College, CA Ohlone College, CA San Joaquin Delta College, CA Tulsa Community College, OK

Stark State College, Ohio Dr. Para M. Jones President Former President Spartanburg Community College, S.C. “I am delighted that Dr. Jones is the choice of our board to lead the college into the next decade. Her leadership, intellect, character, and charisma will continue to position Stark State College as a first choice in higher education and a leader in economic growth and community prosperity.” — Michael L. Thomas, DDS, Board Chair

Tohono O’odham Community College, Ariz. Dr. James L. Vander Hooven President Formerly Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Lakes Region Community College, N.H. “After an extensive national search, Tohono O’odham Community College is very pleased to have Dr. James Vander Hooven accept and assume the responsibilities as the fourth President of TOCC. The board of trustees, faculty, staff, and students are confident the experience and personal commitment Dr. Vander Hooven brings will move the college forward and further establish this institute as the Tohono O’odham Nation’s center for higher education.” — Bernard Siquieros, Board Chair 42

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Washington State Community College, OH

Board Retreats ACCT would like to thank the following colleges, which have taken advantage of our Retreat Services. Alamo Colleges, TX

Napa Valley College, CA

Baltimore City Community College, MD

New Mexico Junior College, NM

Central Wyoming College, WY

Northeast Community College, NB

Coast Community College District, CA

Northwest Indian College, WA

Community and Technical College System of West Virginia, WV

Ohlone College, CA

Community College of Baltimore County, MD

San Joaquin Delta College, CA

Craven Community College, NC Daytona State College, FL Hartnell Community College, CA

Rockland Community College, NY Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, WV Tulsa Community College, OK

Hocking College, OH

University of New MexicoGallup, NM

MassBay Community College, MA

Washington State Community College, OH

Mesalands Community College, NM

Waukesha County Technical College, WI

Vice Presidential Searches ACCT’s Board Leadership Services is now providing assistance to chancellors and presidents looking to identify a new member of the executive leadership team for the college or district. We are pleased to announce the completion of the following searches for provosts and vice presidents.

Suffolk County Community College, NY Dr. Carla L. Mazzarelli Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Former Interim Associate Dean, Academic Affairs Dutchess Community College, NY “Dr. Mazzarelli’s background and experience are strongly aligned with the responsibilities and expectations we have for the College’s Office of Academic and Student Affairs. Her list of accomplishments and her understanding of what it takes to achieve academic excellence at a large, multi-campus institution will serve us well. We welcome her to our team.” — Dr. Shawn McKay, President, Suffolk County Community College

Looking for a

Vice President, Provost, or Vice Chancellor?

ACCT Board Leadership Services brings over 30 years of experience to every executive search. We have assisted more than 300 colleges and governing boards in successfully identifying the best candidates for new presidents and chancellors. ACCT’s services have been expanded to work with chancellors and presidents to identify the most outstanding candidates for vice presidential positions at your college. ACCT Board Leadership Services will guide you through every step of the process.

For more information on ACCT’s expanded services to assist with the placement of vice presidents, provosts, and vice chancellors, please contact Narcisa Polonio at npolonio@acct.org or 202-276-1983.

Should you need information, assistance, or just have a question about presidential searches, services for trustees, or general questions on board operations and procedures, contact ACCT Vice President for Research, Education, & Board Leadership Services, Dr. Narcisa Polonio, at 202.775.4670 (office), 202.276.1983 (mobile), or e-mail narcisa_polonio@acct.org.

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RECRUIT ACCT INTERIM SERVICES

AIS

INTERVIEW

TRANSITION. SIMPLIFIED.

NEGOTIATE

www.acctsearches.org

APPOINT

Oftentimes, colleges undergoing a presidential transition can be best served by the appointment of an interim president. ACCT Interim Services assists governing boards with the process of selecting transitional leadership. AIS is your gateway to transition, simplified.

Four Reasons Interim Presidents are Valuable 1. Interims can provide stability while keeping the institution's priorities on track during transition. 2. They can help the college transition smoothly during the process of identifying a new permanent president. 3. Interim presidents can lend specialized expertise and skills needed during the transition. 4. They can lend a fresh perspective and address issues that may have been either ignored or handled poorly in the past. ACCT has an extensive registry of retired presidents.

Narcisa A. Polonio, Ed.D. VP of Research, Education & Board Leadership Services 202.276.1983 narcisa_polonio@acct.org Keyshia Crawford Jimerson, M.Ed. Program Specialist 202.775.6484 kjimerson@acct.org

NETWORK NEWS WINTER 2012

INTERFACE

A publication of the Community College Professional Board Staff Network in cooperation with the Association of Community College Trustees

Professional Board Staff Member 2011-2012 Executive Committee OFFICERS Sherri Weddle Bowen, President Executive Assistant to the President Forsyth Technical Community College, N.C. sbowen@forsythtech.edu Wendy Dodson, Vice President Executive Assistant to the President Sandhills Community College, N.C. dodsonw@sandhills.edu Debbie Novak, Secretary Assistant to the College President Colorado Mountain College, Colo. dnovak@coloradomtn.edu Terri Grimes, Immediate Past-President Executive Assistant to the President/Board Highland Community College, Ill. terri.grimes@highland.edu

