Answers to Faculty and Staff Questions

The committee is currently studying this question. Right now, the closest thing to a “front door” is the entrance off of Alondra Blvd. in front of the Burnight Center. The entrance is very narrow and congested and today is used by many as a “drop off.” The architects will be asked to look at the area north of the Social Sciences, Administration and Burnight Center to design a “front door” that reduces congestion, is inviting to the first time visitor to Cerritos College and presents a positive and impressive image of the college. This will impact the parking available there right now and I’m sensitive to those issues. We have a challenge in front of us but we will work it out.

2. It seems that the WSCH is going to play a very important role and the picture about three years ago is very different than what is right now and there are different factors - which WSCH are we looking at?

I know that Cerritos has been over cap about 1,400 FTSE 2 years ago and we were intentionally managing it to about 700 over cap (which is a very wise strategy); however for what ever reasons (and we don’t know all the reasons right now) we are down 350 FTSE this Fall. Another way of saying that is we are 250 above cap, which for me is a little anxiety producing. Another observation I have made and have shared with the committee and will share with you is that I’m told that 60% of our students come from outside the district. If certain things happen to decrease that without increasing our “in district” student population we may be in the position of overbuilding unintentionally. That is what I am trying to get a handle on and it’s very difficult. I have asked Caroline Sheldon to find a way to determine why those 60% come from outside of our district; what attracts them; what would deter them from coming here; what would change their minds; what if the price of gas increased; what if the nearest college to them today offered what they wanted? I don’t think that the colleges are going to replicate some of our occupational ed programs. Is it about esthetics? Has our campus been more appealing to them? What if their home community college has a GO Bond and they’re going to have new construction as well? What are the impacts on us? What about the impact of traffic congestion on our enrollment? I want to make sure that we are using the correct WSCH information. I just had a discussion with John Grindel and what is interesting is that he believes the State may not have the absolute current information either. That makes me nervous because if we’re using their figures and they later ding us because we have overgrown or overbuilt and refuse to give us maintenance and operations money we are caught in a bind. It is a very fine balance. The question we would have to ask our board, because they give us direction is, “Do we plan for the 30,000 that is in our Educational Master Plan?” Today our enrollment is about 22,000. Do we try to do as much as we can with our physical plant with the money that we have for an enrollment of 25,000 students and then go for another GO Bond as we grow? These are questions we must seriously consider. We can add a classroom building later on that can serve multiple purposes. We can follow the strategy of modernizing everything as much as you can now even though we might be a little short on classroom buildings and then make a pitch for classroom buildings later as our enrollment grows. These are tough questions and the committee will be tackling them.

3. Glad to see that the Art Gallery was included on the list of projects; however it was the last thing mentioned. He has concerns about that. What is not included is the renovation of the Art and Design Complex. Can you talk a little bit about the prioritization process?

The presentation of possible changes on campus that I just made is not in sequence of any intended priority other than the sequencing of impact and connectivity between one project and another. That’s all it is. I want to make that clear. He said I didn’t mention anything with regards to modernization of all that complex. That’s true. This presentation does not, in any way, represent all of our needs. We have a very, very long list. What I have observed and wanted to get verified was whether or not the intent was to have $210 million address all of the needs. There is no way possible that $210 million will address all of our needs. We are finding that projects at community colleges across the nation are coming in at 5%-54% over budget due to the high demand for materials and labor. The mass development in China is impacting the world market. I understand that the college’s intent while campaigning for the GO bond was to inform the community of all our needs. However, we can only ask for an amount not to exceed $25 per $100,000 amount valuation on property. The initial $210 million will not be enough to address all needs so we will need to go back again for another bond.

The committee needs to gather quite a bit of information from the studies being conducted such as the Accessibility Study, the EIR, the Energy Analysis, and the Space Inventory. The data will be analyzed and the criteria for prioritization such as heath and safety will be determined.

Another criterion will be to focus on projects that will have the greatest impact on the college and will meet the most needs. We wanted to get all this foundational information first because if there is a project for which we are eligible to receive state money, we want to get it off our bond priority list and start the process to get state money for that project. Our goal is to position the college to maximize our opportunity for state resources and stretch the impact of our GO bond.

4. What consideration is being given to budget for on-going maintenance, not necessarily upgrades in technology? For example we have these great new Smart Classrooms with projectors. When the bulbs burn out, which cost around $500, there seems to be no money budgeted for that. We had hundreds of computers installed and when they are out of date, we have to pay for their replacements.

That’s an excellent question. That’s a question I had when I came here and I asked if there was a “Computer Cascade Plan” or “Replacement Plan” for our computers and our technology and while there is some of that work done, we don’t have a coordinated comprehensive plan nor is there as part of that plan a budgeting mechanism. What I have recommended to the Board, and by the way they have accepted the recommendation, is that we designate an account for technology. That is what other colleges do, and generally they go ahead and grow a fund so that depending on the cycle and the time cycle for your replacement plan you have that amount to go ahead and replace a portion of all of your technology. We’re going to begin to grow that fund for the first time. We have 2,000 computers on the campus. That doesn’t address the “bulb” issue or other related technology software needs. We calculated that it would take $4 million to replace all of our computers. We need to develop a plan to replace 1/3 or ¼ of our computers annually and we must budget for it. I’m recommending that $500,000 be dedicated to start building the technology fund this fiscal year.

5. Dr. Vela, there are two things I want to address. First of all the parking structure is inconvenient, to say the very least, to the classrooms. Are we going to have some type of shuttle or something, especially for the night time students? Our lighting here on campus is poor, at best, for night time. If you have ever been here at night, you know. I am very fortunate; I have students who walk me to my car in the evening, because there is nobody left at 10 o’clock at night. So at the very least, we should address the safety issue regarding that parking structure.

Excellent question. When I talked about the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) and our energy analysis, we are looking at lighting needs through the campus, pathways, traffic patterns, etc. With regards to the location of parking, let me first ask how many of you went to large universities? How far did you walk? I’m not trying to be insensitive to the issue; however, we’ve got our campus pretty much situated as it is. We’re not going to move a lot of these buildings to provide parking close to each building. The EIR study is going to inform us and advise us as to where to locate the parking structure.

6. Dr. Vela, most of this talk has been about facilities, you did mention a little about technology I believe we used some of the GO Bond money for PeopleSoft. Are you planning on using any of it for a course management system?

We need to investigate whether or not any of the GO bond resources can be used for a course management system. Right now we believe there are limitations. We do know that GO bond funds cannot be used for operations. While I believe there is substantial value in a course management system it is important to plan not only for the initial investment of implementation but also for the continued cost of sustaining it. Much work needs to happen in the budget planning aspect of this before a commitment is made. I do commend all the work that has been done regarding this under Bryan Reece’s leadership.

7. You have mentioned something about alternative funding, partnerships, matching funds - any thoughts or ideas you have on that – anything going on as far as that is concerned?

I can tell you that there is one project under discussion now that I am not at liberty to discuss. Some of our needs, such as bus drop offs, might be supported with city and county funding. We are investigating these avenues. The goal again is to seek funds for eligible projects from other sources so as to maximize our GO bond.