Glendale Community College
Home MenuNovember 2020 • glendale.edu/StayingConnected
Trustees Adopt Balanced Budget
Message from David Viar/Superintendent President
Despite the serious economic crisis facing the nation, the GCC Board of Trustees has adopted a balanced budget for fiscal year 2020-21. This was not a simple task and required the collective efforts of faculty, classified staff and administrators who served on the Budget Committee. In addition, Administrative Services staff’s collective review, analysis, thoughtful questions, and recommendations were instrumental in delivering this year’s $106.7M spending plan.
Entering the budget season, the district faced a potential $10M shortfall largely due to significant cuts in state funding with the added pressure of meeting a legally required 5% fund balance (e.g. a $106.7M budget requires a district to have a minimum $5.33M end-of-year reserve fund). Also, state funding did not include a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for community colleges this year making our efforts that much more challenging. Nevertheless, by working together, we were able to identify and take action on a number of cost-saving steps, which included:
| Cost Saving Steps | Savings | ||
|
$4.7 million | ||
|
$2.3 million | ||
|
$2.0 million | ||
|
$1.2 million | ||
| Total | $10.2 million |
The steps outlined above were specifically for FY 2020-21 only.
As a result of the cost saving steps that led to this year’s balanced budget, we project an end-of-year fund balance of $6.8M; this puts GCC at 6.4% of expenditures which allows us to meet the state’s 5% requirement. However, it is important to acknowledge that the college’s fiscal challenges were noted recently by the Accrediting Commission which placed GCC on “enhanced fiscal monitoring status” due to our deficit spending in recent years, the reduced level of end-of-year fund balances, and the potential for a loss of $5.3M of state funds when the hold-harmless provision of the new state funding formula is dropped at the end of 2023-2024.
Realistically, if the current economic situation continues, we will likely face a similar challenge next year. However, I am certain that we will find a way to get through it together.
Click here to watch Executive Vice President Dr. Anthony Culpepper’s October 20 budget presentation to the Board.
GCC Awarded $1.03 Million Grant to Address Student Housing Insecurity
The Glendale City Council has awarded the Glendale Community College District and the Glendale College Foundation a five-year, $1,309,000 grant to address student housing insecurity. The new program, Sheltered Success, will be launching in spring 2021 and will be housed within the services offered by GCC CARES.
Sheltered Success will provide a number of supportive services to students who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This will include emergency housing, rapid re-housing, and funding to keep at-risk students housed. Sheltered Success will be part of a larger basic needs initiative that will be launched by GCC CARES in spring 2021. This initiative will incorporate direct assistance with educational opportunities that increase the financial literacy and employability of GCC students.
“We are excited to be launching this new initiative as part of the District’s priority of addressing student basic needs. Sheltered Success is the first of the announced programs that will directly impact student success and achievement at GCC. Additional details about the Sheltered Success program and eligibility guidelines will be available in the coming months,” said Andre Manukyan, CARES interim program manager.
GCC CARES Reopens Food Pantry for Contactless Service
In other GCC CARES news, the college food pantry has reopened for appointment based and contactless service. By using an appointment based service, the food pantry can reopen for contactless service while still meeting all the safety guidelines for both staff and students. Students that are experiencing food insecurity can make an appointment at www.glendale.edu/foodpantry.
When students arrive at San Fernando 122, the new location of the food pantry, they will be greeted outdoors by a staff member. The staff member will provide the student with the categories of food that are currently available. The student will select the food they want, provide a bag to the staff member, and the staff member will bag the requested food for the student.
This service will be in addition to the current drive-through food bank, which is hosted on the first Wednesday of each month by GCC and the LA Regional Food Bank. This will allow students to have access to nutritious food during weeks that the drive-through food bank is not available.
