Chancellor's News Brief

As we welcome the start of the fall semester on Monday, August 26, I want to recognize the considerable effort that has gone into preparing for a successful term. To our Student Services staff, faculty, and managers—your exceptional work in processing applications, conducting counseling sessions, and advising on financial aid has been outstanding. Your dedication has led to a district-wide increase of nearly 4% in unduplicated head count from Fall 2023. Special recognition goes to GWC, which reported a 10% increase as of last Friday. This growth highlights the significant impact of your efforts on our students.

Our Administrative Services teams have also been instrumental in preparing our campuses. Their work in repairs, maintenance, landscaping, and updates to hardware and software ensures that our facilities are ready to support both students and staff effectively.

Faculty members, your commitment to preparing your curriculum and personal readiness for the new semester is vital. Your dedication to delivering high-quality education is crucial to the success of our institution and greatly enhances the learning experience for our students.

As we begin this new term, it is important to note that the budgetary issues facing the state of California and the Community College system persist. To ensure future productive semesters and to continue providing exceptional educational opportunities, we need to institutionalize a strong, balanced budget with adequate reserves. This is essential for managing the anticipated budgetary challenges in the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 academic years.

A Special Board meeting has been scheduled for August 29, 2024 at 4:00 PM to allow our fiscal teams to give an in depth view of our budget projections. This is being done in anticipation of presenting the Adopted 2024-2025 Budget for approval at the Board of Trustee’s Regular meeting on September 4th.

Your attendance at both meetings will be valued as we navigate these challenges together.

With gratitude,

Dr. Whitney Yamamura
Chancellor

At the August 21 board meeting, there were a series of reports provided by various teams at the District.

The first was the Annual Report on Risk Management and Insurance which began with an insurance market overview that explained that due to many variables in the industry insurers are reducing capacity, increasing coverage prerequisites, and factoring additional risk premiums. It then went into details about District coverage which is primarily provided by Statewide Association of Community Colleges (SWACC) for property and liability and Protected Insurance Program for Schools (PIPS) for Worker’s Compensation. Details can be found in the presentation on the board agenda.

Then the Trustees were presented with the report of Workers' Compensation Self-Insured Open Claims status report which gives an update on the few remaining claims from when the District was self-insured for workers’ compensation prior to 1998. The Retirement Board Of Authority Performance report informs the Trustees and public on the performance of the investment of funds designated for the payment of retiree health benefits. The highlight was that the portfolio performance on June 30, 2024, showed an increase in combined assets to $102.7million from $97.6million on December 31, 2023.

Finally the Trustees completed their discussion and review of technology options that would allow for more accessibility to their meetings. Following that report, the Trustees voted unanimously to approve a motion, by Trustee Parker and seconded by Trustee Hornbuckle, to livestream their board meetings. Further votes provided guidance on public comment options and direction to revise the existing board policies to include live streaming. It is anticipated that the first live streamed meeting will be on October 16, 2024.

An announcement was also made that a Special Board meeting would take place on August 29 at 4:00 pm. It was scheduled by the Trustees to allow our fiscal teams to give them a more in-depth view of budget projections.

In 2020, Horticulture faculty and staff were considering upgrades allowing them to train students in sustainable agriculture techniques; simultaneously, the Aquarium Science program wanted to show students how to use aquaculture skills to promote sustainability.

Their interests joined for the most visible sustainability projects established at Orange Coast College. The Aquaponics Lab opened in early 2022, and it uses just a bucket of water a day to grow roughly 300 heads of lettuce. Blending aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in water), aquaponics creates a sustainable cycle to grow lettuce and tilapia. The waste products from the fish are filtered and used as nutrient for the plants. The plant water is then recycled and syphoned back to the fish tank. In addition to lettuce, the greenhouse has also produced basil, parsley, cilantro, chives, shallots, and strawberries.

The OCC Culinary Arts program also teaches sustainable practices, and when they learned about this project, they partnered to utilize the food grown on campus to support both the Culinary Arts program and the student run restaurant, The Captain’s Table. The Pirate’s Cove Student Food Pantry also joined in, adding fresh greens to their free student offerings. Highlighting the cross-academic collaboration, the Culinary Arts program infused innovative sustainability concepts into its curriculum, creating a Campus to Table program by conscientiously preparing the food grown on campus.

Their competitive student Hot Food Team harvests tilapia and aquaponic greens for their menu. This year, they won regional and national recognition through the American Culinary Federation competitions for their Campus to Table menu. This program includes faculty, staff, and students working across disciplines from the Horticulture Department, Marine Science, Culinary Arts, Hospitality, and Student Services. These partnerships have developed over time and allow the group to overcome challenges to funding, staffing, and development of new curriculum.

Please send examples of persistent innovation, by which I mean having a good idea and then putting in the hard work to make that vision a reality. The more examples submitted, the better I can highlight your successes in future letters and in the community!

Coastline College hosted K-12 teachers for an enriching week of collaboration at the Paving Equitable Pathways (PEP) Teachers Summer Camp, held at its Garden Grove Technology campus. This intensive one-week program featured joint efforts from Coastline College, Fullerton College, California State University San Bernardino, and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, focusing on advanced training in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI).

Throughout the camp, educators crafted interdisciplinary lessons that incorporated cybersecurity and AI principles into their existing curricula. These innovative lesson plans will be contributed to the CLARK Center, a federal resource for cybersecurity education. Coastline College is excited to advance its Paving Equitable Pathways initiative, which aims to enhance cybersecurity and AI education across the region for students, teachers, faculty, and the broader community.

Chancellor, Week of August 26
Dr. Yamamura is in the District, Monday through Friday.