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March 23, 2011     Indian Valley Record
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March 23, 2011
 
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2A Wednesday, March 23, 2011 Indian Valley Record ! Mona Hill Staff Writer mhill@plumasnews.com At its March 17 meeting, Feather River Community College District's board of trustees heard the adminis- tration's response to Mike Welser's presentation last month. Welser is the faculty federation president and FRC business instructor. In February, Welser pre- sented information to trustees that indicated Feather River College (FRC) might not be meeting state-mandated targets for student-to-faculty ratios. At last Thursday's board meeting, Dr. Ronald Taylor, superintendent/president; Jamie Cannon, director of Human Resources and EEO officer; and Jim Scoubes, chief financial officer/ Business Services informed trustees of FRC's current standing on those targets. Faculty obligation In 1988, the Legislature passed AB 1725 to increase full-time faculty to 75 percent of instruction, as compared to 25 percent part:time or adjunct faculty instruction. Funding to support commu- nity college districts in reaching that goal was short- lived, lasting less than two years. The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office sets a faculty obligation (FON) for each district -- the amount of full-time equivalent faculty (FTEF) instruction time. FTEF is a standardized tool arrived at by considering class size and number of classes taught. Cannon reported that since 1988, full-time faculty at FRC taught an average of 58 percent of the instruction time, exceeding require- ments. For 2007 - 10, the college district's obligation was 22.1 full-time instructors. For the same period, FTEF at FRC ranged from a low of 29.44 in 2007 to a high of 30.57 in 2010. The 50 percent law California's Education Code section 84362 requires community college districts to spend at least 50 percent annually of their current expense of education (CEE) on salaries of classroom instructors. The code defines which ac- counting categories are to be included in the calculations. "Salaries" include wages and benefits for full- and part-time instructors, in- structional aides and classi- fied district employees whose duties include instructional tasks or who are employed to assist instructors. CEE derives from certain categories of the unrestricted general fund balance and amounts to 80 - 90 percent of the total fund balance. Scoubes presented infor- mation showing FRC has ranged from just under 56 percent in 2004-05 to slightly more than 50 percent in 2009-10. Taylor, in his portion of the presentation, told trustees that administration and faculty share an interest m staying about the 50 percent mark. He acknowledged enroll- ment has increased while full-time faculty has re- mained relatively constant, with adjunct faculty bridging the gap. Academic, classified senates Later in the meeting, Tom Davis, Academic Senate president, challenged the administration's numbers saying he hadn't known the extent of the presentation or he would have prepared. He continued his comments by disagreeing with the ad- ministration's assertion of 27 FTEF and was concerned with the declining quality in core academic areas. He concluded by saying trustees would be hard pressed to find a college dis- trict in the state with only 18 teaching faculty in academic subjects. According to Davis, the senate would address faculty equivalencies and qualifica- tions for presentation to the administration. Classified Senate President Connie Litz told trustees even 'though classified staff had been assured salary cuts or reductions in force would be across the board, employ- ees feared they would bear the brunt of any budget cuts. She also told trustees employees felt the adminis- tration was not sufficiently proactive in anticipating the need for budget reductions and should have conducted more timely financial prepa- rations to allow classified employees to evaluate the information and provide input. Board president Bill Elliott commented it was unlikely, given the state's budget negotiations, that hard infor- mation would be available for quite some time. Winter's last blast? Evan and Brett Wielputz celebrate the last day of winter with lots of sledding on a hill by Grandma and Grandpa's house. Photo by April Wielputz :)i¸• :9:¸ : "7 .............. . ........... ........ 7 ............. TVs, Monitors, Electronics (no hazardous waste or applianc:s) W41UItN II~Ell~ Saturday, March 26, 2011 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at each of the following Waste Management sites: Quincy- Abernethy Lane Chester- Hwy 36 & A-13 Greenville- Greenville Dump Road Feather River Disposal, Inc. • 530-283-2004 Serving Quincy, Greenville, Chester/Lake AImanor Mc ins work Joshua Sebold Staff Writer jsebold@plumasnews.com New Veterans Services Offi- cer (VSO) Michael McLeod has seen public service from all angles, working in the private sector, government regulatory departments and law enforcement in his 25-year career. Even his military career is multifaceted, consisting qf a tour as a Marine from 1981 to 1985 and a second in the Nevada Air Guard, a compo- nent of the Air Force, from 1999 to 2002. Public Works Director Mimi Hall, who recently hired McLeod, explained being a VSO was "really a job that requires someone to work on their own independently." "We were looking for some- one who had the .ability to take a program that had a lot of rules and regulations, some of them very complex, that are .~ ........ ... changing all the time." Hall said she was impressed with the diversity of McLeod's experience. "He's had a code enforcement background, he's had an investigator's back- ground, he's worked in com- munity policing." She believed the one trend running through all of his prior positions was an ability to problem solve and work well with the public. When Hall introduced McLeod to the Plumas Board of Supervisors, she said his resourcefulness became even more apparent when his VSO accreditation class was cancelled and he decided to just take the test without the training and passed it. The supervisors greeted that feat with applause and McLeod told them their praise was humbling "but it was something that needed to be done ~nd it's kinda a Marine philosophy I have not to wait around." New Veterans Services Officer Michael McLeod. Photo by Joshua Sebold 125 Myrtle, Chester • Behind "Kopper Kettle" Up to 5 qts. synthetic-blend oil and filter and 15-point inspection OFFER ENDS 4/5/11 Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm • Sun 10am-4pm Hwy 89, Crescent Mills • 530-284-6016 92- - - lR/lli llll/llll