Candidate for
Member, Community College Board; County of San Francisco

I feel that our immediate priority must be to address each of WASC's (Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the accrediting agency) 14 recommendations in a sufficient way. In addition to that, I have four priorities to ensure that City College remains available, accessible, and affordable for the entire community:

1. Lobby at the state level for discretion about tuition levels for certain types of classes. A common complaint in the community is that tuition and fees are too low. Although I do not necessarily agree with this sentiment universally, many professionals in the community value enrichment classes and noncredit classes and are willing and able to pay more for them. Indeed, CCSF must remain accessible, available, and affordable for those who cannot afford the tuition, but we must have the discretion to address local concerns and issues. Since tuition levels are set by the state, we must work with our state policy makers to grant us that discretion.

2. Implement best practices at every level. As a researcher, I am keenly aware of how important it is to assess regularly. We must be able to collect and track data above and beyond what is federally required, including who exactly we're serving and how. We should track who are students are (what are their educational goals and backgrounds), what the needs and gaps of the system are, and the outcomes for each type of student. For example, someone who has a bachelor's degree and is returning to City College to gain specific job training skills will have different needs, goals, and outcomes from someone who is graduating high school and would like to eventually transfer to a four-year university or someone who looking for a certificate or other types of training. And those people will have different needs, goals, and outcomes from someone whose goal is to learn English or gain citizenship. In addition to the importance of data, other best practices should be followed. As one example, online learning is a popular solution to cutting costs, but researchers have shown that community college students in particular have poor outcomes with that academic structure. We should therefore proceed cautiously with systems that may not work as well with our population of students as with students in other academic settings. Technology cannot substitute for in-person counseling and guidance, particularly for nontraditional students.

3. Create a strong alumni group. So many people in San Francisco and beyond have been impacted by City College. Whether they received a degree from CCSF, gained needed skills, or took an enrichment class, these people WANT to share their successes and give back to a system that facilitated their achievements. In addition to much-needed funding that an alumni group can bring, an alumni network will provide opportunities for mentorships, internships, and scholarships for current students. Similar to the Chicago model, which has been very successful, we need to reach out and cultivate the resources of former CCSF students in the community who have been successful. I will be working with the founder of a newly created City College Of San Francisco Alumni Alliance to create a strong alumni association.

4. Engage the entire community. In conjunction with creating a strong alumni network, we should be actively engaging the business community, the nonprofit community, and government agencies to invest in CCSF students. Who better to inform students about current and future job trends than the businesses and agencies that will be hiring them? Who better to analyze gaps in the local talent pool than those seeking talent? This applies to various types of students that CCSF serves. For example, those who have been recently laid off and seeking to make themselves marketable may not be aware of what skills hiring managers are looking for and should have an opportunity to improve those skills needed in a timely way. Similarly, recent high school graduates should have resources and assistance for making decisions about a career path as well as what specific courses are needed for that path. In an ideal world, we can allow students ample time to figure out where their interests lie; however, in these bad economic times with so many waiting to get in the door of higher education, it is not unreasonable to ask students to determine what course of study they would like to take within a shorter amount of time than in the past. However, we have to provide the adequate counseling, guidance, and advisement necessary for them to make educated decisions. We cannot expect our students to be successful if we do not provide them the adequate resources to do so, thus, the entire community must play a part in ensuring that our city's future workforce is properly resourced.