PCC President Reportedly Will Meet With Activists

PCC student activists protesting class and faculty cuts say PCC President Dr. Mark Rocha has agreed to meet with them on Friday, but they object to the meeting’s format.

In an open letter entitled “Calling on those who care about the future of Pasadena City College!” PCC student Andrew Bott says “President Rocha has agreed to a meeting on Friday, March 23rd at 10am, but is insisting on using his conference room where ‘three or four students can join’… Obviously, this would be a waste of time for all involved.”

Bott goes on to say the students expect “a President who wants to share information with as many people as possible” and one who does not shy away from open forums.

For his part, Rocha sees this week as “A Week of Dialogue, Outreach, Speed and A New Idea” and says he is “brainstorming ideas for the way forward” – noting that he remains optimistic.

Rocha pointed out in an email on Monday that State Community College Chancellor Jack Scott visits PCC for a major Town Hall meeting on Thursday, March 22, to speak about the state of the community colleges and “what we can do to move forward given our many challenges.”

Rocha also discussed Santa Monica Community College’s decision to go to “two-tier” fees which offer more high-demand classes to students who are willing and able to pay the fee of about $200 per unit as opposed to $46.

“I have to tell you honestly that I’m not a fan of this,” Rocha wrote, ” although I applaud SMCC for its innovative approach to the devastating budget crisis we face.”

“Our Graduation Fund will enable us to offer additional high-demand classes through private donations and other savings from increased cost effectiveness,” he said. “But the faculty will be hired in the normal way through our contract with the Faculty Association and all students will pay the same fee.”

“As bad as our budget crisis is—and it is very bad—this is not time to take the “community” out of community colleges,” Rocha wrote.

 

 

Full Text of the Open Letter from PCC Student Andrew Bott

Calling on those who care about the future of Pasadena City College!

As you are aware, recent decisions by the PACCD Board of Trustees and President Rocha have forced the cancellation of at least 45 classes and the early retirement of approximately 45 faculty members. They want you to believe these actions were out of their control, but the facts do not agree.

Furthermore, the Board has enacted a hiring freeze and they are discussing even more class cuts in the near future. Where will this end? Do we wait until our own jobs or our own presence at this college is immediately threatened before we act? If that is indeed what we’ve been waiting for, I believe that time is upon us. We, the students and faculty of PCC, must band together in protest of the inappropriate budget decisions and misuse of college funds that now threatens our education and, in the instance of the Faculty, our livelihoods. Please join our grassroots movement as we attempt to influence the Board to make the right decisions. We must be heard!

President Rocha has agreed to a meeting on Friday, March 23rd at 10am, but is insisting on using his conference room where “3 or 4 students can join”… Obviously, this would be a waste of time for all involved. The students, and I hope the faculty, expect a college President who does not shy away from open forums. This college expects a President who wants to share information with as many people as possible. If President Rocha and the Board of Trustees have made the best decisions for the college, what is there to hide?

What issues do we want to address?

1.    $3.9 million has been swept into infrastructure upgrades while classes and jobs have been lost. Is education the most important aspect of our society? Shouldn’t it at least be the most important aspect of our college?

2.    Current Faculty have an uncertain future: When will their classes be cut? When will their positions be lost? President Rocha failed to inform the faculty until 1 week before classes began, despite meeting with faculty a few weeks before.

3. Current classes are at risk; how many potential students must be turned away before we respond? How many lives, how many futures do we allow to be limited before we act?

4.    The Board is already discussing a move to a trimester system, and to shorter “Rockefeller Hour” classes. We can’t allow this to happen.

Furthermore, despite living in an open, democratic society, where all voices have a right to be heard, there has been an obvious, apparently concerted effort to thwart students and faculty from their attempts to participate in the process.

1.    President Rocha says he is open to a “dialogue with students”, then tells us to bring “3 or 4”, trying to limit the freedom to participate.

2.    Mr. Baum and the Board repeatedly left the Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 22, 2012 when students showed up to speak on the issues that mattered to them.

3.    On Feb 22, 2012 approximately 200-300 students were completely locked out of the Board meeting. Police held us back, pushed us, and laughed in our faces.

4.    At the same meeting, the Board pushed public comment until later and later in the evening, so students and faculty were forced to wait far into the night to be heard.

5.    Key meetings are cleverly closed to students who wish to participate. By scheduling meetings in small offices, filling the front chairs and removing the others, participants can be “legitimately” turned away. Yet with no sense of irony, we are told that the Board and President Rocha are open to dialogue with students and faculty.

6.    The Board is discussing, again, a Time, Place and Manner policy in response to legitimate protests as a way to limit the freedom of expression. On the one hand, President Rocha says he will never support a new TPM policy, “or any limitation on speech”, on the other hand he supports Mr. Martin’s comments on a TPM policy! “Mr. Martin’s comments at the March 7 board meeting had nothing whatsoever to do with limiting free speech.” Sorry, but here is the link. Click the “video” on March 7th, then start watching at about 3:37:00 http://www.pasadena.edu/board/granicus.cfm

7.    The PACCD Board of Trustees President Baum insists there are no communication barriers between students/faculty and the Board of Trustee’s. Words are easy. Their actions do not reflect their rhetoric.

We deserve better.

FACULTY, we need your help!

The open meeting on March 23rd will be in debate-style question and answer, follow-up question, follow-up answer format. All sides will get a chance to be heard. The Q&A will be recorded and posted on YouTube, to ensure that everyone who wishes to see it will be able to.

Please send this to all the people you know. Please put this in front of as many eyes as possible. Please share this with students, with community members, and amongst yourselves. Any help, tips, or ideas you have to solve the issues we are facing would be appreciated. We need your help to let the community, and California voters, know what is going on. We cannot do it all alone.

Please take a moment to watch this video, if you haven’t seen it
already:

 http://www.pcccourier.com/multi-media/video/courier-captures-video-of-board-meeting-protest-1.2803075#.T2Q5Z1GfGBV

Please send an email to President Rocha, to request his presence at the meeting:

mwrocha@pasadena.edu

Please RSVP for the Facebook event, and invite all the people who may wish to attend, even if you can only ask a question and not attend in person: http://www.facebook.com/events/380881858596838/

If you cannot make it, and have a question for President Rocha or the Board, please send it to my PCC email asap: pcc.andrew.bott@gmail.com

We are also working on flyers, if you choose to use them, to distribute to students. Right now, I do not have access to a student email list, so I have no way of getting the word out. It would be great to have your assistance!

Here is some history, in case you have missed some of the events the last few weeks.

Thank you so much for your time.

http://www.pcccourier.com/news/demonstrations-against-class-cuts-continue-1.2805691#.T

http://www.pasadena.buzz/main/opinion-pcc-board-of-trustees-obviously-doesnt-hear-students-voices

http://www.pcccourier.com/news/academic-senate-leader-blasts-events-at-meeting-1.2808512#.T2ROJlGfGBV

http://www.pcccourier.com/news/cancellation-of-winter-intersession-discussion-begins-1.2811616#.T2ROQFGfGBV

http://www.pcccourier.com/news/demonstrations-against-class-cuts-continue-1.2805691#.T2ROWlGfGBV

We need to show them that we care about this college, and the future of education. The only outlet to raise public awareness is public participation. Please set an example for the students and join me in requesting that President Rocha attend a Q&A with students, faculty, and the public in the CC Building’s WIFI Lounge, March 23rd, 10am-12pm.

Sincerely,
Andrew Kane Bott
Pasadena City College Student
pcc.andrewbott@gmail.com