November 2013
November 22, 2013
Greetings,
It feels like a nanosecond, but it has been four months since I came to Allan Hancock College and it has truly been
the best four months of my career. We are suddenly on the cusp of the Thanksgiving Holiday. How did we get
here so quickly?
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love its universal, non-partisan spirit that allows us to collectively pause and
recognize how fortunate we are. As we come to the Thanksgiving season, my family and I have a lot to be thankful
for – new friends, a welcoming community, and an opportunity to be part of a great college. Our students certainly
have a lot to be thankful for: dedicated faculty, committed staff, and a brand new campus. As educators, we have
much to be thankful for as well. We do nothing less than make a positive, life-changing difference for our students.
I am thankful to work with educators (we are all educators at AHC!) that are committed to serving our at-risk
students. Our efforts to purchase Thanksgiving meals for families and the “Angel Tree” are tangible examples of
your generosity. Although I have been here only four months, I can affirm that the community is thankful for the
work we do.
A Hancock Hero
As many of you know, our community lost a legendary educator this month when Nat Fast passed away. I did not
have a chance to meet Nat myself, but Marti and Sue Fast were kind enough to invite me to the memorial service.
It was an amazing event – the Marian Theater was standing room only with a video feed to the lobby for the
overflow. The hour long event included stirring remembrances, songs, poems, readings, and excerpts from PCPA
productions. As I waded through the crowd in the lobby, I heard one story after another about the personal impact
Nat had on individual lives. I am saddened that I never got to know Nat, but I can see his impact on our campus
and in his community. He was truly a Hancock Hero.
Staying Focused
This week I am attending the annual conference of the Community College League of California. A highlight of this
meeting is the presentation given by Chancellor Brice Harris on the future of our system. His message this year
was to “stay focused.” With all of the think tanks and external organizations that want to “help” us with
“prescriptions,” Chancellor Harris noted that we are making real and sustainable progress in serving our students.
Our efforts in basic skills have substantial impacts on our underserved populations, our course completion rates are
improving, and the system has created more than 1,000 associate degrees for transfer in only 18 months.
I echo Chancellor Harris’ theme – as long as we stay focused on student success we will be successful ourselves.
Budget Looking Up
I know it’s not me, but I sure would like to take credit for the statement Betty Miller made about the budget this
week. In presenting the Budget Council’s 2014-15 income and expenditures assumptions, she said it is the first
time in years that the most likely assumption puts us in the black (or “green,” as Kelly Underwood prefers to say!).
After seven painful years, the pendulum is starting to swing back the other way for California community colleges.
And with that, there is some good news for students. We have clearly seen that the passage of Prop 30 has
already increased access to AHC, with the percent of first-time students up in fall 2013 by 24.4 percent.
At the risk of sounding all “Alan Greenspany” with irrational exuberance, we are optimistic that the next five or six
years are going to be markedly improved. There are many structural issues to address in the state, but even the
Legislative Analyst Office is reporting better than expected budget news.
It is also true that we can never fully rely on state funding to provide all that we need. To that end, Allan Hancock
College has been very successful over the years securing grants and other private sources to support teaching and
learning.
Earlier this year we received a $400,000 CCAMPIS grant in the early childhood studies program to help parents
succeed in college by providing childcare for their children, along with other support mechanisms. And just last
week we learned that a donor, yet to be publicly named, has promised $1.4 million to enhance the Public Safety
Training Complex. When we have the green light to provide details about this exceptionally timely and generous
gift, you will be the first to hear.
Credit Rating
While we are on the topic of funding, budget, and Measure I projects, we had additional good news last week about
the college’s impressive credit rating. Wall Street analyst Standard & Poor’s recently elevated its credit rating of
Allan Hancock College to AA/stable, and Moody’s Investor Services reaffirmed its AA rating of the college, in
anticipation of the sale of $8.6 million in bonds for the college’s Measure I facilities improvement efforts.
The bottom line is that this means the industry’s leading credit analysts have affirmed that we have properly
managed our budget and the bond funds entrusted to us. It further emphasizes, as Standard & Poor’s cited,
“strong financial management assessment (FMA) due to prudent financial planning,” along with the district’s
tradition of “consistently managing to very strong fund reserves.” This is a direct reflection of the board’s fiscal
policies and the excellent implementation of those policies by Dr. Betty Miller over the last two decades. By
receiving these high ratings (our credit rating is better than many countries), the bond interest rates are lower and
therefore the taxpayers win with a shorter payback period. We are issuing $10 million in bonds to complete the
projects we currently have under way.
