Date: Sept. 9, 2009
To: All Faculty and Staff
From: Mike Brandy
I hope that your summer has gone well and that you had time to connect with family and friends to refresh yourself before we begin the fall quarter in earnest next week. I am looking forward to seeing you at the district's Opening Day and have included information about that event below.
Ever since the governor signed California's budget on July 28, we have devoted significant time to understanding the complexities of the state's reductions to our budget and implementing decisions to live with less revenue. When you return to campus you will hear more about the plans to reduce spending. Detailed information about our budget is posted on the district website at http://business.fhda.edu/budget/budget_update.
I will also take a few moments on Opening Day to describe our actions to date and our two-year plan for weathering this financial storm. One consequence of the state budget cuts and the economic climate is that we are experiencing extremely high student demand for our classes, while at the same time having to reduce our schedule of classes as directed by the state. De Anza reported last week that many of its English and math courses were filled even before new student registration began. The same kind of demand was reflected at Foothill, with hundreds of students on waiting lists. As a state, we need to find solutions to this bottleneck. We owe it to our students who are ready and willing to take our classes. We need to offer them that opportunity.
A committee of the academic senates, classified senates, and administration responsible for Opening Day activities decided on a different format this year. We have elected to use most of the morning to provide training on preparing for accreditation, which is one of the most important things we will do this year. The committee has put together an informative and engaging program.
There is a sense of excitement in the district as we see faculty arriving back on campus and make our final preparations for more than 34,000 students to arrive on September 21. We look forward to servings those students with the many resources we still have available despite the budget tribulations.
I want to close by thanking all of you who have been participating in the tough decisions on the budget or who have been adversely affected by reduced state revenues. I have always appreciated the dedication of all of our staff, board members, and community members to maintaining the legacy of quality instruction and services at Foothill and De Anza. I am proud of the work that all of you do to serve our students. I look forward to seeing you on Opening Day.
Foothill-De Anza Community College District
DISTRICT/SENATES OPENING DAY ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
(COLLEGES' OPENING DAY ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18)
We're going greener this year!
* No printed program. If you wish, you may download the presentations from the district homepage effective Tuesday, September 15 (http://www.fhda.edu)
* Recycled scratch paper will be provided for taking notes.
* Lunch is on your own. The Multicultural Staff Association is hosting a social with light refreshments for all employees in the Campus Center Plaza after the program. Foothill food services will be open until 2 p.m.
DISTRICT/SENATES OPENING DAY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
Smithwick Theater, Foothill College
7:30-8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast/Meet and Greet
8:30-9:30 a.m. Welcome, Introductions and Recognitions
Update on Chancellor Search by Board President Betsy Bechtel
Remarks by Interim Chancellor Mike Brandy
9:30-11:45 a.m. “Accreditation 101: Same Rules, Different Game”
Get the scoop about accreditation, why everyone has a role to play and what's at stake. Presenters from the ranks of the faculty, staff and administration include Mike Brandy, interim chancellor; Fred Sherman, vice chancellor of technology; Christina Espinosa-Pieb, De Anza's vice president of instruction; Katie Townsend-Merino,Foothill's vice president of instruction and institutional research; Lois Jenkins, president of the De Anza Classified Senate; Anne Argyriou, president of the De Anza Academic Senate; Dolores Davison, president of the the Foothill Academic Senate; Leslye Noone, president of the Foothill Classified Senate; Rosemary Arca, Foothill's student learning outcomes coordinator; Lucy Rodriguez, project coordinator in Foothill's Office of Instruction and Institutional Research; Cynthia Lee-Klawender, vice president of De Anza's Academic Senate, and Daniel Peck, institutional researcher, Foothill.
For more information about accreditation on your campus, the following web pages will be ready to go by Tuesday, September 15:
Foothill:
http://www.foothill.edu/president/accreditation.php
De Anza:
http://www.deanza.edu/accreditation
12-1 p.m. Multicultural Staff Association Social
Light refreshments, open to all
Campus Center Plaza
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