President's Update: March 18, 2025

Dear Shasta College colleagues,

I hope you are all doing well. Last Wednesday at noon we hit the mid-point of the semester, spring arrives in a few days, and Commencement is just around the corner. I'm pleased to announce that Rhonda Nehr—former Shasta College alum, faculty member, classified employee, administrator, and Trustee—will be our Commencement speaker on the May 16 event. As one of the first female California Highway Patrol officers she has an inspiring story to share! I look forward to seeing you at Commencement. 

Enrollment is up 3.5% as of this Monday. The B-Block 8-week courses start this week, and we may see some additional growth coming from those. My sense is that after several semesters of growth from 7-13%, enrollment growth may begin to stabilize. We have adopted the new Standardized Attendance Accounting formula, which should result in a slight bump in FTES and provide more scheduling flexibility. We continue to think of creative ways to offer classes based on what students need/want including expanding more 8-week courses and how to reach underrepresented populations (men enroll at a much lower rate than women, for example). Noncredit options (no cost to students; repeatable; can run side-by-side with credit equivalents) offer a lot of promise here. And of course we need to make sure our programs are aligned with the Student Centered Funding Formula, which truly is designed for student success and our financial stability. These conversations are ongoing in Academic Senate and elsewhere, and I encourage the continued creative thinking and innovative efforts.

The latest Coffee with the President is tomorrow (Wednesday) from 9-10:30 a.m. in our newest building, the Community Leadership Center downtown. Faculty and staff in particular are encouraged to caffeinate with me. It's an opportunity to see this remarkable new building and to take a look at all the wonderful, innovative things going on down there. Feel free to stop by, if even just for a bit.

Next week we will host a Partnership Resource Team from the Chancellor's Office Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative. They will meet with a variety of faculty, administrators, and staff who are involved with professional development and help provide us with an outside perspective and resources on our professional development/learning. This ties in with the Teaching College concept you've heard about at Flex Day and various participatory meetings. Thank you to all of those who have been asked to attend meetings with the team.

If you don't already do this, I encourage you all to regularly review our Board agendas both for the reports in section 2 and for recent hires in section 4 - it's a great way to keep on top of things! This past month we saw Lorelei Hartzler nominated for the statewide Classified Employee of the Year. Congratulations, Lorelei - very well deserved! Congratulations as well to newly tenured faculty Katie Elwood and Megan Bonnin!

Associate Vice President of Facilities and Capital Construction Theresa Markword always provides a great PowerPoint on the Board agenda to update us on the current bond/capital projects. She has provided this updated timeline of some ongoing moves that will affect us all:

I also would like to draw your attention to a great summary from Vice President Becky McCall on the budget. Becky is always able to bring clarity to the process and provides here the following overview of the state budget picture in her Board report:

The Chancellor's Office shared an update to the fiscal outlook for the current fiscal year including an increase to the deficit factor from 4.72% to 7.12%; however, they are estimating to fall to 1.5-2% once they tap into the Education Protection Account and with an anticipated property tax revenue expecting to be $200 million higher. Still a lot of uncertainty. The memo stated that the Chancellor's Office will continue to collaborate with the Department of Finance and Legislature to advocate for a fully funding SCFF (Student Centered Funding Formula) and unfunded FTES (enrollment) growth.

The part about uncertainty seems always to be the case when it comes to our budgets, and a complicating factor this year is what's happening at the federal level. Fortunately, Shasta College is almost entirely funded through non-federal sources—primarily state and local sources. However, our students are heavily dependent on federally funded financial aid. For example, approximately 50% of our students are Pell recipients. We understand that the recent layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education have raised concerns about the potential impact to our students. Despite the reductions, we expect essential programs such as student loans, Pell Grants, and other federal student aid will continue to be delivered. Communication delays may occur as the workforce that administers federal financial aid is reduced. Please be assured that our student success staff are dedicated to helping our students navigate these changes to mitigate any disruptions to receiving the resources and support they need to succeed. Students who have questions about financial aid or need further assistance should contact Student Services. 

While national changes bring uncertainty, our mission remains the same: to serve and support our students on their educational pathways. I encourage you to stay focused on helping them succeed.

Thank you for your continued commitment and dedication and the great work that you do on behalf of our students and our communities every day. We are resilient and will navigate these changes together. Together, we will ensure that our educational mission remains strong and that our students continue to thrive. As always, feel free to reach out to me or your VP if you have additional concerns.

Best,
Frank