The men's bathroom of IVC's A200: a message to our students

Nothing says "we love you" to students more than a well-maintained rest room!
—And nothing says "FU" more than this.

Nothing I found in the restroom today is unusual.
This is how this restroom always looks.
Most of us (faculty) just go over to the restroom in A100,
which, natch, is nicer, though nothing to write home about.
Hell, over there, they seem to remodel stuff on a whim!
Remember when the floor was red, and then, suddenly, it wasn't?

I think they intended to put up a sign saying "midgets" above
that paper dispenser on the right, but they never did get around to it.

Somebody'll be around any second to bus this table.

This is what people do when they're in shitty restrooms.

The plumbing of these sinks looks Flintstonian.

The paper dispenser at right looks like it's been through several wars.

I don't know what this entity is, but, whatever it is,
it's been there, on the ceiling, growing, for years.

Cobwebs, natch.

We're screwed, part II

Point of entry, faculty office with computer, books

     Today’s meeting concerning security issues in Irvine Valley College’s building A200 went well, I suppose. Owing to the good turnout—I didn’t count bodies, but maybe twenty or more A200 inhabitants showed up—the meeting was moved from the so-called A200 “lounge” to room A205, otherwise known as the “mold room.”
     Running the meeting were IVC Police Chief Will Glen and three or so of his officers, including a fellow named Todd Schmaltz, who gave an overview of what’s occurred and what the police are doing. He seemed to do a good job.
     Officer Schmaltz outlined the incidents, including two in which perpetrators entered a faculty office through the window and absconded, each time, with books and an iMac computer.
     Last Friday night—or early Saturday morning; it was 1:00 a.m.—as Schmaltz was heading home after work, he noticed a figure lurking near Building B200 on the other end of campus (relative to A200). Eventually, he confronted a young man parked in lot 10. The man explained, implausibly, that he was helping a friend to pick up a backpack. Eventually, the man acknowledged that his companion, who did not return, was up to no good. Later that night, the companion, too, was picked up—by Irvine Police.

Fresh air? Not so much. All windows now screwed shut.

     It turns out that these two young men—one an IVC student, the other a former IVC student—have significant histories as druggies and thieves. Officer Schmaltz and another officer who attended the meeting opined that these two are indeed the perpetrators of the A200 burglaries. At this point, however, there is no evidence justifying an arrest for those crimes, but the investigation continues.
     Chief Glen once again emphasized that these burglaries involve a threat to property but no threat of violence against persons. They are property crimes, he said.
     On the other hand, when I noted that, though “security” is a valid concern, so is comfort, and yesterday’s action of screwing closed all of the windows of A200 will entail discomfort for some denizens—we prefer fresh air—Chief Glen seemed to upgrade his understanding of the “security” issue to a matter of personal safety, for I was told—by Glen and also by President Glenn Roquemore, who also attended—essentially that security trumps comfort. Well, yes, if security means personal safety, then security trumps comfort. But if security means securing books and computers, then I’m not so sure.
     Well, whatever.
     Another denizen of A200 indicated that she prefers to open the windows to let in fresh air and hoped that there are alternatives to the new status quo. Glenn didn’t like that. Security, man; it’s important.
     Glenn also noted that, in a year or so, denizens of A200, at least those in the School of Humanities and Languages, will be moving anyway to the new A400 Building. That's supposed to be music to soothe the savage breast, I guess.
     The investigation of these burglaries continues.

UPDATE: I should mention that the two faculty who, during the meeting, noted the problem with screwing shut the windows were "holding back" a bit. One reason that we seek fresh air in (at least our section of) A200 is that it has a history—a recent history—of unhealthy mold. My office is next door to one of the mold-affected areas and has itself had mold & water-damage issues in the past; the other faculty is immediately across the hall from the affected area. And nothing says "mold" louder than a tiny office with lousy circulation and no fresh air.
     During the meeting, Prez Glenn Roquemore emphasized the importance of air conditioning efficiency and how that might be affected by the practice of opening office windows. Now, in fact, no one knows our section of A200 better than we do—after all, we practically live there—and, in fact, there has been no history of complaints about the inefficiency of the air conditioning, despite the fact that, down at our dead-air section of A200, the windows of at least two offices are (until now) routinely open, allowing a nice breeze to transect our damned, mold-friendly tarn.

