The Partnership will at long last be exposed

This afternoon, OC Weekly’s Nick Schou posted about the big trial of former Orange Unified School District trustee Steve Rocco (The Great Ketchup Caper Trial).

As you know, Rocco was elected to the OUSD board in 2004 because the people of Orange are as dumb as dirt. Now that he’s gone, well, they’re still as dumb as dirt. Dumber maybe.

Rocco is accused of stealing a bottle of ketchup (or “catsup”) from the Chapman U cafeteria. The condiment has a street value of about $1.20. Rocco tried to make his (alleged) getaway on his bike.

As you know, Steve Rocco is alone in this world in his view that the country is actually run by something called the “Partnership,” a powerful and secretive group that evidently comprises, among others, Kodak Corp., Albertson’s, and Smokecraft Sausage.

Evidently, he stole one of Smokecraft’s wieners back in 1981. Whatever.

Schou reports that Rocco’s defense concerns his belief “that unrefrigerated ketchup is actually ‘garbage.’" Former OC Sheriff (now felon) Mike Carona has been subpoenaed by Rocco for reasons unknown. My guess, he’ll be testifying about wieners.

Rocco is serving as his own attorney. Natch, he has a fool for a client.

Related:

Air Force says it didn’t cause mystery shaking in O.C. (OC Register)

"No," "no," and "no."

• OCC PREZ SAYS "NO" TO REMAINING.

Today, OCC’s Coast Report informs us that OCC’s President, Bob Dees, has announced his plan to retire.

Dees, who started at OCC as an instructor, told the Coast Report that he plans to do lots of writing. (A scholar? How refreshing!)

Leadership is definitely in transition at the Coast Community College District. As you know, in January, the district board “ousted” Chancellor Ken Yglesias. As far as I know, the community there is still in the dark concerning the board’s reasons. See Mystery surrounds Yglesias’ leave

(Some speculate that the ousting had something to do with Armando Ruiz, the trustee who lost his reelection bid in November when a Register columnist trained a spotlight on Ruiz’ record of unscrupulousness. But, in fact, we’ve heard nothing about the board’s reasons.)

OCC is another among many colleges that is in dutch with the accreditors. The college will hear from the ACCJC in June—just as Dees exits, stage left.

• JUST SAYING "NO" TO IRVINE?

According to Cal State University Fullerton’s Daily Titan, the university's Academic Senate voted 16 to 12 not to support the new location chosen for its recently evicted Irvine campus. (It’s an advisory vote.)

According to the Titan,

The resolution's success is an indication of the growing dissent among vocal faculty members who are in opposition to the Irvine campus' existence, and who believe university administrators have not presented convincing evidence that Irvine has proven to be a success over the years.

The article goes into some detail concerning the fiscal issues that divide faculty regarding this satellite campus.

Naturally, some of our own plans (in the SOCCCD) depend on what CSUF ultimately decides.

See also Chapman University gets a new Irvine campus

• TOP EL CAMINO ADMINISTRATOR SAYS "NO" TO RAISE

A couple of days ago, Dailybreeze.com reported (El Camino president says no to raise) that El Camino College President Thomas Fallo removed from the agenda (of the last meeting of the board of trustees) a proposal to “give Fallo a $36,000 pay raise, which with salary and perks would have given the college president an annual income of about $337,000”:

The package specifically called for a 12 percent annual pay hike, a $2,450 monthly stipend and a $550 monthly transportation allowance, which was to be paid retroactive from January.

After the meeting, Fallo explained that the “attention this has gotten has far outweighed the benefits."

Had the raise gone through, Fallo would have been among the highest paid college administrators in the state.

He’d be in Raghu P. Mathur’s league.

Fallo was at the helm when Compton Community College (in a contiguous district) lost its accreditation. The El Camino district came to the rescue, turning Compton into the “Compton Community Education Center.”

Evidently, the Compton center—which continues to be problematic—has taken up much of Fallo’s time and energy. That was cited by at least one trustee as a reason for the raise.

It appears that trustees had promised Fallo a raise to keep him from jumping ship to other college districts (he has been a finalist in two recent chancellor searches; he was persuaded to drop out of at least one of these processes).

Like many community colleges, recently, El Camino has run afoul of accreditors (the ACCJC). In January, that body slapped a “warning” on El Camino.

Community college trends

In this morning’s Inside Higher Ed:

Community College Surge

In economic downturns, community college enrollments go up, as those who lose jobs … seek to add skills or training, and as some students who might otherwise have gone away for college look to save money by living at home while attending classes. As the economic downturn hit hard last year, this trend was immediately evident, with many community colleges reporting a flood of students.

A survey released Tuesday here at a meeting of the League for Innovation in the Community College suggests that the early anecdotal reports of increased enrollment are in fact correct. Further, community colleges are reporting increases in just about every major type of program they offer – with notable increases online….

The director of LICC suggests that, owing to budget issues, community colleges are at risk of weakening their “infrastructure” (counselors, et al.) and putting themselves in a weak position to compete with for-profit schools:

For-profit higher education tends to be quite efficient at responding to students' information requests, processing forms, guiding people through programs and responding to inquiries, [LICC Director Kenneth C.] Green noted. And when for-profit colleges offer good service, he suggested, they set a standard that community colleges may have difficulty meeting – at least if they continue to cut positions outside the classroom.

These days, Green said, students have the view of "if I have one lousy experience with your college, to hell with you, I'll go to [the University of] Phoenix."

Figuring Out Freshmen

A new report suggests that many incoming community college students do not take advantage of valuable student resources simply because they are not aware of them. It argues that two-year institutions need to do a better job of personally assisting new students, especially within the "make or break" time period of their first few weeks.

The latest findings from the Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) were released today….
…
Kay McClenney, CCSSE's director and head of the department of educational administration at the University of Texas at Austin, said the survey’s data show the importance of the first weeks of a student’s college career. By analyzing student engagement at this point, she said community college administrators and instructors can make valuable changes to their approaches, applying proven techniques that make a difference in their students' academic outcome.

Most of the surveyed students reported that they “felt welcome” the first time they arrived on campus and that they were able to get the information they needed to register for class. Still, 76 percent of them noted that there was not a “specific person” designated for them to see if they “needed information or assistance.” The report suggests that more colleges should adopt personalized advising programs, matching students with mentors earlier.

Within this same short time frame, the report notes that most students adopt a number of bad habits that continue to plague them throughout their college career. For example, 32 percent of incoming students reported that they “turned in at least one assignment late.” Twenty-five percent said they “failed to turn in one or more assignment,” 47 percent said they “came to class unprepared” and 29 percent said they skipped class.

“Students do these things, and there are often no consequences,” said McClenney, noting that she believes students will respond to stricter guidelines. “Most of the time, nobody notices that they stop coming to class. If there are no consequences for bad behavior, it’ll continue.”….