Budget and Finance

Student Success Task Force Recommendations to Redirect Prop 98 Funds

Whereas, The California Community Colleges Task Force on Student Success (established in response to Senate Bill 1143, Liu, 2010) recommendation 7.1 (as of September 30, 2011) calls to “Revise funding for the Chancellor’s Office by financing the office through alternative means, possibly through the use of ongoing Proposition 98 funding, to be taken from the community colleges share of the Proposition 98 guarantee, or a fee-based system”;

Oppose Student Success Task Force Recommendation on Basic Skills Funding

Whereas, The draft recommendations (as of September 30, 2011) of the California Community Colleges Task Force on Student Success (established in response to Senate Bill 1143, Liu, 2010) state that the California Community College System will “establish an alternative funding model to encourage innovation and flexibility in the delivery of basic skills instruction”;

Budget Considerations Paper Follow Up

Whereas, Categorical programs exist to support the core services that keep our campuses functioning; and

Whereas, In the 2009-10 budget year categoricals experienced unprecedented reductions in funding levels, with more severe cuts projected in 2010-11;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges write a follow-up paper to Budget Considerations: A Primer for Senate Leaders that focuses on understanding categorical program funding and reporting.

MSC Disposition: Chancellor’s Office, Local Senates

Effect of Budget Cuts on Basic Skills and Noncredit Education in California Community Colleges

Whereas, The literature review Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges established that the majority of our California community college students are enrolling with significant basic skills needs, often many levels below college level ability;

Whereas, The majority of those underprepared students are served through basic skills credit and noncredit instruction which is taught predominantly by part-time instructors, whose numbers have been disproportionately reduced in many colleges as a result of the current budget crisis;

Real Cost of Education

Whereas, the Academic Senate participated in and significantly contributed to the development of the "Real Cost of Education" report (file attached);

Whereas, The Board of Governors adopted in March 2003 the preliminary draft of the "Real Cost of Education" as both a realistic vision of equitable funding and a reasonable statement of the actual fiscal costs associated with the provision of a high quality lower division education in the California community colleges; and

Noncredit Enhanced Funding Effective Practices

Whereas, One outcome of SB 361 (2006) has been enhanced apportionment for targeted areas of noncredit instruction;

Whereas, Local districts and colleges are using this increased funding to support noncredit instruction in a variety of ways;

Whereas, Effective examples for using the enhanced funding for noncredit can help encourage support for future state augmentations of noncredit funding; and

Whereas, These examples can also be used as ideas for local colleges and districts to use the enhanced funding for noncredit instruction;

Noncredit Funding

Whereas, There are currently budget proposals to raise apportionment for some noncredit FTES to the same level as credit FTES;

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges adopted Resolution 5.02 F04 that supports efforts to remedy the disparity between noncredit and credit funding without taking away from the current level of credit funding; and

Whereas, A change in funding would greatly affect many areas of noncredit offerings;

Amend Resolution 5.02

Amend the final resolve:

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recommend to local senates that the results of this tracking be used locally to evaluate the value of these expenditures to student success and to determine possible actions promote faculty participation and involvement in the accreditation process. MSR Disposition: Referred to the Executive Committee to consider effects and return to the Fall 2008 Plenary Session with an appropriate resolution.

Tracking Accreditation Expenditures

Whereas, Accreditation standards increasingly require a visible and effective connection between planning and budget, revenues, activities, and expenditures;

Whereas, The direct and indirect expenses of responding to mandated accreditation standards continue to show large increases; and

Whereas, These accreditation expenses are not commonly tracked and have no dedicated revenue or funding;

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