Copier room: now locked shut. Not exactly Gemütlichkeit

     I should mention, too, that, during the meeting, nobody stood up to take responsibility for the decision to screw shut all of the windows—windows that are designed to be opened and that have in fact been opened routinely since the building's construction decades ago. Glenn even seemed to say that it (i.e., comments during the meeting) was the first he had heard about the mass screwage.
     Yeah, transparency and accountability my ass.
     Some will recall that, a few years ago, denizens of A200 grew vocal in their complaints that the building was uncomfortable and uninviting—it had no lounge nor sofas nor any other elements of the commodious workplace. Responding to such pressures, Glenn paid for a couple of couches and chairs and then showed up to take bows. The so-called A200 "lounge" was born, though, as it turns out, it is much more often used by students than by faculty (so uninviting does it remain).
     I didnt want to mention this during the meeting, but I'll mention it now: closing and placing a big, ugly lock (see above) on the photocopy/mailroom door is certainly a step backward for those who have long sought to create a friendly and inviting workplace environment. Every time I stop to punch in that infernal code to open that ridiculous door, I feel that I am working in a prison, not the home of Humanities and Languages (et al.) faculty.
     And do keep in mind that, as the Reb recently reminded me, the faculty environment is also the student environment.
     I seem to recall that, at the end of the meeting, Ac. Senate Prez Kathy Schmeidler suggested that administrators actually communicate a bit with the college community about the thefts and efforts to respond to them. Yeah, right. That's not gonna happen.

I wonder if this is what the new and improved A400 will look like. Security is important!

My and Reb's office: window no longer opens; hot, airless, stuffy--an invitation to mold

For-Profit Wage Gap (Inside Higher Ed)
     Community college students who transfer to for-profit institutions tend to earn less over the next decade than do their peers who transfer to public or private colleges.
     Those are the findings from a study released Monday by the Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment, a research center that was created with a federal grant and is housed at the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Columbia University’s Teachers College....

January's meeting of the SOCCCD BOT—live and direct!

Nancy's new friend

     (Be sure to read Tere's Board Meeting Highlights.)
     It's 6:00 p.m. and there's no sign yet of the SOCCCD Board. They're in closed session and they're running late, I guess. Back atcha in a minute.
     The crowd here tonight at the fabulous Ronnie Reagan meeting room is about usual. There are maybe 25 or so people in the room right now, happily yappin' away.
     It'll be interesting to see what sort of action, if any, the trustees will take re the Director of Student Life at IVC, namely, Helen Locke. As you know, five or so weeks ago, IVC Prez Glenn Roquemore suddenly "fired" Helen. Sent her home anyway. Roquemore recommended her dismissal I suppose, but somehow that didn't happen at the subsequent BOT meeting closed session. "No action."
     6:08 - I see that some of the administrators have just arrived. A sign that the board is done with its closed session? We'll see.
     Yes! I see Prendergast and Lang. And the student trustee.
     It's 6:11, and we're still waiting for the rest of the board. Chancellor Gary Poertner is here, conferring with Roquemore. Wright just arrived; now Nancy and Marcia. Glenn seems to be getting his ducks in a row about something. He's smiling, too. So maybe Helen's toast, dunno. We'll see soon enough. Prendergast runs the show these days, and he's stepped out. Haven't seen Jay or Jemal yet either.
     The trustees are pretty quiet up there. Jay just wandered in. But where's Prendergast? Jemal just stepped in.
     6:14 - still no Prendergast. Ah, there he is.

     6:14 - Prendergast starts the meeting.
     Clerk reads out actions: only action, 7/0 vote approved 3 mo. unpaid leave of absence for classified employee.
     Lang does the invocation--a prayer, it seems. Asks that the country continue to be great...
     Next COMMENDATIONS. Tod Burnett steps up. Yadda yadda.
     It's a "commendation" of 9 "Bridge 2 Engineering" students who have been accepted to NASA's "National Community College Aerospace Scholars Program." Burnett is yammering about that. Now he's identifying each of the students. "Thank you very much, we're proud of you...." Applause. Photos.
     Any public comments? OF COURSE NOT.

     Board reports:

Jemal: a "substantial investment"

     Bill Jay: commends students who were just commended.  I wonder if anyone will commend Jay for commending the students for being commended.
     Tim Jemal: he attended Pres breakfast at IVC. Missed some Saddleback activities. Astounding Inventions thing, attended that. "What struck me...how much common sense oriented" they were. Career readiness, etc.
     Marcia Milchiker: the semester just started. Attended professional development week. I attended meetings each day. I found that the two colleges are doing incredibly well. Heard the presidents speak, the constituency groups. (Mentions various individuals.) "Incredibly excellent presentations."
     Nancy Padberg: been busy. Was unable to attend "Astounding inventions." Was educating myself for the state bar (25 hours). Missed the last meeting (December), first missed in 15 years. A brand new kitten. Had a disagreement [with the kitten] and got an infected hand. "More than you wanted to know." Prendergast quips: "You've got a minute [more]." Laughter.
     TJ Prendergast: attended Presidents' cup, first round. Exciting overtime comeback. Classified luncheon. Attended "Astounding inventions." I've been involved for seven years. Now as a trustee. Joy and excitement of students - is great. "Interesting, very powerful event."
     James Wright: attended inservice week, an "exciting week." Heard presentation on civility. "Very well done." I applaud IVC for doing this. Semester has gotten off to a good start at both colleges. Excited about Bridge 2 Engineering program. "A wonderful program." He's getting whispery again.

