Trustees discuss pros and cons
of moving election to November.
By Joyce Flores
Sitting in purple chairs in a banquet room Nov. 3 at Northwest Vista College, the chancellor reiterated, “It’s like picking up a rock. When you pick up the rock, there are a hundred millipede underneath.”
Dr. Bruce Leslie was speaking to trustees and administrators at a board retreat about his first year and the issues that have emerged.
Leslie said that every time an issue was opened at the district, another issue seemed to arise.
Board Chairman Roberto Zárate, who represents District 5, commended the chancellor on progress with the strategic plan.
The idea to revise the strategic plan came out of a discussion at a board retreat last November.
At the retreat, the issue that seemed to spike Leslie’s and the board’s interest was the need for clear and concise policy.
Leslie said he had heard from several people, specifically from Dr. Eric Reno, Northeast Lakeview College president, that when they ask district offices how to get something done, the office responds with “what do you want to do.”
Leslie said things should be done according to policy, but in most cases, there isn’t any.
“We need to redesign the structure of the policy. There are a lot that have not been revised since 1987,” Leslie said.
Gary Beitzel, District 8 trustee, said that he believed that by implementing the Baldrige model, the district would be building policy.
“Baldrige is a process, it’s not the award,” Leslie added.
Dr. Gene Sprague, District 6 trustee, suggested that if there was already a process in place, the district should look at defining that process instead of coming up with a new one.
Leslie told the board about a meeting he had with Dr. Jacqueline Claunch, president of Northwest Vista College, in which he expressed some of the concerns that people throughout the district had. “(There is) some concern about doing so many things all at once. Jackie said ‘yeah, but once we have that stuff done, it’ll all come together.’’’
All of the changes are creating a new culture throughout the district, said Dr. Ana “Cha” Guzman, Palo Alto College president. Many people are feeling overwhelmed because the previous administrations had not asked too much of the colleges, allowing the separate colleges to work independently, Guzman said.
District 9 trustee James Rindfuss compared all the changes that are occurring at the district now to the changes the board of trustees made in 2002 when most members first started.
“We had no administration in place, it was chaos. We needed to have a purchase of land, a bond, budget allocation in order. We thought ‘what do we tackle first?’ Five years ago, that was pie in the sky talk. The community expected that of this board, we should not expect any less than that (from the colleges.)”
Leslie said he was trying to have good flow of communication so that everybody would understand how every project relates to each other, adding that he has heard there is more communication going on now than ever before.
Leslie said that most of the projects that are under way are connected and make a difference. He cited College Connection, which is where counselors go to high school campuses to help students apply for financial aid and college, as an example saying that if the district had waited until policy had been revised, the college connection project would have had to have waited.
Jo-Carol Fabianke, district director for Achieving the Dream, informed the trustees that there was a 30 percent increase in high school graduates in spring in the San Antonio Independent School District.
Whether it was thanks to the efforts of the program or something else, Fabianke said she was not sure, but that the program had plans to add five more school districts.
District 1 trustee Bernard Weiner was pleased with the results but asked if the level of education was rising or just the number of students graduating.
Fabianke said that some high schools are now offering the Accuplacer exam, allowing them to identify problems earlier.
Weiner’s comments shifted the members into a discussion on remedial classes.
“Unfortunately, we are in the business of remediating,” Weiner said.
Zárate reminded Weiner that there are many different kinds of people who take remediating courses. There are people who just graduated from high school and there are those who have come back to school after being in the workforce for a while.
“If I went back to school now, I would need remediating in math. It’s a valuable tool of retention for persons coming in from the workforce,” Zárate said.
“You are right, but those that come out of high school should be ready,” Weiner added.
Leslie informed the trustees that Dr. Jonathan Lee, a history professor at this college, was part of a team that presented recommendations to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on how high schools could better prepare their students for college with a revised set of college readiness standards.
He advised that everyone look at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Web site.
After lunch, the trustees discussed the possibility of moving elections from May to November when most major races go on the ballot.
Rindfuss supported a move to November saying there is a very small turnout in May.
“Education is the most important factor for citizens to consider,” he said.
Zárate said he was not so sure about moving elections to November because he felt that the board would be lost in all of the government officials and would be lost in the thought process when people voted.
“You are right, less people vote but they take more of an interest,” Zárate said.
Sprague also expressed the same views, “Usually, when they are coming in, they are voting for ACCD for a reason.”
Charles Conner, District 7 trustee, said he liked the idea to move elections to November because it allowed the new trustees to be more involved in the budgeting for the district, which he said was the real business of the board.
Erik Dahler, associate general counsel for the district, told the trustees that if they were to move elections to November, the district would need to pay three times the cost or about $1.4 million compared to the thousands that are paid now to be in the May election.
Dahler said if trustees wished to move the election date, they would have to approve a motion before Nov. 22.
Seats in Districts 4, 8 and 9 are up for election in May.