Whereas, On a dollar-per-student basis, there is great disparity in funding among California's community college districts-the highest funded district receiving more than $8,000 per full-time-equivalent student, the lowest funded district receiving less than $3,500;
Whereas, A central core of regular, full-time faculty remains essential to the creation and maintenance of educational institutions of excellence;
Whereas, It would be imprudent to suspend the California Community College System commitment and obligation to maintain a faculty core sufficient to ensure educational programs and services of excellence for our students; and
Whereas, More than half of all students coming into community colleges need basic skills courses for college success;
Whereas, A growing proportion of students who need basic skills courses are also those who are returning to education after a number of years and for whom basic skills education provides a transition back into the classroom; and
Whereas, Legislators and policy makers have been discussing proposals to fund specific disciplines for example, exercise science/physical education and music) differentially;
Whereas, The general education of students should include exposure to a vast array of coursework intended to improve the educational experience and quality of life for the student; and
Whereas, Differential funding of courses would negatively affect students, prevent colleges from fulfilling their stated missions and create fiscal hardship for individual institutions;
Whereas the Chancellor and the Board of Governors have committed the system to a performance based approach for additional funding for the California community colleges, and
Whereas the use of student achievement indicators to distribute additional funds will have differential impacts on college and district budgets depending on the demographics of the service area, and
Whereas California community colleges are facing a funding problem that affects our instructional programs in noncredit and impacts our students every day, and
Whereas the current noncredit FTES allocation of $1,786 is inadequate to address the needs of noncredit students, and
Whereas the current ADA allocation for adult education is $1,924, and
Whereas there is currently an opportunity to solve this problem in the Governor's budget for next year,
Whereas the new monies provided to community colleges require growth of the number of students served, and
Whereas the offering of new sections of classes has an impact upon college and student services, such as, but not limited to, tutoring, counseling, clerical staffing, duplicating, custodial services, and media technical support, and
Whereas there is currently no provision for a formula or a pro-rata percentage for each added class to determine the appropriate allocation of resources to assure student success and a well-run college;
Whereas, Partnership for Excellence funds are integral to college budgets and essential to the success of California community college students; and
Whereas, The Legislature is discussing whether to eliminate Partnership for Excellence funding or to roll existing Partnership for Excellence funding into base funding;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge the Legislature and the Governor to maintain existing funding currently designated as Partnership for Excellence.
Whereas, The California community colleges suffer when passage of the state budget is delayed;
Whereas, The "Budget Accountability Act" would promote timely passage of the state budget by encouraging responsible behavior by the Legislature and the Governor; and
Whereas, The "Budget Accountability Act" is supported by the California Community College Board of Governors;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges support the March 2004 "Budget Accountability Act" ballot initiative.
Whereas, The state funds individual community college districts at widely varying levels, ranging on a per FTES basis from a low of$3,493 to a high of $8,209 in the 2001-02 fiscal year;
Whereas, Districts that are funded below the average level nonetheless are required to meet the same state mandates as higher funded districts but with fewer resources and yet managed to provide 67% of testate total FTES in 2001-2002;