News From the Front: A Message from our President
July, 2010
By CCA President Ron Norton Reel
This month, we're focused a lot on election and legislative issues, as the November elections are just around the corner. (Yes, I know it still feels like the middle of summer...but a new semester is upon us, the leaves will begin falling sooner than you think, and before you know it, it'll be time to head for the polls.) Among the issues we're working on is the repeal of some $900 million in annual tax breaks for corporate special interests, as well as the election of education-friendly candidates, from the governor to state legislators and officeholders. Read my entire July President's Message here.
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NEW!
Distance Education Presentations From our
Spring, 2010
Conference, we're offering you two presentations on the important
and timely issue of distance education.
First, take a look at the overview of distance ed in higher education...then, review the benchmark guidelines to help you design or evaluate your distance education program.
SLO Workshop
HURRY! Register by August 6! CCA Presidents and SLO Coordinators (or other designees) should plan to attend CCA’s Student Learning Outcomes Summer 2010 Workshop.
The workshop is Thursday & Friday, August 12 & 13 at the CTA Region 3 Office in Santa Fe Springs...and CCA will reimburse each member participating!
For registration information, download the SLO Workshop flyer.
CTA Summer Institute
It's still not too late to register for the Summer Institute. The Institute runs from August 1-6 at the UCLA Conference Center in Los Angeles (online registration here).
Other Upcoming Conferences
Region II Leadership Conference: October 1-3, Reno Details Coming Soon!
Region I Leadership Conference: October 15-17, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove Details and Registration
National Commission Needs YOUR Input
Hundreds of thousands of educators continue to be penalized by unfair Social Security offsets, the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision.
Now, a national commission has been appointed to look into entitlement programs such as Social Security--and by extension, laws such as the GPO and WEP. E-mail the Commission at commission@fc.eop.gov and share with them how the offsets have impacted you, or will impact you when you retire, and urge Commissions to call for repeal of the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision. Read more details here...
College of the Month: Rancho Santiago Community College
District
Continuing Education Faculty Association
July, 2010
Read
more about this month's College of the Month 
The
State Budget It's not always easy to
understand what the budget crunch has done--or
likely will do--to our community colleges. It's even
harder to find out things like how your district is complying with the 50% Law...or where it
sits it terms of statewide full- and part-time
salaries. We can help you make sense of it all, with
Alan Frey's latest
Budget Update presentation.
Talk
It Up! Are you trying to find a way to talk persuasively to
your friends, neighbors, or even your legislators
about the plight of our community colleges? Then look to
our CCA/CTA Community College Talking
Points for some great tips on what kind of information to use when
you're trying to show people how important it is to
support our public schools and colleges.
Orange
County Faculty Do It Again!
After recently kicking off a campaign to unset three incumbents on the district's Board of Trustees, the United Faculty of North Orange County Community College District are at it again.
They just staged a successful protest against the hiring of a new vice chancellor of instruction, at a price tag of nearly $200,000 a year. In her statement to the Board, Faculty Association president Fola Odebunmi said, "This [proposed hiring] made in the middle of the summer without input from the constituent groups makes us wonder about what your definition of ‘Shared Governance’ is.... How many class sections could be saved with that amount of money?”
Ultimately, the Trustees backed down, the position was cancelled, and the Chancellor issued a marginal mea culpa. For all the details, read the article from the O.C. Register.
Headlines from Inside Higher Education
Movie
Clips and Copyright If the words “sweeping new exemptions
to the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act” make you want whoop for joy and join a conga line, you
just might be a fair use advocate — one who wants professors and
students to be able to decrypt and excerpt copyrighted video content
for lectures and class projects. Since Monday, a lot of advocates have
been dancing. The thing that has made so many professors abuzz is the
latest round of rule changes, issued Monday by the U.S. Copyright
Office, dealing with what is legal and what is not as far as
decrypting and repurposing copyrighted content. One change in
particular is making waves in academe: an exemption that allows
professors in all fields and “film and media studies students” to hack
encrypted DVD content and clip “short portions” into documentary films
and “non-commercial videos.”
Read More...
One
CCC Adds New Classes...While Others Slash This coming
academic year, when nearly all of California’s 72 community college
districts are either cutting classes or keeping their numbers level
despite unprecedented demand, one district is bucking the trend and
adding classes. But it is taking a significant risk in doing so with
one-time money — without knowing whether it will be able to maintain
the funding to make the additions permanent. Last week, the San
Diego Community College District announced that it was adding about
1,150 classes for the academic year that starts Aug. 23. Most of the
classes will be in high-demand general education transfer subjects,
remedial sections and work force development programs. This reverses
a two-year trend of cuts in which the district’s three colleges —
City College, Mesa College and Miramar College — trimmed nearly
1,900 classes.
Read
More...
CCA-CCC Unification Talks are continuing between CCA and CCC (CFT's higher education arm) regarding unification; leaders of both organizations are optimistic that agreement will be reached this year. Read the Unification Statement.
Figuring
Out Your Investment Options Visit CTA's new Educator's
Retirement and Investment Guide website for helpful investment tools geared
specifically for educators.
Visit our photos page to see pictures from local,
state, and even national events, from regional
workshops to CCA conferences to NEA annual
meetings, and more!
About CCA
CCA
is the higher education affiliate of the California
Teacher's Association (CTA), the largest and most
influential professional association of educators in
the state with more than 340,000 members. CCA has
become one of the most powerful voices for community
colleges at the state level, striving to improve the
working conditions of our members and the quality of
the community college system.
Nationally, CCA is affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA), the largest public employee association in the country with over 3.2 million members. Our statewide headquarters are in Burlingame, with regional offices throughout northern and southern California.
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