From the President, CC News March 2004 (continued...)

More good news through special events and performances occurring the rest of this month. Cuesta College will sponsor and host the 17^th Annual California Latina Leadership Network Conference on the SLO Campus Friday evening, March 12, and Saturday, March 13. Co-chairs Diane Limon and Glenda Moscoso and the Central Coast Latina Leadership Network, and all who are working with them at Cuesta College in hosting the event deserve high praise and support from all of us. The program is packed, and I hope many of us attend. Another good news event is the "March in March II" which could bring 15,000 community college students, employees, and trustees to Sacramento to make it clear to our elected leaders that community colleges educate the greatest number of higher education students and need more—not less—of the education budget. The Associated Students of Cuesta College (ASCC) are organizing a bus to bring students and staff to Sacramento on March 15. If you are up for leaving around 3:30 a.m. and returning around 11:00 p.m. and want to make a statement to our legislators and the Governor, join us for the day. Also featured in this event will be the "Missing Student Project," which includes two sculptures of missing students by Cuesta art students, under the direction of Guyla Amyx. The lawn in front of the State Capitol will be filled with one or more missing student sculptures from each of the now 109 California community colleges to illustrate silently the thousands of students missing from our colleges this year due to budget cuts.

March continues with great drama and music performances: "Cocktails at Pam’s," a play directed by bree valle that is a rollicking comedy about a cocktail party gone wild, runs March 25-28 and April 1-3. The Cuesta College Jazz Ensemble and Wind Ensemble will be performing on March 17. The month ends with two more special events: The Cuesta College Athletic Boosters fund-raising dinner on March 26 at the ballroom of the Paso Robles Inn is almost entirely sold out and promises to be a huge success. The event was organized by Athletic Director Bob Mariucci and features his brother and Coach of the Detroit Lions Steve Mariucci. Please call Athletics at 546-3207 for more information. To recognize March as Women’s History Month, the Cuesta College Women of Distinction Luncheon will be held in the Student Conference Center on Saturday, March 27, from 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m. Tickets are $25.00 and proceeds from the luncheon benefit the Cuesta College Women’s Reentry Program. Sharon Blattner, Nanette Piña, and Suzanne Brum in Community Programs have all worked hard to ensure it will be an enjoyable experience.

Good work is being done on Unit and Cluster Plans throughout this college. Thanks to the leadership of the Planning and Budget Committee, the planning process is more integrated and easier. The Planning and Budget Committee will host 3-4 workshops about the 2004-2005 budget. The first two meetings were held on January 27 and March 9. These shared governance workshops includes Planning & Budget Committee members, Shared Governance Council members, and all employees who want to attend. At the March 9 workshop, participants worked on the guiding principles and planning assumptions for developing the 2004-2005 budget, learned the current status of this year’s budget, and analyzed the various budget proposals emerging from the Governor’s Office and Legislature. Even though Propositions 57 and 58 passed, there are serious threats to the community college budget. The March 9 workshop presented the latest analysis. (You can find the second budget update from the Community College League at http://www.ccleague.org/leginfo/budget.asp)

More good work has been done by our Cashiers, Admissions & Records staff, and our students in the collection and payment of the student fee increases after fall semester began. Vice President Maduli reported that as of February 16, the College has collected $450,237 out of the total $463,341 (approximately 97.2%) owed by students as a result of the fee increase. It has taken a tremendous amount of work and communication with the students to achieve this phenomenal collection rate. My thanks to every staff member who played a part in this process.

While I would like to tell you everything is good news, I think you need to know what actions can be taken for students arrested during the recent Mardi Gras celebration. Although I am relieved to report that the majority of the students who were arrested during Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday were out-of-town visitors, I am disappointed to report that eleven current and three former Cuesta students were arrested. Vice President Gil Stork has met with every student to remind them that they are representatives of Cuesta College, the College expects them to practice responsible and considerate behavior on and off campus, and they suffer the consequences of violating rules such as those for members of varsity teams. Dr. Stork has long served as the College’s liaison with the City of San Luis Obispo, the San Luis Obispo Police Department, Cal Poly, and the Mardi Gras Event Planning Committee; he provided the Board of Trustees a written report on March 3.

One of the student learning outcomes several departments are considering relates to increasing students’ understanding of and responsibility for effective citizenship. Along with what students learn in our courses, let us all work together to help them become more responsible for their learning and living.

Give yourself a break from grading papers, worrying about the budget, or solving some other problem and come and enjoy one or more March Cuesta College events. Life is very short. Let’s remember to enjoy it.

Marie E. Rosenwasser, Ph.D.
Cuesta College Superintendent/President