Various faculty have contacted me about the financial challenges the college is currently facing, which may well be the most serious the college as ever experienced. People want to know what is happening. Unfortunately, because the college is in the process of identifying its response to the crisis, the exact impacts are still uncertain. It does seem clear that every part of the college will see fewer resources in both the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 semesters. Indeed, the Chancellor and the rest of the college are trying as much as possible to balance the impacts so that no one constituency suffers disproportionately. The highest priority has been place on preserving jobs for both full-time and part-time faculty, classified staff, and administrators, while still serving our students under the constraints that that state is placing on the District.
*Proposed* institutional responses to the crisis include (please note that many of these are subject to Union negotiations):
1. Transfer from Board Designated Reserve
2. Transfers from other sources, including Contract Education and State Mandated Cost Reimbursement
3. Other administrative transfers
4. Long-term lease of District-owned sites
5. Substitute District employees for outside consultants in grant funded work
6. Reduce Police Academy payments due to decreased demand from SFPD
7. Reduce hours of operation (weekends and Fridays afternoons)
8. Postpone production and mailing of class schedules (possible postcard instead)
9. Postpone full-time faculty hires (to be decided on a case-by-case basis)
10. Keep vacant administrative positions vacant (additional savings will occur from reorganization of administrators with reduction in ranks to occur in 2009-10)
11. Eliminate most travel, including backfill for the employee who is out
12. Eliminate consultant contracts with a switch to zero-based budget
13. Freeze salaries for all District employees for 2009-10
14. Continue hiring freeze for Classified employees
15. Eliminate Classified overtime
16. Eliminate most faculty long term substitute (LTS) positions
17. Reduce overload/reassigned time for faculty (in instruction)
18. Reduce subsidy to Ocean cafeteria and childcare centers
19. Reduce as-needed Classified positions
20. Reduce student Lab Aide positions
21. Reduce Summer 2009 and Summer 2010 support services
22. Postpone Summer 2009 and Summer 2010 classes
23. Reduce student support services in Fall 2009 and Spring 2010
24. Postpone Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 classes (from 9800 sections to 9000 sections), with some possible switchover to fee-based Continuing Education
The District is also trying to mitigate some of these cuts by increasing revenue from grants, donors, and possible participation in a November 2009 local ballot measure.
If you would like specific information about how your department or program will be affected, the best source of information is your department chair or program manager.
As bad as this all is, it is the students who will suffer most. Everything you can do to reduce costs for the college—even as simple as using less paper or other resources—can help save sections for students in the spring and beyond. As a community, we must stick together, share the pain of this time, and rise to the challenge of serving our students.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions, comments, or suggestions.
