Chancellor’s Newsletter – September 2022

District Office Relocation Reminder 

As a reminder, at the August 11, 2022 Board Meeting, the Board approved the sublease agreement with Yuba City Unified School District. Relocating the District offices from leased space to a building owned by the District will reduce ongoing operational costs and this was the top priority based on the surveys conducted by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistant Team (FCMAT) Working Group by both colleges and the District office as articulated in the FCMAT working group recommendations. 

Beginning October 17, 2022, the District’s mailing address is:  

Yuba Community College District  
3301 E. Onstott Road 
Yuba City, CA 95991 

Future Board Meetings will be adjusted accordingly, and a new schedule of locations will be forthcoming at a future Board Meeting and posted online at Boarddocs.com. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Woodland Community College News 

Save the date! Lake County Campus turns 50 and everyone is welcome to come celebrate with the campus on Thursday, October 13 from 12:00-5:00 p.m. Food vendors will be on campus at noon and beginning at 3:00 p.m. there will be a presentation that will include comments from special guests and alumni. Lake County’s Aroma’s will be providing treats as well.  

On September 5, WCC hosted the American Indian Back to School Night to help promote higher education amongst the American Indian Community. This event was hosted by the California Tribal College to promote access to higher education and programs.  

On September 8, WCC hosted their annual transfer fair on campus where over 30 colleges and universities participate from across the state to recruit students interested in transferring. Over 100 students attended the event. The Associated Students were integral in developing the event along with the Director of Retention and Campus Life Isabel Duenas, and Counselors Aracely Ruiz and Lorell Cooke. 

On September 15 WCC held its annual “Bienvenida” event at the Woodland Campus to kick off Hispanic Heritage month. It was a packed house at the Multicultural Enrichment (ME) Center. A variety of community partners attended the event along with many faculty and staff to celebrate the college’s commitment as an HSI institution and supporting our Latino/a students. Long time counselor Jose Vallejo gave the keynote address.  

The Woodland Community College soccer program officially kicked off on September 19. The program will be officially in the Bay Valley Conference in fall of 2023. The program is being supported by innovation funds for the first two years which means that no general funds are being used to operate the program. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Yuba College News 

At the Yuba-Sutter Flash Film Festival on September 9, Yuba College’s Mass Communications Program won first place for its entry! The short film was written and produced in under 48 hours (as required by the contest) and included their mandatory prop (a pumpkin). The students were led by their amazing instructor Nathan Schemel. Link to the film entry: Pumpkin Block 

Jay Lowden joined Dr. Dotson, Jeremy Brown, Kelly Boren, Anita Wilks and Nathan Schemel at the California Heritage Indigenous Research Project’s fundraising dinner for the Nisenan Tribe on September 1 in Nevada City. The team attended as a part of the College’s commitment to acknowledging the land we live on.  

On September 5, Dr. Dotson, Dr. Kyle Mathis, Public Safety Director Mark Covington, and Trustees Dennise Burbank and Trustee Juan Delgado participated in the Nicolaus Labor Day Parade. Big shout out to Phillip Milks who supplied a Yuba College Automotive Truck for this event.  

Save the date! In partnership with Wide Awake Geek (Marysville), Yuba College will host a mini Maker Faire on October 15. This event brings together community members on Yuba’s Marysville Campus to display what they’ve made and learned. You can find more information on the event here: www.makerfaire.com 

The Yuba College Testing Center has been identified as a recipient of the 2021-22 College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Honors National Achievement Award. This annual award recognizes test centers that administer the highest volumes of CLEP exams, providing many students the opportunity to earn college credit and achieve their educational goals. The Yuba College Testing Center was identified as a top 20 CLEP national test site among over 2,000 CLEP centers nationwide. Congratulations to Michael Enokson, Testing Technician, for his hard work in achieving this award. A full list of the 20 centers recognized with the 2021-22 CLEP Honors National Achievement Award can be found at https://clep.collegeboard.org/clep-honors-achievement-award. 

