January 24, 2020 - SEA Budget Retreat

Meeting Minutes

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Members: Mallory Newell (Chair), Christina Espinosa-Pieb (College President) Randy Bryant (CTE), Lorrie Ranck (VP & IPBT), Rob Mieso (VP & SSPBT), Marilyn Booye (SSPBT), Mary Pape (SLO), Karen Chow (Academic Senate), Heidi King (Classified Senate), Tim Shively (Faculty Senate), Deepa Yuvaraj (BSI Coordinator), Tony Santa Ana (Equity Program Coordinator), Alicia Cortez (EAC), Pam Grey (VP & APBT), Marisa Spatafore (VP), Qingyuan (Max) Chen (DASB)

Guests: Martin Varela, Diana Alves-De Lima

The committee came together with expanded invitation list to review the new requirements and opportunities pertaining to the Student Equity Program funding. Newell began by sharing a presentation from the state Chancellors office titled: SEA Program Changes. The presentation covered the changes from the BSI funds to SSSP to Equity to the Integrated Program to now combined into the SEA Program. Yuvaraj then gave a presentation on what is and is not allowable with SEA funds: SEA Program Expenditures Guidelines. Varela then presented on Overview of the budget and allocations for SSP, BSI and Student Equity:  . Mieso then shared how SSPBT has used SSSP funds and allocated them historically, this was followed by Ranck who shared how IPBT has allocated Equity funds in the past for Instructional programs.

The group then began a discussion of how best to allocate the combined SEA program funds campuswide. Espinosa-Pieb proposed that the College Planning Committee be the group that is tasked with overseeing the SEA Program funds. This led to a discussion on who is currently on the membership list for CPC and who should be added. The group agreed to add the following members: Equity Program Coordinator, BSI Program Coordinator, Faculty Association executive member, 1 additional DASB representative, STEM Program Coordinator.

The group agreed that CPC is the best location to house the SEA program funds since CPC is a shared governance group with representation from key stakeholders who can voice their stakeholder views and communicate information back to them from the CPC. The group discussed that since approximately three-quarters of the SEA funds are allocated to positions and benefits, the CPC would only be allocating one-fourth of the funds each year. The group requested that Varela provide us with a budget of how much money would be in the one-fourth of that budget so we have an idea of the scope of the funds we would be overseeing. Varela stated that he could have that information by end of April/May, with the 6% COLA removed from that budget. The group also thought looking at the DASB budget at the next meeting would be helpful to see what they are funding.

The group then discussed the proposal process and how the college can request funds. Santa Ana shared how equity funds had been requested and allocated in the past. The group agreed that they would talk about the proposal process at the next meeting. A scoring rubric, the equity goals and DI groups were discussed as part of the proposal, as well as assessment and evaluation of their project. We will also discuss how long the funds will be allocated for and if they need to re-apply or if funds are ongoing. Ranck noted that the group should have a proposal process and criteria in place by spring to begin allocating funds for 2020-2021 in summer 2020. The group agreed that a proposal with clear criteria and the amount of money available with a process open to everyone on campus with a deadline, a rubric for selection, a list of projects that were funded and the amount funded would lead to transparency that the campus may appreciate.

The group also agreed to meet at least once a month on the first Thursday of each month from 3-4 unless additional meetings are needed or scheduling conflicts.