Immigration issue will have economic implications

PHOENIX — Whenever Inside Higher Ed posts an article about undocumented students, the online higher education publication usually gets a swarm of e-mails asking why it doesn’t instead use the term “illegal aliens.” That’s because some organizations opposed to illegal immigration monitor the site and send e-mails to their members asking them to query about the choice of terms.

Editor Scott Jaschik said it illustrates how fiery the issue of illegal immigrants is. And community colleges—which have historically served nontraditional students—and are in the thick of it.

“Community colleges are in the front and center of the issue,” he said during a focus session on immigration during the annual American Association of Community Colleges convention.

Opponents of allowing undocumented students to receive in-state tuition or even to attend college argue that the practice is especially unjust for legal residents during the current economic climate, when two-year colleges are scrambling to serve more students with smaller budgets.

But proponents contend that serving undocumented students is critical to the economy, particularly in states such as California that will over the next decade see a huge increase in its immigration population as well as in increase in the shortage of workers.

All eyes are also on California because its supreme court is expected to decide this year on the legality of its eight-year-old law permitting undocumented students who have attended high school for at least three years to pay in-state college tuition rates. Proponents of the law say striking down the California law could prompt other states that offer in-state tuition for undocumented students to review their laws.

“If we are not able to stop that from taking place, we are in serious trouble,” said Eduardo Martí, president of Queensborough Community College in New York, one of the states that has such tuition waivers.

A change in California law would force many undocumented students to drop out because they would have to pay 10 times the tuition they currently do, said Richard Dittbenner, government relations director at the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) in California. Such as decision would also affect the economy of California—the seventh largest in the world—because the state wouldn’t have enough skilled workers to fuel it.

The issue is so important to SDCCD that it plans to file a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the state law.

“We feel we need to stand up for the residents of the region,” Dittbenner said.

Congress could help resolve the issue by passing the federal DREAM Act, which would remove certain barriers to state laws permitting in-state tuition for undocumented students as well as provide a path for citizenship, in part, through higher education, according to proponents of the bill. Congress almost passed the legislation last year, and it was reintroduced in both chambers last week.

Community colleges should mobilize their students to encourage lawmakers to pass the legislation, Martí said.

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities has even provided on its Web site an electronic form that backers of the DREAM Act can use to encourage their lawmakers to support it.

Community colleges looking to garner support for such bills should also seek advocacy help from business and industry, which will need more skilled workers as baby boomers retire, Dittbenner noted.

“Stress the economic importance of the students at your college,” he said.

Spelling out budget implications in simple terms

PHOENIX — The sputtering economy is prompting community colleges to re-evaluate how they meet challenges, including budgets, enrollments, fund raising and even employee morale.

Transparency was a common theme among four community colleges that shared their strategies in addressing those issues during the annual American Association of Community Colleges convention.

Sean Fanelli, president of the Nassau Community College (NCC) in New York, which serves about 22,000 students annually, said he told faculty, staff and students exactly what the college would have to do to if it had to cut 10 percent from its state funding during the current fiscal year, as New York Gov. David Patterson had initially recommended. The college’s plan would include cutting salaries by $3.3 million, reducing retirement benefits by $1.2 million and increasing tuition by $50 for the academic year.

NCC and other New York colleges also crafted a communication strategy to let lawmakers know the implications of such cuts. Basically, they told state officials that cutting funds meant cutting capacity at a time when two-year colleges were being called on to help in the economy recovery through education and job training.

“We had to be on point. We told them, ‘If you cut us, we lose capacity,’” Fanelli said.

The message seemed to have resonated with state lawmakers and the governor, who opted not to cut current fiscal year funding for community colleges, Fanelli said. But Fanelli stopped short of calling it a victory, noting level-funding as costs continue to increase still amounts to a decrease in funding. And the colleges now are preparing for the possibility of proposed cuts for the next fiscal year.

In Pennsylvania, Joe Forrester, president of the Community College of Beaver County, also made his plans known for budget cuts. His approach included input from faculty and support unions.

