A Solomonic approach to ATEP "ownership"

     I finally got a chance to glance at the agenda (available here) for Monday’s meeting of the SOCCCD board of trustees.
     I noticed these curious items under “general action items”:

6.1 - SOCCCD: College Service Areas
   Approve Resolution #12-04 reaffirming the two college campus service areas within SOCCCD and establish a separate ATEP service area for both Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College to share in approximately equal proportions with complementary, non-competitive Career Technology Education programs and related services for the district at large.
6.2 - SOCCCD: ATEP Site Assignments for Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College
   Approve Resolution #12-05 and the building concept plan for ATEP site assignments for college building and infrastructure locations. This resolution includes the approval to: (1) assign approximately equal land sites for each college’s building, including infrastructure, and parking; (2) to support that future ATEP site development will be allocated in approximately equal proportions to each college for educational use and for potential ground leases or space leases with educational, business, and commercial partners, and (3) contingent on available funding, continue to move forward with the planning and design for the next two ATEP buildings (one for each college). Ground leases and space leases will be managed by district services. The revenue will be used to support further site development at ATEP.

     I’m told that Chancellor Gary Poertner is behind this “Solomonic” concept of dividing ATEP into two equal portions for the two colleges. As you know, in recent years, the issue of who "owns" (my word) ATEP has become contentious between the district's two college presidents.

A recent Fuentes sighting

     If you’re into OC GOP Central Committee “inside baseball”—not me, brother—check out Jack Wu’s column today in the Newport Beach Independent.
     Wu mentions that he acted as Tom Fuentes’ driver for Monday’s Central Committee meeting.
     The occasion? For Fuentes, it was a chance “to swear in his son T.J. as an alternate member of the Central Committee…”
     Fuentes, that noisy "fiscal conservative," remains trustee for Area 6 of the South Orange County Community College District, though he has attended only one board meeting since last March, owing, presumably, to his terminal cancer. His colleagues on the board have consistently acted to have him receive his trustee pay despite the absences. Presumably, he also continues to receive the hefty benefits that go with the job.
     Fuentes is reputed to be wealthy—the Balboa Bay Club seems to be his second home—though he and his family live in a relatively modest home in Lake Forest.

1924 op-ed cartoon in the Fullerton Tribune
(unearthed recently by Gustavo Arellano)

Plagiarist Reeve loses City Council "invocation" debate: "we're not a church"

Reeve first attracted attention last summer when he urged the
City Council to allow citizens to carry guns at city parks

     Plagiarist, Islamophobe, and wild-eyed right-winger Derek Reeve is in the news again:

Council: Don't Invoke Deity Names (San Juan Capistrano Patch)
     From now on, the prayers that kick off San Juan Capistrano City Council meetings will come from council members only and be nonsectarian.

     Prayers said before City Council meetings will now be rotated just among council members and must remain nonsectarian, the council decided Tuesday in a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Derek Reeve opposed..
     “I’m a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ,” said Councilman John Taylor. “I don’t have a problem with someone saying his name. But other people might.”
     Reeve raised the issue on what should and shouldn't be said during an invocation after a guest he brought in to pray at the December meeting was criticized by other council members for mentioning the “Son.”
     Typically, council members take turns giving the invocation. But Reeve said he wanted to give his turn to various members of the community of differing faiths, as a way to reach out after the council found itself caught up in recent controversies involving religion.

     Mr. Reeve, who, despite his rich history as a plagiarist, is also an adjunct instructor at Saddleback College, caused the larger of these controversies when he joked, during a City Council meeting, that he had named one of his dogs “Muhammad.”

Kramer: "We're not a church...."

     Reeve said he instructed resident Gary Stache, a leader in the Vineyard Community Church in Laguna Niguel, not to say the name Jesus or proselytize. But when Stache ended the prayer in the “name of the Son,” Councilman Sam Allevato became upset, leading to this week’s discussion.
     Reeve prefers the idea of rotating people of different faiths to do the invocations, he said.
     “All religions should be encouraged. They all have one thing in common, and that is faith, the faith that tomorrow will be a better day,” he said.

     Reeve is, of course, ignoring atheists and agnostics, of which there are many in SJC.

     “I’ve been on a lot of boards. I go to a lot of meetings,” said Allevato. “It’s always kept nondenominational, and that’s what I’m comfortable with.”
     He added that mentioning a deity could make some feel “disenfranchised.”
     Resident Steve Behmerwohld urged the council to do away with invocation altogether.
     “I think you do a good job. I don’t think you need divine intervention,” he said.
     The council did vote to keep the prayers, but they must not call upon the name of any specific deity.
     “We’re not a church here,” [Mayor Larry] Kramer said. “We’re a public institution. We should act like one.”