     Dave Lang: was unable to attend inservice sessions. Heard that it went "very well." Congrats to both college presidents. Congrats to newest faculty members. Hope to meet them. Heard speaker re state's fiscal state of affairs--lots to rejoice about, but I suspect that benefits to us as basic aid district "somewhat muted." We should be "vigilant." Congrats Dr Jerry Rudmann Western Psych., Association Fellowship. Have long known him, have great respect for him.
     Student trustee Robinson: compares student hunting for parking to animals hunting for food. Laughter.
     Chancellor Gary Poertner's report: highlights discussion items. First, informing the board in greater detail about activities to comply w/ requirements of students success act. IVC will be reporting. Assessment, orientation, etc. 2nd item: replacement of Human Resources and Financial Systems software, explanation of the process to make selection (?).

College Presidents:

Fitz.

     IVC's Glenn Roquemore: introducing Dr. Kay Reagan. (She stands up in the audience. She looks kinda grim.) Hired to be acting director of "student life." (So she's Helen Locke's temp replacement.) Flex week went very well. Fall leadership retreat: had each manager, director,... filmed. Answer to question: "What keeps you awake at night?" I was "absolutely impressed" by how each of them came out (these video moments, I guess). We call 'em "voices of passion." (I think I'm gonna vomit.) Led to some great advances for the institution. (I'll bet.) Benefit concert coming up. Folk rock music. A former member of the Byrds. Also Toulouse Englehardt. Astounding Inventions gets better each time.

     SC's Tod Burnett: Flex week went "real well." Thanks to Academic Senate. Parking is a little challenging, though "better than we expected." Started construction on new Sciences building. Two major initiatives SC is undertaking this semester. First, working with IVC. $250 million state grant. Career readiness. Partnering CCs with K-12. K-14 training programs for high-wage jobs in CA. Trying to get this grant. Second half of Presidents' cup coming up. "May the best teams win."

     Associated Student Government report, SC: blah, blah, blah. It is "survival of the fittest" in the parking lot. Had to park at business center across the street. Car got towed. $250. Sheesh.

     No board requests for reports.

     Discussion item 4.1: IVC "approach to Student Success Act of 2012."

     Linda Fontanilla is joined by L Cipres, T Tran, R Melendez (and M Scharf). Strategies we are implementing, etc.

     Cipres: School of G and Counseling... accelerated something program. Hands off to Counselor Tran--

     Tran: will discuss educational plans. Has trustees open a packet. Shows educational plan of engineering student. Refers to something called "MAP" [My Academic Plan]. Explains comprehensive educational plan, reviewed by a counselor. We noted first what works well in helping students to create these plans. We need to work with Instruction. Best way is to expand Counseling Curriculum. Develop accelerated academic planning courses that are geared toward students who want to transfer to a specific UC, CSU, etc.

     Created COUN 200A, B, C. For AA/AS, UC, CSU.

     Shows flier for these courses. Turns over to Rob't Melendez

     Melendez: whenever you have a new program or course, you need to promote it. Had good data from Fall 2013. 212 student enrolled. 100% completed the plan.
     Were we successful? 72 hours of instruction yielding 212 completed academic plans. Yeah.

     We want to hear from students. He shows video student testimonials (good Lord). One student says, If only I'd taken the 200 course, I would have saved so much time. Uh-huh. A counselor gives her testimony. Wow this sure is great.

     What's next? Will continue to offer these courses. Extend to Psychology, etc. Honing in on specific majors. Any questions?

     Jemal: He liked the presentation, clear and concise. What percentage of students lack a comprehensive academic plan? Melendez says it's hard to know. How about a ballpark estimate? 40-50%? (They're just making this up.) Jemal: what's our goal? M: Student Success Act wants 100%.

     Prendergast: how does this COU 200 compare with COU 10? M: COU 10 is a studies skills course. COU 1 is closer.

     Milchiker: I particular liked the clips of students. M: Mysite ad seemed to work. Milchiker: yes, reaching students "where they live." (Good grief.)

