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Chancellor's Update
 

Raul RodriguezDear Colleagues,

As we near the halfway point of the fall semester, I hope the excitement we all felt at the beginning of the semester has continued and that it has been rewarding to all. Fall is one of my favorite times of year, as it is a new opportunity to start fresh with high expectations for a successful academic year. Our overarching purpose continues to be to provide affordable and quality education to our students and their families so that our students reach their desired goals. The education we provide not only improves the lives of our students but also the quality of life for them, their loved ones, and our community as a whole. This purpose is embedded in the district's mission statement:

The mission of the Rancho Santiago Community College District is to provide quality educational programs and services that address the needs of our diverse students and communities.

Mission Statement Review

In 2012, the District went through a process to establish integrated institutional planning. An important part of that effort was the adoption of the district mission statement. To insure our mission statement remains current, it was decided that the statement be reviewed every three years. We ratified the mission statement in 2015 and it is time now to look at it again.

In collaboration with District Council, I am charged with conducting a review of the mission statement. We need your assistance in this effort and ask that you take a moment to review the statement and submit your comments and suggestions by October 19 to Debra Gerard in my office at gerard_debra@rsccd.edu. Our office will compile all responses and share with District Council. If District Council decides that significant changes are necessary, a working group will be formed to revise the current mission statement. Any recommendations for updating the statement or not updating the statement will be shared with the Board of Trustees for approval.

The proposed timeline for the review process follows:

October 19: Comments to our office (gerard_debra@rsccd.edu)
November 19: District Council to review comments and make a recommendation
December 10: Board of Trustees asked to support District Council recommendation

We truly appreciate your support of this review effort.

Board Resolution in Support of Undocumented Students
Week of Action, October 15-19

Next week the California Community Colleges will engage in a week of advocacy and activities to support and build awareness about undocumented students throughout the state.

You may remember that in March 2017, our Board of Trustees passed Resolution No. 17-06 relating to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Our Board passed the resolution as a clear and strong message of our commitment to serving all students who can benefit from post-secondary education. Our student leaders and the District have continued to reach out to legislators looking for a permanent and positive solution for our deserving students.

We join and support Chancellor Eloy Oakley and our partners in other California Community Colleges in support of Undocumented Students Week of Action. On September 22, 2018, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges approved a resolution in support of this effort. In turn, on September 24, 2018, our Board of Trustees adopted a lateral resolution to support this critical week for many of our students.

I am excited to share that both Santa Ana College (SAC) and Santiago Canyon College (SCC) have a full schedule of events that will be taking place at the colleges next week. You can view or download a list of activities being held at SAC and SCC by using the links below.

SAC Undocumented Student Week Activities
SCC Undocumented Student Week Activities

We encourage you to share this information with our students.

There are many other activities throughout the state planned to commemorate this historical week in higher education, and I encourage you to get involved and advocate for our students. For a full list of those activities, please visit the California Community League of California website.

Vision for Success and Student-Centered Funding Formula

With the beginning of the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the new Student-Centered Funding Formula (SCFF) for our state is now in effect. While there are still many unanswered questions, the goal of the formula is three-fold: to support student access by continuing enrollment-based funding, to foster student equity by delivering funds to districts serving low-income students, and to enhance student success by allocating districts with additional resources based on the achievement of student success outcomes. This funding formula is based on the Chancellor's Vision for Success plan, which delineates the long-range goals for the community college system.

During a recent board meeting, we reviewed the new funding model with our Board as a part of our 2018/2019 Adopted Budget Review. The SCFF for the first year includes a 70 percent base allocation for enrollment (FTES), a 20 percent supplemental allocation in counts of low-income students, and a 10 percent student success allocation. Again, there are still many unanswered questions with this new funding formula, but so far our district is faring well in our funding allocation based on the three components of the SCFF. To ensure that we continue to not only maintain our funding level but increase our funding level, we are focusing our efforts on making sure that the data that we are reporting to Sacramento is accurate. We believe that we have actually underreported our data, which reduces our funding. The more accurate our data, the more funds that we will earn for our efforts.

A New Semester is Underway

Another semester is off to a rapid start! Each academic year seems to fly by at an ever more rapid rate. Of course, that is not the case and it is just perception. However, it underscores how little time we have to make the changes that we think are important for our students. Our commitment to student success can never waver. Our students deserve our best efforts.

Many thanks for your continued dedication and commitment to our students.

Raul Rodriguez signature
Raúl

 

The Chancellor's Update is an e-newsletter distributed by the Rancho Santiago Community College District Chancellor's Office to inform district employees. If you have a question, comment or would like to provide feedback, please send us an email.