See also New gun law shoots down San Juan tradition (OC Reg)

Are we doing Early College wrong? Part II

     Recently, I described my one-and-a-half hour stint teaching “Early College” at a local high school. I described that episode in relation to long-standing faculty worries about this sort of program.
     The piece elicited a comment from the director of a large Midwestern Early/Middle College program, who suggested that IVC’s “direct credit” approach—that is, an approach in which groups of high school students are thrust all at once, and with little preparation, into college classes (at the high school)—is unlikely to succeed. According to the Director, a proper and viable “Early College” program brings pre-college students to the university or college and works with them extensively until they are prepared to join college courses.
     I wrote him, asking for a fuller explanation. This morning, he wrote back. He provided me with impressive data that suggest that his program is highly successful. Beyond that, he made these points:

• Many schemes around the country are called “Early College,” but the successful programs comprise “colleges” created by secondary schools on college/university campuses, that are tightly aligned with those institutions and that see themselves as part of them.
• In these successful programs, students are not brought into college courses until they demonstrate the academic and life skills necessary for college success. (He cites the work of David Conley.)
• In general, one cannot plop high school students into a college course setting and expect them to succeed. Successful programs are mindful of typical high school student deficits and entail faculty working with students as coaches as well as instructors.
• IVC’s sort of “Early College” program puts high school students into instructional circumstances that “do not taste, feel or smell like college.” Thus, many institutions of higher learning are unwilling to view such instruction as college instruction. Colleges and universities tend to require that EC courses be taught at colleges, on a college course time schedule, with most of the students in the class being actual college students.

     I also heard from a college employee who reported that, in the early days of IVC’s EC program, he sought to gain a sound grasp of how the scheme prepared students for degrees or transfer, but that eluded him. His probing questions to those in charge were poorly received and generally unwelcome. This employee found himself sometimes recommending to students that they try OCC.
     Another employee described tense and uncomfortable sessions with immature high schoolers and their parents who seemed incapable of understanding the importance of student maturity for college success.

See also ABC’s and PhD’s: Early College (Mama PhD, Inside Higher Ed)

Ignorami

How many ways can you be wrong? Mitt hits 'em all

The Campaign and Higher Ed (Inside Higher Ed)
   [MITT ROMNEY] …Romney's views on for-profit higher education were the focus of an article Sunday in The New York Times. The article described statements by Romney in New Hampshire, where he suggested that students concerned about the high cost of higher education consider enrolling at for-profit colleges, and in Iowa, where he specifically praised Full Sail University. Also in Iowa, Romney said that for-profit colleges "hold down the cost of education." And in an interview with The Ames Tribune editorial board, Romney said that for-profit higher education would force nonprofit colleges to cut costs, and eliminate "unnecessary" departments.
     The Times article noted that when Romney endorsed for-profit higher education and Full Sail, he did not mention that the university's chief executive, Bill Heavener, is co-chair of Romney's Florida fund-raising team. Nor did he mention contributions from the chair of the private equity company that owns Full Sail, or from Todd S. Nelson, chief executive of the Education Management Corp., which is currently facing a suit from the U.S. Justice Department over its recruiting practices.
     While Romney praised for-profit higher education as a financially practical alternative to traditional colleges, the Times noted that Full Sail is not inexpensive….
     [Notoriously, for-profits account for most student loans, which are federally insured; and their students' default rates are very high, and, when default occurs, tax-payers end up paying off the loan.]

Foot in mouth again

   [JOE BIDEN] ...In Pennsylvania, Biden responded to a question about why college costs keep going up by noting that it was a "puzzle" and that there was "no one thing" responsible. But among the factors he identified were increases in faculty salaries. "Salaries for college professors have escalated significantly," he said….
. . .
     Most experts would agree that labor costs (faculty members and all other employees) are a large part of college budgets. But nationally, during the past few years when double-digit price increases at many public institutions have frustrated so many students, parents and politicians, it would be hard to point the finger at escalating faculty salaries. According to national data from the American Association of University Professors, the average salary for continuing faculty members increased by 1.4 percent in 2010-11, just under the rate of inflation. The figure the year before was a 1.2 percent increase, well below inflation. And these figures are for full-time faculty members, and so don't reflect the increased reliance of colleges in recent years on adjuncts, who are typically paid much less than others, and who frequently lack benefits….
. . .

