Yuba College Cuts: What the Administration Says

Dr. Kevin Trutna, Vice President of Academic and Student Services for Yuba College, announced at the Deans and Directors meeting on Wednesday, September 23, that 60 classified positions will be cut and the Beale Outreach Center will be closed to compensate for the budget challenges. Devastation resonates like a shockwave across the campus. The Dean that will likely be the most impacted is Dr. Edward Davis, Dean of Business and Social Science, who will be losing five positions in his division. He said of the 60 positions that will be cut throughout the district: 30 of them are between Yuba College and the Lake campus, 20 at Woodland and 10 within the District. Davis had no foresight of the closing of the Beale Outreach Center. “That’s two positions plus the entire program gone-that has been there since 1960. Forty-nine years, the center has been servicing Vets and their dependents…I never saw that one coming.” Just a week earlier, Davis attended a meeting at the Beale Outreach Center on whether or not next year’s summer sessions would be beginning in June or July. “Then a week later, we close Beale. I was flabbergasted on that one.” he said. “Martha Mills, Dean of Distributed Education and Media Services for Yuba College, gives her insight on the incident. “We got only so far with all our budgetary reductions…but there was still a dollar amount we needed to get because we hadn’t yet met all the goals. And then that’s where staff reductions were put on the table.” When asked who is responsible for the choice of cutting these positions, Dean Mills replied, “Dr. Trutna and President Adkins are the ones who put that final list together based on what they were directed to do from the Chancellor’s office with regard to the amount of money that we have to present as our budget savings.” She also mentioned that the closing of the Beale Outreach Center was not specifically discussed with the Deans until the decision was already made. “In the case of Beale, I’m sure he consulted the Dean that was part of that. But we weren’t informed about the potential closure regarding those staff reductions until earlier this week. No one knew until this week.” Dr. Kevin Dobbs, Dean of Language Arts, Fine Arts and the Library, wants to save as many positions possible, but has little hope for the reality of it. “Right now, we’re talking about-and it’s not absolute yet-we’re talking about all managers across the system taking a six day furlough and 2.5% cut of salaries plus an out-of-pockets payment to our medical benefits of about $100-150 a month- all totally about 3%+…” “They talk about that alone saving four to five jobs. We have 60 to save; it’s just a drop in the bucket.” He says there is a hope that faculty and classified will make concessions as well, but would like to examine and analyze the books more thoroughly before making concessions. “I know that if I’m going to hand over 3-4k$, I want to know for sure that that’s going to help save a classified employee. I think some Deans and Directors aren’t sure that’s going to happen. We’ll probably ask the district to sign some sort of memorandum of understanding to the fact that these monies will go to saving jobs. And they have to be passed by the board of trustees as well. So I think they’re going to go to saving jobs.” Donna Veal-Spenser, Chapter President of 283 California school employee association, says “I would like to see the Budget Subcommittee reinstated; we had one before when we went to multi-college. They [the Administration] decided to dissolve the Budget Subcommittee into the College Council…Now you can’t see the budget. You will see the budget three days before the Board meeting when the agenda comes out.” She said Chancellor Harrington called a committee meeting on Monday. The first meeting on what they are going to be calling possibly the District Council and they’re trying to set up a structure for District Council. “I think that’s moving in a positive direction.” Although Vice President Trutna refused to answer questions about the Deans and Directors meeting, Chancellor Nicki Harrington, Chancellor of the Yuba Community College District, clarified some of the confusion involved. When asked why Dr. Trutna might refuse our questions, she stated, “A lot of the conversation that is going on right now obviously is with the budget cuts- with the budget we have to have prepared for the board meeting in October. So that involves situations where you do have the possibility of layoffs of staff. So whenever you’re talking about staff, that’s not something you discuss outside of that room.” Deans and Directors meetings as a whole aren’t some sort of deep classified information? “When the Vice president meets with his Director and reports its a staff meeting its no different than when I meet with my Director, your having a meeting with your staff. It is not a committee or a council, which is an open meeting where people come in and deliberate about various topics, it’s a staff meeting so if you are in any organization where people are reporting to their Boss and their Boss is talking to them about what going on that’s confidential between them as they are dealing with it.” Addressing matters of shared governance the Chancellor said, “The plan was in the second semester in spring, we would develop the Coordinating Body because we have this budget crisis going on right now. There is a desire by most everybody you talk to to try and bring that Coordinating Body into play as soon as we can. They would have started up not till fall of 2010. I think people really want to get going on it so that is why we had a committee meeting on Monday to start looking at how to form that group, how would it work, who would the members be, what would their role be and what kinds of thing do we need coordinated district wide.” YC President, Dr. Adkins states that the line item cuts are decided by herself and the Vice President, but “Basically, the Deans and Directors primarily make the cuts of the college.” She says we were notified by the state that they can make more cuts to that 2008/2009 budget when we have already spent and done everything. Miriam Root, Yuba College Information Officer, says, “Just like in your household budget, there are bills you have to pay.” When asked if the system of shared governance had fallen through the cracks as we have expanded to a multi-college district, Dr. Adkins said, “Anytime you’re doing something new or getting bigger, you have growing pains. What’s the membership? Where does each responsibility lie? It hasn’t been fleshed out yet. We’re moving there.” Concerning the closure of the Beale Outreach Program she confirms, “Positions have been identified, not names. The closure does not mean that we are eliminating programs and services to Beale.” President Adkins states,”The unions have an agreement with and work through the District, not the college, but concessions are being asked from every place. The sad part: 84% of the Yuba College Budget is personnel that is the biggest piece of your pie. It’s been awful; a heart wrenching terror. This is the time when students need us the most the faculty, staff, and counselors are all here to help change students lives.” She claims the system of funding from the state is what is broken and suggests they find another way. “So we’re not in the same boat 10 years from now, 15 years from now, ever.” The President did say that the cancellation of summer school has not yet been decided and that some reduction to the summer schedule may be necessary. “When you have to make millions of dollars worth of cuts in the budget, where are you going to make it? Concessions are being asked of all groups. They will be made exclusively for bringing back staff.”