Board of Trustees honors life of former administrator Ned Doffoney remembered by colleagues during November meeting

BY PAMELA KALIDASAN

Features Editor

The Board of Trustees adjourned the meeting to honor former Orange County Community College District Chancellor Ned Doffoney for his service in community colleges and universities across California along with serving as the founding president and chancellor at South Louisiana Community College.

“Dr. Ned Doffoney was known as an avid supporter for all students encouraging each individual to reach their full academic potential,” Board President Gabriel Buelna said. “Dr. Doffoney’s positive and enriching spirit will be truly missed. On behalf of the entire Los Angeles Community College District we send our deepest condolences to the Doffoney family.”

After the Board took roll call and motioned to begin, Pierce College’s Faculty Student Advisor James

McKeever thanked the trustees, the chancellor, the Academic Senate and sister unions for their rapid response on condemning racism, sexism, homophobia and recent antisemetic comments. He also thanked Human Resources senior personnel technician Mary VanGinkle for helping remove a technical glitch so that adjunct faculty could receive public service loan forgiveness.

“I also want to thank the Board for its continued opposition to AB 928, which if implemented will deny our students the ability to take Kinesiology and health courses. These courses not only allow our students to explore these fields as an option, but they are crucial for the future physical and mental health of our communities,” McKeever said. “They give them coping mechanisms to deal with stress and lead healthier lifestyles." ongoing $200 million fund to fund adjunct part-time healthcare. We have been waiting for guidance from the Chancellor’s office which came out a couple of days ago. It is going to be a bumpy road to implement however the intent is clearly from the state legislature that we provide healthcare for our contingent faculty.”

Another issue mentioned is the healthcare coverage of adjunct faculty across the district.

Bill Elarton-Selig, AFT 1521 Guild Executive Team’s vice president, spoke about the funding given by the state and the need for the Board to come up with a better healthcare plan for adjunct faculty while extending the Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) which will terminate by the end of December.