Won't eat French fries either

   [NEWT GINGRICH] A new ad on behalf of Newt Gingrich, after accusing Romney of being a moderate, of supporting government mandated health care and more, raises a new scandalous charge: Romney speaks French. There is even a clip (toward end of the ad) to verify the charge.
     Rosemary G. Feal, executive director of the Modern Language Association, was not impressed with the ad. Via e-mail she said: "That Mitt Romney speaks French is probably great news for the million and a half U.S. residents whose first language is French, and it might also influence others who value knowing more than one language. Campaign strategic message fail!"

Price of Success (Inside Higher Ed)

     If low graduation and student transfer rates at City Colleges of Chicago don’t start improving, the system’s leaders could lose their jobs. That’s because the formal job responsibilities of the chancellor, presidents and even trustees include graduation rate goals.
. . .
     “You cannot continue with a 7 percent graduation rate,” said Rahm Emanuel, Chicago’s mayor, at news conference last summer. “We owe the taxpayers – and most importantly the students – a better community college system.”....

IVC's "Early College Program": doing it wrong?

     Last Monday, I wrote about my experiences holding a class (as a substitute) in Irvine Valley College’s benighted “Early College Program,” a program foisted upon IVC faculty that has been the subject of many complaints by faculty participants. The latter led to an Academic Senate (limited) inquiry, which seemed to bear out the notion that the program was problematic (student immaturity, a pattern of violations of instructor autonomy, obnoxious pressures from deans/parents, etc.).
     (One suspects that top administration views the college's ECP as a shiny, if meretricious, political showpiece that no quantity of pedagogical negatives cited by mere faculty could ever outweigh.)
     In the piece, I once again opined that the ECP, as presently configured, is a bad idea, at least for some college courses, owing to the immaturity of students (otherwise wonderful though they may be).
     For what it’s worth, this morning, we heard from one David Dugger:

David Dugger said...
     As the Director of the Early College Alliance @ Eastern Michigan University, former Dean/Principal of the Washtenaw Technical Middle College and President of Middle College Consultants I must whole heartedly agree with the post and the associated comments.
     This [i.e., IVC's ECP] is not an Early/Middle College Model, but a Direct Credit Model. Often Direct Credit Models are "packaged" as Early/Middle Colleges, but their design, structure and pedagogy are rarely, if ever, consistent with the tenets of Early/Middle College programs.
     Direct Credit models have some value and they should be evaluated as such, but to market them as Early Colleges does a grave disservice to the students and the Early/Middle College movement.
     -- 7:20 AM, January 16, 2012

     I checked, and a David Dugger is indeed the Director of the Early College Alliance, whose “about” page explains that:

   The Early College Alliance (ECA) is a public, early/middle college program located on the campus of Eastern Michigan University and exists in partnership with local school districts, including Washtenaw Intermediate School District. [My emphasis.]
. . .
   ECA is recognized by the Michigan Department of Education as a four plus one program. . . .

   The program gives students an opportunity to earn college credits while still in high school and offers strong, academically focused students a chance to enroll in advanced, college-level coursework. It also provides an option for students who are either struggling or don't feel connected to their school an alternative.
   ECA allows students to:

• Graduate from high school with a diploma and up to 60 college credits.
• Attend classes on a university campus with support.
• Learn in a college environment that fosters maturity and academic growth.
• Gain vital skills for college success.

     I'll see what I can find out about these two "models" to which Dugger refers.

P.S.:

     I did some looking, and it appears that, normally, an “Early College” or “Middle College” program comprises instruction at college campuses that are “structured” to permit participating K-12 students' simultaneous completion of high school (grad requirements) and a college Associate Degree (or satisfaction of college/university transfer requirements).
     Clearly, IVC’s ECP is not of this type (with the exception of high school seniors in the program; see IVC statement below), for its courses are held at the high school.
     “Direct Credit” programs seem typically to involve high school students taking “college” courses at the high school. Instructors are often “deputized” high school instructors, although, sometimes, they are college instructors imported from the local college. Often, direct credit schemes, like the above programs, are structured to allow students to prepare for college transfer and high school graduation simultaneously. (Some early or middle college programs target "struggling" students as well.)
     As Dugger suggests, IVC’s ECP seems to fall into the “direct credit” category, for its courses are held at the high schools, not the colleges. The instructors, however, are typically IVC adjuncts and hence they are college instructors, not high school instructors.
     Here’s how IVC describes its Early College Program:

     The purpose of the Early College Program is to provide the opportunity for academically qualified high school students to ... transfer to one of the UC or CSU campuses with almost two years worth of transferrable college credit, saving thousands of dollars in tuition and valuable time that can be directed toward a career or graduate work. ...[A]fter the initial cohort of students, the project has scaled back to provide for the IGETC Certification only. Students complete their high school diploma while taking IVC courses for both high school and college credit.
     The classes offered at the high school are Irvine Valley College courses taught by Irvine Valley College professors....
     Professors from IVC ... have access to high school principals and vice principals to deal immediately with student/school issues and parental requests for information as they arise, and the IVC’s Office of Instruction is responsible for overall coordination of this program. [These features reflect an attempt to address the adverse findings of the Academic Senate inquiry, I believe.]
     ECP classes are held in the morning before the first period at the high school for 9th through 11th graders…. Seniors take their college classes at IVC in the early morning. Classes are open to other college students in addition to ECP students.
     This May we look forward to our first Early College graduating class of 23 students from Beckman High School….

     One wonders what Dugger had in mind when he wrote that "Often Direct Credit Models are 'packaged' as Early/Middle Colleges, but their design, structure and pedagogy are rarely, if ever, consistent with the tenets of Early/Middle College programs." And what is the "disservice" done to "early college" students when "direct credit" schemes are labelled "early college"?
     I'll see what I can learn. (I've emailed Director Dugger.)

More on Utt the Nut: "Extensive experiments in hypnotism and rhythm"

     Saddleback College’s library is named after Congressman James B. Utt, who died in 1970. I’ve been posting about the fellow and his views and pronouncements.
     This morning, I scraped up a few new factoids:
     There are several references to James B. Utt in the excellent Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right, by Lisa McGirr.
     On p. 120, McGirr quotes from a letter by Utt to Richard Nixon, complaining that Nixon’s denunciation of the John Birch Society (owing to leader Welch's remarks) was “ridiculous.” Later, Ronald Reagan, whom Utt championed, refused to disown Birch support, again distinguishing between leader and followers (p. 311).

Utt liked Birchers but
didn't like leader Welch

     As near as I can tell, Utt was never actually a member of the JB Society, but he certainly agreed with many of the views with which that organization is associated and he defended it often.
     Utt seemed to have a fondness for nutty "scientific" theories. Historian and journalist Rick Perlstein quotes from a speech by Utt in the Congressional Record:

“The Beatles and their mimicking rock-and-rollers use the Pavlovian techniques produce artificial neuroses in our young people. Extensive experiments in hypnotism and rhythm have shown how rock-and-rock music leads to a destrtuion [sic] of the normal inhibitory mechanism of the cerebral cortet [sic] and permits easy acceptance of immorality and disregard for all moral norms.”

     The speech is also quoted in part in Perlstein’s Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America.
     According to journalist Howard Blum in Wanted!: the search for Nazis in America,

Sometime before his ominous pronouncements about Operation Water Moccasin and just after his discovery of "a plot to centralize the Girl Scouts," Representative James B. Utt became involved in the case of Andrija Artukovic.

James B. Utt

     Utt helped Artukovic fight extradition to Yugoslovia for war crimes. Artukovic was known as the “Himmler of the Balkans.” Eventually, the extradition occurred (in the 80s). (Evidently, “Operation Water Moccasin” was a planned U.S. military maneuver in Georgia. At the time [1963], the far right was convinced that the operation was a cover for a move to disarm the U.S. and make it subject to the U.N.)
     James B. Utt on Space Travel (1963). Pretty goofy. Evidently, Utt supposed that, someday, a Star Trek-like transporter would be invented, though it appears that he wouldn't want to use it. Smart.
     Utt on muckraker Jessica Mitford. Utt was really down on Mitford’s famous exposé of the funeral industry (The American Way of Death, 1963). Called her a Commie, owing to her long-ago membership. I think she appreciated the publicity. Utt was a big supporter of HUAC.
     Utt on Medicare. Yeah, he was down on that sort of thing. Civil rights, too.
     Although I haven't been able to verify it, Utt reportedly once warned that Chinese soldiers were massing on the Mexican border. He wrote that in his notorious newsletter. The rumor was widespread among the far right in those days.
     Gosh, if anybody had kept those newsletters, they'd be gold now!