CHANCELLOR’S C-DIRECT
August 31, 2016
Dear Colleagues:
Classes started last week, and our students are eagerly awaiting our wisdom and
support to earn an education. Great efforts were made by General Services and their
staff to make major improvements over the summer. This does not mean that we do not
have some challenges, but we have made progress. We are working on measures to
ensure that the progress continues. One area of concern is our student information
management system. At Laney, recently, there were many voices expressing
dissatisfaction and frustration about not being able to access information on the IT
network. Students have expressed frustration over the lack of reliable technology
performance, as well. Those expressing their dissatisfaction with the technology did not
simply complain, but suggested ways to resolve the problems by first engaging in
constructive dialog between all parties.
Significant discontent is something I am taking to heart. There is grumbling being heard
that students have not been able to apply and enroll for classes. Truly, we have suffered
some setbacks in technology and that is not a reflection on our IT staff, but the system
we have to deal with. I am not sure how they can be adequately explained, but I am
seeking full accountability. Despite major improvements in technology, we still have
challenges to overcome. The space we are allows us to not hide away from the issues,
but to confront them head on.
Finally, the week ended with a couple of exciting gatherings of our Participatory
Governance participants and an extensive discussion of our First Responder programs.
Progress at Aviation Facility
“Hello Chancellor Laguerre, Ester and Ho, and IT Team
We have just completed the GigaMAN Fiber Installation to provide Aviation Facility with
optimum internet access. Speed test had been conducted on the WiFi access points
network range from 20Mbps to 45Mpbs, a great improvement from 3Mega bit per second
of the two T1s. The District Team including Sandi Daniel and Alameda Team Daniel Park
had been working hard together to accomplish this major milestone of delivering quality IT
services to the College of Alameda. Thank you for your patience and support.”
Chi Au
District Senior Network/System Administrator: Peralta Community College District”
BoT Candidates
As you may know, Trustee Cy Gulassa is not running for reelection in November. A
couple of community leaders, Karen Weisman and Nick Resnick, are running for his
seat. I had the opportunity to interact with the two candidates. We look forward to
providing information that may assist both candidates in their campaigns.
International Education Thinking
Siri Brown and I discussed the expansion and bringing together of various aspects of
international education into a unified Peralta program. We will be discussing the idea of
unification with all those who are currently involved and will then go through
Participatory Governance with the idea. This is an activity that is anticipated to be selfsupporting.
Aviation Center
COA President and VPI, the Dean of CTE, and the faculty and instructional assistant met
with several of us, including Dr. Webb and WDCE Budget Director Sui Song, regarding
the remodeling and modernizing of the Aviation facilities, which this great program
deserves. There is a lot of interest in the program from overseas as well as locally. We
discussed ways to generate higher income to expand access to our local students.
The Orton Group
Laney’s Vice President of Instruction John Yu and I met with Mr. Orton and his
associates to discuss partnerships between Laney and the Orton Group. This is the
company that was chosen by the Oakland City Council to restore the Henry J. Kaiser
Convention Center. It is a major development filled with opportunities for the
community and for Laney students, faculty and staff. There are several key skills that
the construction and ongoing operation of the Center require: Skills that Laney’s
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students (and other Colleges) might offer, e.g., stage building and stagecraft, culinary
and computer skills. I invited Mr. Orton to make a presentation to Laney College
employees in September. John is reviewing the College’s offerings to see which fit with
the existing curriculum. Other Colleges’ academic leaders (administrators and faculty)
are invited to hear the presentation that will be scheduled sometime in the next couple
of weeks.
District Academic Senate (DAS)
Last year, the District Academic Senate
leaders and I met regularly to discuss issues
of common interest and to gather feedback
for District activities. Recently, we met for
the first time this fall semester. At the
meeting, we assessed our successes from last
year as well as our shortcomings. The most
important issue for us was to dispel the
impression that the DAS were privileged and
had unfair influence others did not have.
Furthermore, we discussed the fact that I
should not view their feedback and input as
the sole consultation necessary for decisions
needing Participatory Governance
involvement. Finally, we agreed to clarify
“next step” agreements in order to keep all
Senators informed of issues DAS discusses.
Faculty, you will hear from your Senators
about relevant issues we have discussed. I
intend to have consultations with the
Classified Senate as well (due to the changes
in leadership last year we were not able to
meet) Please know that I will make every effort to meet with all those associated with
leadership on an ongoing basis.