The VAALT group looks to make an impact for Student Athletes
The GCC Athletics Department is proud to announce a new athletics program called The VAALT. The Vaquero Academic and Athletic Leadership Team is a service group that consists of representatives from all 16 Vaquero teams. This select group of student athletes meets monthly to provide a voice on behalf of all student athletes at GCC. The VAALT serves as a forum to provide perspective regarding the student athlete experience, as well as athletics programming, community outreach projects, local/state legislation, and GCC issues such as representation, equity, anti-racism, diversity and inclusion. The VAALT is responsible for communicating information on upcoming events to their teams and coaches while working together to create unity among all athletics programs.
On Thursday, Nov. 5 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm, ASGCC will be hosting members of The VAALT for a discussion on how COVID-19 has affected our student athletes academically, socially and athletically as well as what the future holds for the 340+ student athletes here at GCC this semester. Flex Credit will be offered. The Zoom link is https://zoom.us/my/involved.
Updates from Guided Pathways
This month the Guided Pathways Team would like to give a huge thank you to Ann Simon and Frankie Strong for designing our new logo. It looks amazing and we have already begun to feature it on our website and presentations. It’s beautiful!
While we continue to work on our program maps and the website, Student Services is beginning to share our Learning and Professional Pathways with students. Beginning on November 10, ASGCC is hosting an LPP fair featuring counselors and faculty members from all our pathways. Thanks to ASGCC for the wonderful idea and for taking initiative in planning this series of events. More information will be coming soon! If you have been asked to participate in a faculty panel please consider signing up; this is a chance for students to explore our pathways, majors, and careers.
As we move into this next year, the Guided Pathways Workgroups are diving deeper into some exciting topics. Interested in assisting with creating program maps? Have ideas about how to best support students in their first year of college? Passionate about outreach and how we bring students to our college? Please reach out to us so we can match you to a workgroup. And remember the Open Forum and workgroup meetings are open to all. Visit our website www.glendale.edu/GP for schedules and contact information.
Chief's Corner: Safety Tips
Chief Sam DiGiovanna currently serves as the Co-Director of the Verdugo Fire Academy. Prior to GCC, his 35 years in fire service included stints with the LA Co. Fire Department and 20 years with the City of Monrovia, six years as fire chief. You may have seen him on NBC-4 Los Angeles where he provides fire/life safety stories. Chief Sam will provide articles on staying safe during specific times of the year.
Here are a few topics for the upcoming holiday season:
Cybersecurity: How You Can Help
A recent third-party cybersecurity risk assessment prompted some positive feedback regarding our efforts to protect GCC’s cyber network. Unfortunately, we will never be free from bad actors trying to access our computer systems. With that in mind consider these tips to reduce the risk of viruses and other malware infiltrating our network:
- Logoff GCC network when not in use while working remotely
- Never provide anyone private credentials (password or user-ID)
- Do not open unknown email links (example. COVID19 relief, Click Here, etc.)
- Only use VPN (virtual private network) to access SharePoint when off campus.
Information Technology Services (ITS) is working to introduce email tagging to identity phishing attempts and implementing multiple forms of authentication when logging in. ITS has created a webpage dedicated to cybersecurity where you may find more useful information here.
While you are away...
Facilities Installs Free Feminine Products Dispensers
The Facilities Department has installed feminine products dispensers containing FREE tampons and pads in every women’s restroom throughout the college district.
Joel Peterson, Director of Facilities, took the lead in moving the project to its completion. Said Joel, “this was an initiative that I had implemented at another college. Upon joining GCC a year ago, among my first steps was to conduct an assessment of the equity and inclusiveness of our facilities. I discovered that there were few feminine products dispensers on our campuses and that GCC was charging for feminine products from the few existing dispensers. I raised the topic with Administrative Services management, shared that the budget for restroom supplies could absorb providing for these products, and was approved to install new dispensers in all women’s restrooms for both tampons and pads, available at no charge. As chair of GCC’s Campus Development Committee, I brought the initiative to the committee for information and for feedback. The committee was highly supportive.”