     Fontanilla: had to give students $20 gift certificate to In-N-Out to get 'em to do testimonials. Laughter.

     Prendergast stops the show to tell student government gal (who's about to leave) that the trustees have collected some dough to offset her parking ticket costs. So moved is the audience by this act of love that they break into spontaneous applause. I vomit upon the floor but no one notices.

     Item 4.2: [This is liable to be dull. D Fitzsimmons is up with the usual suspects: Bugay, Hilton, Davit.] Business Process Analysis, Software project.
     OK, I refuse to pay attention to this. Just too painful for my brain....
     Current software systems for HR and Finance are "old and out of date." She spells that out. Thus lots of our processes are "manual" and labor intensive. We knew we wanted to improve these processes.
     Hilton: blah, blah, blah. Outlined existing process. Very depressing. Came up with small, nimble process. Described ideal model that is simple, user friendly, compliant, transparent. Wanted to avoid the "COSTCO effect." Not sure what that was, though she explained it. "If we automate a mess, we have an automated mess." --Motto, I guess. They self-examined. She started talking about "BPAs". Don't know what they are. Oh yeah, business process analysis. Blah, blah, blah. They're hoping the board will approve the new streamlined system and processes. She hands off to Bugay:
     Bugay: we want a "one source system," i.e., one entry point. Current. Blah, blah, blah. We want to eliminate "shadow systems." We learned that transparency works very well. Everyone knows what's going on. A series of common themes emerged. Starts talking about DFPs. (?) Turns it over to Davit.
     Davit: seven initial responses from vendors. 3 were invited to give presentations.

     Workday, Inc. is recommended as the HR/Financial Software system
     CedarCrestone, Inc. Is recommended to be the implementation partner for the project.

     Why Workday? Blah blah blah. Starts saying things like "cloud based," "object oriented," "data analytics."
     Lists "technological advantages." These are mere assertions, of course. Promises made. Blah blah blah. Available on any mobile device. Davit liked that. Turns it over to Fitz:
     Fitzsimmons: expands on "mobility of this product." Talks about dashboards. User-friendly. Fitz seems genuinely excited. Implementation will take 18 mos. for both phases. Blah blah blah. We anthicipate going live at end of fiscal year 2014... Mentions "steering committee." Consultants. Lots of college input.
     Now turn to 6.1. They advance that (approval of agreement with these firms).
     They divide the question--for the two vendors. That is approved unanimously.

     So 6.1A: approve Workday, Inc.
     Questions?
     Milchiker: it appears that the process went well. How did you get people to participate? Fitz: we invited folks, had much participation. They had much to say.
     Padberg: so impressed that we're finally doing this. Such an important activity, hiring.
     Jemal: I concur. Long overdue. But this is a very substantial investment. Fitz: has Bob Bramucci explain. B: student-centered. An expectation of that now. This is true cloud-based software. New paradigm. Has a different data model, thus more upgradable. Object-oriented model. Talks data and codes.
     I have no idea what he's talking about.
    A "tower of Babel problem." Huh? Service-layers. Hard coding. --Whatever. What he said: it was a "nutshell," evidently. That's some nutshell.
      Jemal: current process is labor intensive. This new process is less labor intensive, presumably. New training in the district? Is cost of that factored into this? Fitz: will eliminate some duplicative processes. People will be doing more service oriented tasks, not menial tasks. I can't give you a dollar amount. Yes, training of our employees is "embedded in the cost." Software is more "intuitive." Jemal: hope this happens smoothly. Hopes this will follow timeline presented.
     Prendergast: I didn't hear answer about "ongoing costs." Maintenance costs. Fitz: "data migration" .... yadda yadda. I dunno what she's saying. Looks like this is less costly than others. This was the better product in terms of price too. Prendergast: I've heard that it has "superb security." What do you know about that? B: better role management. Again, I dunno what he's talking about. Prendergast likes B's answer, though. It's because B plays the guitar, I think.
     Jay: the complexity of this program, its "hugeness" is "beyond imagination." He seems to be advising that "we" take this in in bite-sized chunks. Yes, overall a simpler model. But this process is going to be big. He seems to be saying, "Don't blame me if, in the end, we don't like this" cuz its fucking big.
     Wright: want to applaud all of you for your hard work. Were all the committees on board with this? I guess so. Bugay comes up to praise Fitz bigtime. Agrees with Jay, will be "big." Describes the way updating occurs. Micro-updating occurs all the time, etc. Thanks Debra's leadership.
     Lang: what sort of due diligence have we done? Other districts using this software? Fitz: quite a bit. Workday is a fairly new product. Their HR much older than Financial. Had conference calls with other districts/universities: USC, et al. U of Texas, Washington system, et al. Examined contracts: we got a better deal. "We feel that this is a good product."
    Milchiker: blah, blah, blah. Keep us apprised, how this is going.
    Prendergast: let's vote on 6.1A. Unanimous, except for one abstention: Lang.
    Jay abstains on vote re 6.1B, I think.
    Poertner: how much work has gone into this project. Special thanks to VC Fitzsimmons; an unbelievable amount of work shepherding this through. Did this while negotiating the ATEP agreement. Applause. (Looks like Fitz is riding high.)