Facilities Update
Whatever I am going to tell you right now will probably be different by the time you read it. The flurry of effort under
way to finish strong with several projects means that dates and deliveries are also changing almost daily. We know
that the move into the administration building remains on track for the week of Dec. 8. We also know that Student
Services is in and happy, for the most part, in its beautiful new space. We still have some signage and other issues
to work out, but I don’t hear anyone clamoring to get back into their old closets – I mean offices. We will plan a
grand opening once classes are under way in spring.
The Public Safety Training Complex is a remarkable sight – all 68 acres. They have worked surprisingly fast to get
us to the point that furniture is moving in now, with staff ready to move in December. We plan to offer classes at
the new facility beginning this spring. A grand opening for us as well as the public is planned for April 2014.
The Industrial Technology building is also moving rapidly. The plan is to move all labs and lab equipment to the
new buildings next month, again with lab classes taught in the new spaces starting this spring. The rest of the
buildings will be delivered later this spring.
I hope you have your tickets to Mary Poppins; not only will you see a great show, but you will see some of the work
that was accomplished over the last 10 months at the Marian Theatre. I say some, because it is like an iceberg,
much of the most important work you will likely never see: new catwalks, HVAC systems, etc. However, the
updated and expanded lobby and restrooms are a very welcome addition.
We have also completed the track, which reopened to the public this month. We have posted signs about
appropriate usage with the hope that the public will work with us to ensure this great new asset stays great for a
very long time. How old was the previous track? Someone told me it had been there about 40 years. What
wouldn’t look bad after four decades of use and abuse?
The softball field is a work in progress. We are finalizing plans to upgrade the facility to the appropriate level for
collegiate competition. That includes some work with the dugout and backstop, among other upgrades that will
ensure equity within our athletic programs.
Interim VP, Student Services
While on the subject of new, let me introduce our new interim vice president, Student Services, Jane Harmon,
Ph.D. She begins Dec. 2. Her contract is through June 2014. While she is here helping to move the division
forward, we will work out the details of a permanent leader for Student Services. Her specialty is interim
appointments. She holds a doctor of philosophy in higher education administration from the University of Texas at
Austin. She earned a Master of Science degree in education with a concentration in reading/specific learning
difficulties in 1981 from Bemidji State University, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education
with a concentration in reading from Moorhead State University in 1971. Dr. Harmon was the interim executive vice
president at Moorpark College, Moorpark, California, from July 2012 to July 2013; interim vice chancellor,
educational services, at Kern Community College District, Bakersfield, California, from August 2011 to June 2012;
interim chief instructional officer at Compton Community College District, Compton, California, from June 2008 to
February 2010; interim vice president, student learning, at Cerro Coso College, Ridgecrest, California, from August
2006 to June 2008; and interim vice president, instruction and student services, at Gavilan College, Gilroy,
California, from August 2005 to July 2006.
Planning Retreat
About 50 representatives from across the district, including trustee Greg Pensa and Jane Harmon, our new interim
VPSS, recently participated in two days of very meaningful dialogue and planning at the Lompoc Valley Center.
We spent some time reviewing our accomplish-ments before forging toward the future. The group was engaged
and fully committed to improving our service to students. We are now synthesizing the many pages of notes and
plans from that effort and will share our next steps very soon.
Contest Follow Up
In the last issue I joked that I thought about naming this newsletter “10,000 Words” and offered a challenge to see if
anyone could figure out why and offered a tee shirt for the first person who did. I might not have thought that
through very well (more ‘thinking out loud’) as I got several emails with essentially the same time stamp, so we
declared first place to be a tie!
The phrase comes from an Avett Brothers song in which the singer says he, like others, “likes to talk on things we
don’t know about.”
Finally, three more things to be thankful for…
The past couple of months have included events that enrich our college and our community:
AHC hosted a visit from the Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery in South India. Not only was it a
moving experience for each of us individually, but it was a unique opportunity to invite the public to our campus to
enjoy what was perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The Dia de los Muertos celebration provided a venue for many on campus to remember their friends and family
members in a way that was touching and significant. As it happened, my mother was making her first visit to Santa
Maria, and I was proud to have her see the kind of people that I get to work with every day.
The Blaine Johnson Memorial Golf Tournament was a great success. The Johnson Family puts on this event every
year to support the college’s industrial technology program. It’s exciting to see the world’s best racers investing in
the future of our students in such a touching manner.
We truly have much to be thankful for. I can’t say it enough – I am thankful for the opportunity to work at a college
that is focused on serving students and to live in a community that supports our efforts.
I hope that your Thanksgiving Holiday is great. I will see you on campus!
Kevin