On September 22 Yuba College held their College Information Day. High school students from Yuba and Sutter Counties were provided with information about Yuba College programs and degrees, support services, and activities (athletics, clubs, etc.). In addition, 29 universities had displays and staff in attendance to discuss pathways through their institutions.  


_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

YCCD Foundation News 

Where is the Foundation Director? Starting in September, the Director will be working from the Woodland Campus on Mondays and Thursdays. His office at WCC will be Room 117. He will be in the District Office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and will keep Friday’s location open based on needs of the week. 

At a Special Meeting of the Foundation Board held at Woodland Community College August 29 the Board approved moving forward with a $2.3 million capital campaign. The campaign case for support will address how the projects will increase student enrollment, address workforce development, and benefit students and the community in the areas of culinary arts and soccer. 

The Yuba River Endowment donated $10,000 to the Yuba College Emergency Fund with the YCCD Foundation on September 20. Dr. Dotson and Jay Lowden met with their Endowment’s Board in late August and a decision was made, unanimously, to support the donation.  

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Fiscal Update 

Proposed Budget for Adoption – The District’s Governing Board approved the proposed budget for adoption for the Fiscal Year 2022-23 at its meeting on September 9, 2022. This was built upon the state’s enacted budget. Governor Gavin Newson signed the state budget for the Fiscal Year 2022-23 on June 30, 2022. The state expenditures are proposed to be over $300 billion in 2022-23 which is a 17% increase over the 2021-22 enacted budget. The budget year outlook improved compared to expectations of the Governor’s budget in January with revenues from personal income tax, sales tax, and corporate tax coming in ahead of projections despite the stock market reduction and increase of interest rates by the Federal Reserve Bank to address high inflation rates.

Although there are increases in the state budget for this year, the outlook for the state is concerning according to a recent analysis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). The state’s General Fund likely faces a budget deficit by 2025-26 regardless of the future trend in state tax revenues due to the state exceeding the State Appropriations Limit (SAL), continued revenue growth could increase the state’s constitutional funding obligations and lead to large budget deficits. Combined with rising inflation and a downturn in the stock market, the budget reflects policymakers’ concerns about constraining the growth of the state’s spending base and increasing reserves to cover budget problems that could quickly arise in a recession.

Yuba Community College District is currently built on the highest level of funding available under the Student-Centered Funding Formula due to the emergency conditions funding from the State. The District’s enrollments have declined by 20% and the funding is expected to be reduced to align to the actual FTES, Student Success metrics and Supplemental metrics over a multi-year period. Therefore, the District’s priority is to increase enrollments to mitigate the fiscal issues. Based on the trends, the District is projecting roughly 7,000 FTES; however, the District is funded at 7,626 FTES. The District has experienced an ongoing cost increase to employer contributions related to CalPERS and CalSTRS. Both contributions would have grown by three times in 2025-26 in comparison to 2024-25 as there has not been much financial relief to address these cost pressures. The District established a trust fund to set aside funds to address some of the ongoing cost pressures. There is a significant amount of infrastructure, deferred maintenance, and liabilities that the District is making efforts to address; however, this would require a commitment to set aside funds for these funds.

The state’s cash receipts for 2021-22 are $2 billion below the budget and receipts for 2022-23 are $2 billion below the 2022-23 budget. This results in $4 billion less cash receipts than the budget. Because the receipts are trending below the budget, the Governor has been vetoing bills that impose new fiscal commitments that were not considered as part of the state budget. The fact that Governor Newsom is advising caution on signing any bill with significant fiscal implications as state revenues have come in lower than expected, signals that his Administration will look to practice fiscal restraint when he releases his 2023-24 State Budget proposal in January (assuming he is reelected this November).

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Mission Statement: Yuba Community College District provides all individuals in our diverse communities access to high-quality, affordable higher education that is responsive to student needs. Our mission is to inspire and advocate for student success through our passion and commitment to teaching, learning, and social justice. 

Vision: Our vision is to empower our students and strengthen our communities by providing equitable, student-centered learning opportunities.