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE CENTRAL REGION Joan Tierney Administrative Assistant Joliet Junior College, Ill. jtierney@jjc.edu NORTHEAST REGION Sean Fischer Executive Assistant to the President and Director of Board of Trustee Services Atlantic Cape Community College, N.J. sfischer@atlantic.edu PACIFIC REGION Tria Bullard Executive Assistant to the President Columbia Gorge Community College, Ore. tbullard@cgcc.cc.or.us SOUTHERN REGION Wanda Brown Executive Assistant Randolph Community College, N.C. wcbrown@randolph.edu

Dallas Congress Provided Powerful Information for PBSN Members The theme of the 2011 ACCT Leadership Congress was “Information is Power: Fostering Sustainability & Student Success,” and the members of the Professional Board Staff Network (PBSN) did just that — we gained information. After a great turnout at Wednesday’s meet-and-greet, with old friendships renewed and new ones created, the PBSN held a three-hour work session on Thursday. The session included presentations on upward mobility for the board staff member, the board staff role in a presidential search, increasing efficiencies in the office through the use of technology, team-building skills, and what it’s like to plan for a visit from the President of the United States. Executive Committee elections took place during our annual PBSN business meeting on Friday, October 14, and the 2012 Executive Committee includes new and returning members. Terri Grimes will serve as immediate past-president, Wendy Dodson as vice president, and Debbie Novak as secretary. Three members-at-large were reelected by the PBSN members to another one-year term: Joan Tierney will serve the Central region, Sean Fischer will serve the Northeast region, and Wanda Brown will serve the Southern region. New Executive Committee member Tria Bullard will serve the Pacific region, and Mechell Downey will serve the Western region. Congratulations on behalf of the full PBSN to our 2011-2012 Executive Committee members. The Executive Committee would like to hear our members’ suggestions for the work session during the 2012 Leadership Congress in Boston, October 10-13. If you have an idea for a topic or are interested in presenting in Boston, please e-mail me at sbowen@forsythtech.edu. Our Executive Committee will meet in conjunction with the 2012 Community College National Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C., to begin planning for the Congress. I look forward to seeing each of you in Boston! sherri weddle bowen Forsyth Technical Community College, N.C.

WESTERN REGION Mechell Downey Administrative Assistant to the President Seminole State College, Okla. m.downey@sscok.edu

Join us on Facebook! Type in “ACCT Professional Board Staff Network” to locate our page.

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NETWORK NEWS WINTER 2012

INTERFACE Appreciating the Professional Board Staff Member ACCT awards recognize the best of the best. By Wendy Dodson, Sandhills Community College, N.C.

The professional board staff member plays a pivotal role in the life of a community college. The position acts as a liaison between the college, the board of trustees, the public, and the students, promoting a positive image of the college to all stakeholders. This position plays a key role in the effectiveness of the board/CEO team. Responsibilities range from organizational support and leadership to developing and initiating special projects to the benefit of the board and the college as a whole. The ACCT Professional Board Staff Member Award recognizes excellence in the areas of leadership, support, initiating and developing special projects, and professional development that the regional nominees have provided at their institutions. Five regional professional board staff finalists were recognized at the ACCT Leadership Congress in Dallas, Texas, in October 2011. Tria Bullard from Columbia Gorge Community College in Oregon was the Pacific Regional Award recipient. The executive assistant to the president and board of education, Tria was a firstyear attendee at this year’s conference and was nominated and elected the PBSN Executive Committee Pacific region member-atlarge for 2011-2012. We extend a warm PBSN welcome to Tria.

Rebecca Garrison of St. Louis Community College in Missouri was the Central Regional Award recipient. Rebecca has been with St. Louis Community College for 25 years and has served as the liaison between the administration and governing board for 12 years. She has been recognized for her contributions in improving methods and effectiveness of college operations and administration at the board level. Nikita Lemon from Baltimore City Community College in Maryland was the Northeast Regional Award recipient. The assistant to the president for board relations at BCCC, Nikita is completing her final semester in the community college leadership doctoral program at Morgan State University and was recently selected by the president to chair the creation of the college’s senior volunteer program. Past PBSN President Pamela Perkins from Seward County Community College/Area Technical School in Kansas was not only the winner of the Western Regional Award, but was also awarded our highest honor, the Professional Board Staff ACCT Association Award. In addition to her service as past president of PBSN, she

Professional Board Staff Member ACCT Regional Awardees: From left: Rebecca Garrison, SLCC Trustee Melissa Hattman, BCCC CEO Dr. Gary Rodwell, Nikita Lemon, Tria Bullard, CGCC CEO Dr. Ernie Keller, Doris Simpson, TCTC Board Chair William Hudson, Pamela Perkins, and SCCC/ATS CEO Dr. Duane Dunn

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NETWORK NEWS WINTER 2012

INTERFACE

has excelled in her commitment not only at SCC/ATS, but also to her community and to her fellow employees and collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s students. Pam has attended 13 ACCT Congresses and remains an active member of PBSN. Doris Simpson of Tri-County Technical College in South Carolina was the Southern Regional Award recipient. Doris has served as the executive assistant to the president and commission for over 14 years. She is described as the first point of contact for the general public, legislators, and other community stakeholders. We congratulate each of these award winners for their contributions to their colleges and invite them and other professional board staff members to join us at the 2012 ACCT Leadership Congress in Boston, Mass.

