R ANGER
THE sept
An independent forum of free voices serving San Antonio College since 1926 and the Alamo Colleges since 1945 Volume 92 • Issue 1
18
2017 Journalism-photography program at San Antonio College
www.theranger.org
In brief
At the committee-of-thewhole meeting Sept. 12, Dr. Jo-Carol Fabianke, vice chancellor for academic success, said faculty and administrators met to establish the difference between Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees.
Fabianke said students pursuing an Associate of Science will be required to take nine additional credit hours of math and science courses. Fabianke said it was important to have this change in the catalog by Sept. 1 for the colleges’ SACSCOC reports. Zachary-Taylor Wright
Chancellor contract has pay raise, new incentive bonus The contract approved by the board lists criteria determining the chancellor’s prorated bonus. By Zachary-Taylor Wright zwright9@student.alamo.edu
Art freshman Derek Cope asks math tutor Dan Suttin if he needs to add a washer in a certain hole in the Air Traffic Control Center artwork Sept. 13 on the first floor of Chance. Suttin, Cope and Jacob Cope, 17, were placing the artwork in Chance. It took Suttin five months to complete the artwork made of cardboard boxes, and it will be on display through June. Brianna Rodrigue
Chancellor Bruce Leslie’s contract for fiscal year 2018 includes a $12,094 salary increase and a new clause allowing the chancellor to earn up to a $45,000 bonus. The board of trustees unanimously voted to renew Leslie’s contract at a special board meeting Aug. 24 at Killen Center, and the contract was signed into action Aug. 28. The renewal of Leslie’s contract was originally scheduled for the Aug. 15 regular board meeting at Killen Center but consideration of it was postponed. According to the fiscal year 2018 contract, Leslie’s salary will increase from $403,123 to $415,217 on Jan. 1. Leslie’s FY 2017 contract went into effect Sept.1, 2016. The incentive bonus established in the FY 2018 contract makes the chancellor “eligible for an incentive bonus not to exceed $45,000.” The board is to determine the bonus amount in July, and the determined amount is to be paid to Leslie Aug. 31. In an interview with The Ranger Sept. 14, board Chair Yvonne Katz, District 7 trustee, said the incentive bonus mirrors those of private companies and chief executive officers, where the CEO is encouraged to achieve higher levels of success through bonuses. Katz said the criteria set for the incentive bonus derived from charges to the chancellor, and the board will continue to charge Leslie with new goals next month. Katz said the board is only responsible for developing contracts for the chancellor and the internal auditor, but Leslie can develop bonus incentives for other employees.
Operating budgets cut to address $4 million loss College attempts to mitigate impact on students. By Austin P. Taylor
ataylor160@student.alamo.edu
A shortfall caused by over-budgeting and declining enrollment caused a decrease of $4 million in this college’s budget for 2017-18. This will manifest itself in a variety of ways this semester. Dr. Stella Lovato, vice president of college services, said the operating budgets across departments have been slashed by 25 percent. This means departments will need to limit purchases to the essentials. Many departments won’t be able to self-fund activities such as club gatherings and events. Departments wishing to travel for events will have to make their case to Lovato’s office. To reduce travel costs, Lovato’s office procured an SUV for clubs and other organizations based on campus. If interested in using the vehicle, call Janae Johnson, coordinator of risk management, at 210486-0902 or email jjohnson650@alamo.edu. The college also had to cut back on creating new positions and filling recently vacated ones. President Robert Vela said he thinks the best way to go about doing this is to judge situations on a caseby-case basis. “If a position needs to be filled, we’ll look for a tem-
porary solution while the hiring process is taking place,” Vela said. Vela said temporary adjuncts might be brought in to fill positions if staff cannot take on additional class. Amanda Graef Larry Rosinbaum, this college’s budget officer, said the adjunct budget is “pretty much the same.” Drops in enrollment and applications for financial aid means certain labs have limited the number of work-study students they can hire. The writing center and the integrated reading and writing center have each lost a work-study position. This will limit the number of tutors in labs and reduce available hours for each. “We’ve not been able to advance our funding at the same rate of demand for our services,” said Jane Focht-Hansen, coordinator for the writing center. The IRNW lab already limited the number of appointments students can make. The loss of a workstudy position affects its ability to help students. Payroll and benefits haven’t been cut. All full-time employees will receive the same pay and benefits as they did in the previous academic year. A pay raise is still scheduled for January.
$45,000
Potential bonus included in Chancellor Bruce Leslie’s contract
According to the contract, the board will determine the bonus amount by assessing Leslie’s ability to reach five outlined outcome goals “… at a minimum level of 50 percent as specified.” Leslie is expected to ensure 80 percent of students are aligned with an Alamo Institute pathway, or declare a major, before completing 30 credit hours. He is expected to have transfer advising guides aligned with five of a list of seven universities, including the University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, St. Mary’s University, Our Lady of the Lake University, University of the Incarnate Word, Texas State University and the University of Texas Health. The contract expects Leslie to develop and distribute a “communication plan” for media, independent school districts, the business community and other colleges or universities. The contract states he should attain a 90 percent distribution rate. To achieve the incentive bonus, Leslie must also implement the Alamo Colleges Online program. The contract contains three sub-criteria for ACOL, including hiring staff, assessing needs for programs and equipment and developing an “implementation/communication plan at the 100 percent level.” The final criteria item required for Leslie to receive the incentive bonus is the graduation and certification of 13,500 students in 2017-18, which the
See RAISE, Page 2
Board opposes DACA dismissal, writes Congress An immigration advisory council will host clinics to help DACA students. By Zachary-Taylor Wright
zwright9@student.alamo.edu
The board of trustees expressed a stance on the dismissal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, defended the students protected by the executive order repealed by President Donald Trump and approved a letter to Congress opposing the dismissal at a special board meeting Sept. 12 at Killen Center. Board Chair Yvonne Katz, District 7 trustee, began discussion of the letter expressing concern for the repercussions of DACA’s dismissal and said the letter is addressed to Congress and the U.S. president. Katz pleaded with national leaders to be fair and considerate of undocumented students in the U.S., asking Congress to do right by the students in Alamo Colleges. Chancellor Bruce Leslie said the dismissal of DACA is in direct opposition to the district’s mission of “empowering our diverse communities for success” because the estimated 1,000 students in the district protected by the order are
expected to be deported and future students won’t be able to attend the Alamo Colleges. Leslie estimated there are about 20 employees who might be affected by the executive order’s dismissal. He opposed the action from a moral perspective and said the dismissal will have an adverse effect on the district’s effort to lead a diverse community. Carmen de Luna Jones, offsite coordinator of Brackenridge Education and Training Center and coordinator of the district’s immigration advisory council, urged employees to donate to the Alamo Colleges Foundation’s DREAMers scholarship. Jones said DACA is an executive order established by former President Barrack Obama that allowed certain children who are were under the age of 16 and emigrated to the U.S. prior to June 15, 2012. Jones said the executive order deferred removal action of DACAaccepted individuals for two years, allowing renewal at the end of the two years. She said the executive order was a temporary solution, rather than a pathway to citizenship, for undocumented
See DACA, Page 2