What's the status?
(from the president, continued...)
   

What’s the future of Cuesta College’s enrollment?

  • Need to recruit and enroll more students from local high schools, more working adults to upgrade skills, more of the retired population, and more of the English language learning population.
  • Need to retain more students within this semester so they are successful and get them to persist from this semester to the next.
  • May also need to shift resources to those programs that have waiting lists.
  • There’s no certain formula, but in a shrinking market all of us will have to participate in creative enrollment planning and marketing.  All of us can help students decide to stay in classes at Cuesta by how we interact with them and give them learning experiences and the supportive environment they want.

What’s the State Legislature doing?

  • Now is the time to let our local legislators know what we think about pending bills that would affect community colleges and the 2005-2006 budget.
  • Go to the Community College League of California Advocacy website for updates on bills, budget developments and easy ways to advocate. http://www.ccleague.org/actnow
  • Equalization funds will not be in the community college budget without advocacy.
  • Use your home computer for advocacy letters or e-mails; learn here, advocate on your own time and with your own resources.

What is the U.S. Congress doing that will affect community colleges?

  • The Higher Ed Act is up for reauthorization and negative changes can hurt our students.
  • Go to the American Association of Community Colleges Website for quick updates, legislative updates, and easy advocacy. http://www.aacc.nche.edu
  • The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act (VTEA) is not in the President’s proposed budget; VTEA funds support vocational counseling, automotive, broadcast, CIS, business, and many other vocational programs.  It is critical that Congressman Bill Thomas, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Congresswoman Capps hear from us about what these funds have meant and mean to our programs and students. Approximately $275,000/year for Cuesta. 

What can we celebrate?

  • Black History Month & the great work of the CDSE Committee;
  • The 100% pass rate of the Nursing grads on the NCLEX.
  • Chancellor’s approval of the Sociology AA degree.
  • Strong performances by our athletic teams—Track, Softball, Basketball and the selection of 51 Cuesta students as Scholar Athletes.
  • Each one of our 10,977 students.
  • Each one of our more than 700 employees.
  • Each one of our community, student, and employee donors to the Cuesta College Foundation.

Ahead of us lie many opportunities to forget that as Cuesta employees we share a common vision, mission and set of values.  It will be easy to mistrust information or blame one another when we disagree in negotiations, over spending priorities, or about college directions.  Nevertheless, the year 2005 can be one of our very best if we value belonging to the Cuesta family and use our strongest skills to resolve differences amicably and make difficult decisions collaboratively.