Professional Board Staff Member ACCT Association Awardee: Pamela Perkins, Seward County Community College/Area Technical School, Kansas. Left to Right: J. Noah Brown, Pam Perkins, and Peter E. Sercer, Sr.

Professional Board Staff Network Executive Committee: Back: Tria Bullard, Mechell Downey, Terri Grimes, Joan Tierney, Wanda Brown. Front: Wendy Dodson, Sherri Bowen, Debbie Novak (not pictured: Sean Fischer)

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advisor

2011 Election Results EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Chair Roberto Uranga Long Beach City College, CA

Chair-Elect Jean Torgeson North Iowa Area Community College, IA

Vice-Chair John W. Sanders John A. Logan College, IL

Secretary-Treasurer LeRoy W. Mitchell Westchester Community College, NY

Immediate Past Chair Peter E. Sercer, Sr. Midlands Technical College, SC

REGIONAL CHAIRS Central Regional Chair Jeffrey A. May Joliet Junior College, IL

Northeast Regional Chair Bakari Lee Hudson County College, NJ

Pacific Regional Chair Anita Grier City College of San Francisco, CA

2-Year Partial Term

ACCT DIVERSITY COMMITTEE

Robin M. Smith Lansing Community College, MI

(2-year terms)

Northeast Region Bakari Lee Hudson County College, NJ

1-Year Partial Term Donna Horgan Cecil College, MD

Pacific Region Mary Figueroa Riverside Community College District, CA

Southern Region George Regan Robeson Community College, NC

1-Year Partial Term Stanley Edwards Halifax Community College, NC

Hector Ortiz Harrisburg Area Community College, PA

Pacific Region Emily Yim Edmonds Community College, WA

Southern Region Dennis Troy Bladen Community College, NC

Western Region John Mondragon Central New Mexico Community College, NM

RETIRING ACCT BOARD MEMBERS Thomas M. Bennett Parkland College, IL

DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE

Denise R. Chachere St. Louis Community College, MO as of April 2011

(3-year terms) Jim Harper Portland Community College, OR

David Talley Palm Beach State College, FL

Clemon Prevost College of the Mainland, TX

Colton J. Crane Central Wyoming College, WY

APPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS Diversity Committee Chair

REGIONAL DIRECTORS

Randall “Mack” Jackson Midlands Technical College, SC

Central Region

Northeast Region

Roberto Zárate Alamo Colleges, TX

Clare Ollayos Elgin Community College, IL

(3-year terms except where noted)

Ann Wilson Milwaukee Area Technical College District, WI

Western Region

Southern Regional Chair Western Regional Chair

Central Region

Peter E. Sercer, Sr. Midlands Technical College, SC

Vernon Jung Moraine Park Technical College, WI

Rebecca Garcia Cabrillo College, CA P.G. Peeples Kentucky Community and Technical College System, KY James R. Perry Union County College, NJ James K. Polk Illinois Central College, IL Roberta “Bobbi” Shulman Montgomery College, MD as of June 2011 Carmie Lynn Toulouse Central New Mexico Community College, NM as of February 2011 Celia M. Turner Mott Community College, MI as of February 2011

acct deadlines 2012 ACCT Congress Call for Presentations April 30, 2012 ACCT Awards Nominations June 22, 2012 48

w i n t e r 2 0 1 2 TR U S TEE Q U A RTER L Y

Amendments to ACCT Bylaws July 1, 2012 Director-at-Large Candidate Nominations July 1, 2012

Submitting Resolutions July 1, 2012

ACCT Publications To order any ACCT publication, please fill out the form below and give it to any ACCT staff member or (preferred) fax, e-mail, or mail your order to ACCT Publications (contact information below). Please include both a billing and shipping address and a purchase order, if necessary. As a membership benefit, book orders from ACCT members are fulfilled immediately in good faith of payment. An invoice will be sent within 2-3 weeks of your order. ACCT requires pre-payment from non-member colleges. Title

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Making Good on the Promise of the Open Door: Effective Governance and Leadership to Improve Student Equity, Success, and Completion (2011) NEW

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Essentials of Good Board/CEO Relations (2009)

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The Trustee’s Role in Effective Advocacy: Engaging in Citizen Action to Advance Educational Opportunities in Your Community — What Trustees Need to Know About Exercising Their Voices and Influence on Behalf of Community Colleges (2009)

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The Trustee’s Role in Fundraising: From Arm’s Length to Knee Deep — What Trustees Need to Know About Institutional Advancement (2008)

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The Board Chair: A Guide for Leading Community College Boards

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Trusteeship in Community Colleges: A Guide to Effective Governance

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Community College Trustees: Leading on Behalf of Their Communities

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acct 43rd annual leadership congress october 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13

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