Last grizzly shot in the Santa Ana Mts., 1908

     Consent calendar is mentioned; Jay roars "so moved." 5.0, 5.15, etc. are pulled. 5.6, 5.7. 5.3..... I didn't get all that. They voted: unanimous. Marcia's button isn't working. Natch.

     5.3. Wright corrects a typo. Approved unanimously. They vote without the fancy system which is somehow busted. Not for Marcia.
     5.5. Jemal: political science/anthropology. UC system? No. Specifically at Cal State. Approved. Buttons working again.
     5.6,7. Prendergast: working with these two companies 30 years. Why do we do this a year at a time? Fitz: It's ed code. Approved unanimously.
     5.15. Lang: one of my clients is on here as a subcontractor, p 23/25. Corrects the name. It turns out the name is correct. Approved unanimously.
     5.16. Jemal: original contractor, life sciences building, went bankrupt. Is there a triggerpoint to request an audit? (during the bidding process). Brandye comes up: yes. Blah, blah, blah. Our switch to design build fixed this. (I think.) Lang: pump in cooling system of HVAC too small.... Tracking for gold certification.... Unanimous.
     5.21 Jemal: 30 duplicative memberships to organizations. IVC and SC paying the same organization, etc. I have concerns. How much does this cost the district? Can we reach out to these associations? Some of the dues or nominal, some are not. Fitz: 27 memberships might be duplicative. Some memberships are necessarily college-specific. But there were some opportunities. We can take a look at those, see if we can coordinate. (Chambers of Commerce, etc.) A good suggestion. Burnett: we're always looking for ways to economize. We're often trying to get on district-wide basis to save money. We've saved lots of resources and dollars on weekly basis. [Sounds a bit defensive.] Lang: Education Avisory board CC Forum--this really stood out as an expense.... nearly $30K. Fitz: the very large grant accepted a few months ago is tied to this. Called a membership; really, subscription services. Item approved unanimously.
   
     6.2 SC grant acceptance. No discussion. Unanimously approved.
     6.3 nominations for....
     6.4 Trustee absent, payment - unanimous (one abstention - from Padberg; Lang refers to Padberg's "cat story." Laughter.)
     6.5 ATEP demolition ...
     6.6 notice of completion... approved unanimously
     6.7 SC architectural agreement ... approved unanimously
     6.8 BP for review and study. Approved unanimously
     6.9 Academic Personnel. Approved unanimously
     6.10 Classified Personnel. Wright makes minor correction. Approved unanimously.
     6.11 Sabbatical recommendations. Approved unanimously. Wright makes belated correction.

     7.0 board requests for reports. They zip through. No one requests to speak. Prendergast mentions how healthy we are compared to other districts with regard to ... some trust fund, I guess.

     8.0 reports from administration and governance groups

I'm outta here.

We're screwed

     A couple of hours ago, the Reb called from IVC to tell me that administration has decided to deal with the security issue in A200 by nailing (or screwing) all the windows shut.
     That's just great.
     Typical.

IVC's securitygate: another bold theft

An update on IVC's "security" issue: this morning, the instructor whose fancy Mac was stolen a couple of weeks ago in A200 reports that her replacement Mac has now been stolen, too, apparently over the weekend. UPDATE: correction: this information comes from a colleague who spoke with a member of IVC staff while he and Irvine Police Dept. officials examined the scene (of the aforementioned computer theft) this morning. Looks like entry was through the window.

Sheesh.

Near as anyone I know can tell, administration has yet to see fit to alert the campus community to this series of thefts, though the IVC Chief of Police has been communicating with denizens of A200. Chief Glen has scheduled a meeting with them tomorrow at 2:00 (in A200). That could be an interesting meeting. UPDATE: a police officer told me that an individual who had been lurking near the windows of B200 was apprehended early Saturday morning (about 1:00 a.m.). He fled from police but was arrested. The officer implied that another suspect got away.

SEE ALSO
Brazen thefts at Irvine Valley College (Jan 17)
Brazen thefts, part 2 (Jan 21)