His “compression planning” included focus groups that included administrators, union representatives and other in crafting ideas to saving money or to increase revenue. Among the issues the group discussed was whether the college had any unused capacity and how the college could operate more efficiently. (Off the table were topics such as layoff.)

The group suggested cost-cutting maneuvers such as using electronic forms more often, automating certain administrative processes and reducing energy costs, Forrester said. It also mulled how the college could save or generate $100,000. The discussion lead to a plan to restructure custodial work schedules for more efficiency, shifting to on-demand publishing for all college publications and even permitting logging of wooded areas on campus for additional funding.

Having unions involved in the process was critical to ensuring buy in, Forrester said.

“It’s always about communication and the inclusion of our staff,” he said.

Providing a simple, clear message of potential budget cuts to faculty, staff and students is also important to Evelyn Jorgenson, president of Moberly Area Community College in Missouri. In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon said he wouldn’t cut funding for community college—if they promised not to increase tuition and fees.

Jorgenson spelled out to her staff and faculty what that plan would mean for her institution. She said she tried to convey it honestly, compassionately and in context (for example, pay increases would be limited to 2 percent). She also made sure she was available for questions and visible on campus.

“The last thing you want to do is make hard decisions and then hide in your office,” Jorgenson said.

Winning the election is only half the battle

PHOENIX — There may be a new, dynamic president in the White House, but that’s not enough to ensure change. Support and advocacy—especially from local communities—are needed.

That’s the message political commentator Donna Brazile conveyed Saturday at the opening session of the 89th annual American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) convention.

“It’s one thing to vote for change, and another thing to fight for change,” said the New Orleans native. Many people prefer to let someone else “stir the pot” and take on the “status quo,” she added.

Brazile, who had three siblings graduate from Delgado Community College (Louisiana), said during times of strife, it is especially critical to have the courage and strength to support change. She said it took Hurricane Katrina, which took the life of her uncle, for her to put aside her political differences with former President George Bush to work together to help the residents of the Gulf region, especially in Louisiana. (Brazile, who managed the Democratic presidential ticket of Al Gore and Joseph Liberman in 2000, joked that it was difficult for her to bottle her feelings about the 2000 election fiasco in Florida and reach out to the Republican president.)

The current spiraling economy—in which about 19,000 Americans lose their jobs each day—is another “storm” that needs to be addressed, Brazile said. She encouraged community college leaders and others at the AACC convention to support the new policies that President Barack Obama is proposing to revitalize the economy. It is especially important to champion the policies locally and for citizens to get more involved in their communities, she added.

“Get involved and get engaged. We cannot just depend on our political leaders in Washington,” Brazile said.

Brazile, who is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., recalled her own path to political and civic engagement. It began with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., after which she made a commitment to fight for justice and equality. Brazile said the country should take advantage of the momentum of the presidential election and encourage younger Americans to get more involved in their communities and to continue to foster change.

Conference kicks off today

PHOENIX — The 89th annual American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) conference kicks off this afternoon with the traditional opening that features the presentation of the AACC Leadership Awards and the New Century Scholars. It will close with a keynote by political commentator Donna Brazile.

The session will open with a welcome by AACC President George Boggs followed by a welcome by Rufus Glasper, chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges, which are the host colleges. It will be followed with the presentation of the AACC Leadership Awards to Walter Bumphus, chair of the Junior and Community College Education Leadership program at the University of Austin, and J. William Wenrich, chancellor emeritus of the Dallas County Community College District (Texas).

Next up will be the presentation of the New Century Scholars. The program, sponsored by the Coca-Cola Foundation and the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, selects top community college students in each of the 50 states based on academic excellence, leadership and community service. Many of the scholars have moving stories.

Concluding the session is Brazile, who is a regular political commentary on ABC News and CNN. She is also chair of the Voting Rights Institute. The conference exhibit hall opens right after from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. This year, conference attendees can participate in a raffle for student scholarships, which is supported by all the exhibitors.

Finally, there will be an opportunity to socialize at the receptions of the National Council on Black American Affairs (8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Phoenix, Valley of the Sun CDE) and the American Association for Women in Community Leadership and the National Institute for Leadership Development (8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Phoenix, Encanto AB).