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Information Technology (IT) Staff
I met last week with the IT staff for what will become a regular monthly meeting
throughout the year. A few of the issues we covered included the evaluation of the work
currently being done by the Ferrilli Group. This evaluation is being conducted by the
Chief Technology Officer of Yuba Community College District, Roger Clague. Including
an “outside evaluation,” an understanding the Board and I came to in order to ensure
that we are receiving what Ferrilli promised us and, equally important, we are not
overlooking the issues we are facing in information technology. The IT staff would like
to have two things: 1) That the evaluation results be shared with them; and 2) That they
be allowed to provide feedback to Roger. I agreed to both requests, as I desire to be
transparent. The IT professionals have agreed among themselves as to how the
feedback will be provided. Roger will support the District in the upcoming RFP, working
with others and the IT staff.
I also asked the staff for their ideas regarding the best opportunities for IT during this
period of transition. I encouraged IT staff to step up with their leadership and to
encourage those among them who have the potential to serve as leaders down the road
to step up. Finally, I told the IT staff that a team of two individuals claiming to be recent
graduates of UC Berkeley are conducting an investigation with the intention of
publishing an article on the handling of personnel matters and had interviewed me and
questioned why I chose the Ferrilli group without putting the job out to bid. I explained
that actions taken in regard to the non-bidding were to solve immediate problems in IT,
and to provide personnel expertise we did not have and that this emergency move did
not require bidding. Furthermore, I had already made a decision to do an RFP, as we are
moving toward securing a more permanent and solid staffing for IT. The RFP should go
out by October, with the successful bidder leading us by January 2017.
Despite the difficulties in technology that are not to blame on the IT staff, let me share a
couple of examples where IT has scored success. Chi Au (see his letter above) had just
returned from a successful installation of fiber optics to the Aviation Center when we
met. Chi’s action was not just installing fiber optics, but allowing the program to serve
students more effectively, thereby giving them the opportunity to earn $70,000 to
$80,000 a year from great jobs with the airline industry or BART. The IT staff also
installed new computers at our Genomics lab at 860 Atlantic, as well as supporting the
IT staff from Merritt. What IT did was to not just install computers, but to make it
possible for the students to do lab work with the types of tissue drawn from around the
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world to someday develop medications that can cure rare diseases. This work can be
life changing and our IT Department can claim its share of making it happen.
PBIM Summit
The Planning Budgeting Integration Model (PBIM) summit took place last Friday. From
my personal observation it was a huge success. That is, the interaction among the
participants, the thoughtful questioning and the presentation of work done were all
most engaging. Committee members from around the District were on hand and
engaged in the Summit’s activities. I would like to share the following highlights:
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The different District wide Councils met together and separately. The District wide
Councils cover Planning and Budget (PBC), Education (District Education Council),
Technology (DTC) and Facilities (DFC). They discussed Committee memberships for
next year and new ways to conduct their business. Recruiting a more diverse
membership is important, so that the same people do not serve on most of the
Committees.
The Summer Integration Taskforce made a great presentation, although one immediate
feedback was that the Taskforce did not include staff. This oversight was pointed out to
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the members, and they pledged to ensure staff participation in the future. The Taskforce
took on the obligation to focus the District on its essential mission, Student Success.
They came up with a campaign they will share at each College starting September 12
and ending September 16: BCC–September 12; Merritt–September 13; COA–September
14; Laney–September 15; and District Office–September 16 (dates to be confirmed).
Nobody should miss this 30-minute presentation by our faculty (Hint: Ask about
“in….through…..and on!”).
There was a review of our goals and the progress we continue to make to meet them. A
copy of the assessment is available through Dr. May Chen or Dr. Yashica Crawford.
Super Saturdays
Despite a few challenges at the beginning of the academic year, we had a lot to celebrate. I want
to highlight the Super Saturdays that have served over 350 students. We need to continue to
focus on:
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Technology support to support the work of our faculty and to help our students AND
technology in support of student success.
Outreach efforts feedback that we have received from our colleagues that recognize
segments of the population we need to reach out to.
Improvements in our facilities to maintain the gain we made over the summer and to
expand to areas we did not touch.
Improve our support for Distance Education.
Remember to get involved in the student success campaign to be unveiled September 12-16 to
guide us throughout the year.
Jowel
Jowel C. Laguerre, Ph.D.
Chancellor
I thought of our students when I heard this on NPR:
What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Seeing the potential in them regardless of how they come—projecting the teacher,
the chemist, the nurse or the engineer they want to be—helps us to see them as
plants as opposed to weeds.
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