At the Cerritos College Board of Trustees meeting last Wednesday, a variety of topics were covered ranging from accepting a check for $100,000, to G.O. bond presentations, to reports of the leadership conference attended by most of the board members.

Dr. Ted Edmiston, president of the Board of Trustees, accepted a check for $100,000 from Todd Leutheuser, executive director of Southland Motor Car Dealers Association and board member of the Cerritos College Foundation.

The donation will go toward supporting the growth of the Cerritos College Automotive program in alternative fuel studies and for the development of the center.

Leutheuser said, “The southland dealers chose Cerritos College for this program because they have one of the best programs in the state for this industry. With the vast majority of the auto technician workforce approaching retirement age, our industry is looking for trained technicians to hire into high-growth, high-wage positions. We feel that this could be the best private-public partnership facility in the country.”

“We feel that through a partnership between the Southland Motor Car Dealers Association, Cerritos College and other partners, we can create one of the most comprehensive centers for transportation technologies in the nation,” said Cerritos College President Dr. Noelia Vela. “We are excited about realizing this vision.”

Other business included a presentation from Vela and Deborah Shepley, from tBP/Architecture, on an update of the Master Plan that was being considered for approval so the planning committee could move forward in the next stages of planning.

The meeting also included revising the education and experience area for the Peoplesoft positions and updates about SEM building on campus.

The G.O. Bond presentation included showing slides to the board, staff and members of the public.

There was an item on the agenda to approve the updated version of the 2005 Facilities Master Plan. The presentation to the Board was needed so the Board could see the changes made and agree for the committee to continue working on the plan. The presentation also included a timeline of events starting from the bond being approved to education program analysis.

Shepley also said that some studies are still being conducted, such as the Environmental Impact Report, Hazardous Materials study.

The Pool Repair study is finished and the committee decided it would be more cost effective to replace the pool instead of making repairs on it. Also, a study on ADA/Accessibility for the college to check if they are complainant with the laws.

One part of the presentation included the development of a Campus Standards Handbook, which would have design guidelines for all architects and performance specifications. This has been a subject long-talked about at prior board meetings.

The Board has shown a desire for cohesiveness in the design of the college. The book will include colors of the buildings, landscaping, hardware, technology and communications. This way the committee would not have to start over from scratch for each project.

One of the main things Shepley told the Board was looking at developing a campus in accordance with state standards using realistic enrollment projections.

The original projection for the amount of students attending per semester was 30,000. But there has been a reduction in students throughout the years.

Dr. Vela thinks 24,000 is too low of a number to project for the enrollment and 30,000 may be too ambitious. She also said the college has seen a reduction in students because of the recent fee increase over the past year. There was also talk about the college’s thoughts on preparing for a second bond measure.

They want to maximize the existing “functional” space and eliminate “non-functional” space. The college is talking more about the idea of building up so they get the most use out of space and avoid over-building which could cause the college not to get any funding for buildings.

She also discussed the establishment of criteria the committee came up with. There are six steps they will look at:1.code compliance, 2.efficiency of existing facilities to support instruction, 3.energy efficiency, 4.opportunities for state funding, 5.programmatic need, and 5.safety and 6. security access needs.

The board also discussed the boardroom being moved out of the Administration building and to a new building labeled the Classroom/Office Complex.

John Moore, board member, stressed his concern to move the boardroom being to another location. “It needs to be accessible to the public to attend and I am not sure it does that in the new location.”

He said he would like greater input on the decision about where the boardroom is to be placed.

Bob Verderber, board member, was not pleased that the board had just received the look of this plan to be approved, and he questioned Dr. Vela about why they had not seen it earlier.

“If I have to approve this without getting a better chance to study it than I am not ready to vote on it and I want to abstain from voting.”

Board member, Bob Epple, said, “If we could encourage regular reports on this information.”

The Board approved the 2005 Facilities Master Plan 6-1.

Epple also pulled the Peoplesoft item on the agenda to inquire about more information before the board was to approve it. The item called for a revision of minimum qualifications for the Peoplesoft Database Administrator position.

The cause for change in the qualifications is because the college had already recruited for position and was unable to develop a sufficient pool of candidates. There were only two applicants for the positions.

They are now asking for approval to put into the “Education and Experience” area, the job needs a bachelors degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience. They are requiring at least two years of experience and various credentials within the field.

The Board approved the revision 7-0.

Dr. Vela said, “With the approval of this now, we can go back out and recruit again.”

During the board reports Jo Ann Higdon, interim vice president of Business Services, reported on the Social Science building roof and the SEM complex construction.

She said that the SS building roof has been problematic and the staff was on rain watch duty during the heavy rains. The SS roof is now out on bid.

As for the SEM building, the recent rain caused a significant problem in the schedule and the steel had to be cleaned, but they are a week ahead so it gave them time to recover. There also will be some change orders being put in for the building.