2008 Woodie Awards
Candidates for Board of Trustees address campus concerns
Samantha Bravo
Issue date: 9/19/07 Section: News
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The five trustees on the board are elected for four-year terms on a rotating basis.
The newly elected board member will work with veteran board members Joanne Montgomery (Monrovia/Bradbury/Duarte), Dr. Edward C. Ortell (Duarte/
Arcadia/Azusa) Susan M. Keith (Claremont/Azusa/Pomona) and Dr. Gary L. Woods (Azusa/Covina/Glendora/Irwindale) to establish school policies and programs.
Michael Bevilacqua, the trustee who has represented Glendora for 20 years, plans to step down.
Dr. Patricia Rasmussen, retired vice president of institutional advancement at Mt. San Antonio College; Thom Hill, dean of fine and performing arts at Santa Ana College; and Gene Morrill, Certified Automotive business owner, are running for Bevilacqua's seat. Rasmussen and Hill are also former Citrus College administrators.
A fourth candidate, former Citrus College student Nicki Harlow, dropped out of the race prior to the forum.
The Citrus College Faculty Association, the union that represents full-time faculty, invited the candidates to speak. Language Arts Professor John Fincher served as moderator at the forum.
Fincher began by asking the candidates why they want to be on the Board.
Hill, who is a product of Ventura College, said his main interest is serving Citrus College students and the community.
"I want to continue to serve the needs of the students," Hill said. "I have a deep-seeded respect for the power of the community college education system."
Rasmussen assured the audience that she has no personal agenda.
"I know the history of the college. I know what has been and what can be," she said.
Morrill, a former Citrus College student, said that although he is the least qualified of the candidates, he feels obliged to give back to the college.
"Citrus College gave me my start. Without a community college, I would have had nowhere to go," Morrill said. "I feel the need to give back and help the college."
The candidates identified some of the challenges they might face if elected.
Rasmussen said that lobbying Sacramento for a fair share of the state budget would be an issue.
"We are still a whisper in [Sacramento's] ear, and we need to be a shout," she said.
Hill agreed with Rasmussen, saying that funding would be by far the biggest challenge. He also cited other challenges, such as enrollment, distance education, recruiting qualified faculty members and keeping pace with capital projects.
The candidates also addressed how they think the district could improve communication between faculty and other campus groups when financial decisions must be made.
Fincher raised the issue of just compensation. Citrus College's faculty salary schedule is somewhere in the middle of the state average, while managers' pay is in the top 5 percent compared to all California community colleges, he said.
Rasmussen said she feels it is important to recruit good leaders and in order to do so, Citrus needs to offer good salaries.
"Colleges that do well have long-standing leadership. We need good incentives in order to recruit," she said.
Hill said he believes in fair salary for all college employees.
"You would have to take into consideration what is affordable, but I would push for the best salary possible for not just faculty, but for the staff and for administrators," Hill said. "We need to make sure we have the best people working for us so that students will succeed because they are being taught by people who are at least more than satisfied with why they are here."
Morrill said he thinks the pay discrepancy is due to the state budget.
"The struggle with the college is that it looks like we are handcuffed by the state and by the money coming in, and yet everybody wants more and more dollars, including myself," he said.
The candidates also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of department chairs versus deans and their views on nepotism in the work place.
Hill said a disadvantage of having department chairs is that faculty is one step removed on having an impact. However, if there is a strong sense of trust between the chair and his/her department, this works as an advantage, he said.
Rasmussen said she believes in giving family members the opportunity to apply for a job if they were properly qualified for the position, as long as there was no conflict of interest.
"The district has a nepotism policy and I would assume that all board members and administrators would adhere to that policy," she said.
Glendora, Azusa and San Dimas residents will elect the new BOT representative on the Nov. 6 ballot.
For more information about the Board of Trustees, visit www.citruscollege.edu.
Samantha Bravo can be reached at bravo_samantha@yahoo.com
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