SC@Work: August 10, 2010 Board Meeting
Board Meeting Details:
- August 10, 2010 at 3:00PM (public session at 4:00PM)
- Sierra College Rocklin Campus, Room LR-133
- Main agenda items begin at 4:00PM, public comment for items not on the agenda at 5:40PM
- Meeting Agenda
- Contracts (General / Capital Projects)
- Warrants
The board will be adopting its planning and resource allocation priorities for 2011-12, as well as discussing a new (and long overdue) effort to advocate for important policy changes with the legislature. We’ll also get an update on the Accountability Reporting on Community Colleges (ARCC) that we submit to the legislature to let them know how wisely we’re using your money. 
Use the comments below to answer the Question of the Month! What policy changes should Sierra College advocate for at the State Legislature? Should the board have the ability to raise tuition or assess special facilities fees to students? Relief from regulatory requirements that make California construction almost twice as expensive as neighboring states?
Pop, Crackle, Snap…then Poof!
I am ridiculously behind in posting to this blog. July has an absolutely pitiful 9 posts – less than half of what I normally strive for.
It’s not for lack of things to write about, or great stuff that I really want to share with you all. It’s just that the last two weeks have been insanely busy – unusually so, even by my standards!
First, I was in New York City to sit on the Concern panel on developing world poverty, which was incredibly interesting and I can’t wait to share some more from the discussion there.
Last week, I was in Chicago on business. I usually end up getting a lot of writing done on airplanes, largely because I refuse to buy airplane wi-fi and instead love being “off the grid” with time to focus.
But I experienced a very interesting “pothole” in my digital world.
About two weeks ago, I was working away on my Sony VAIO (a computer that I absolutely love), and I’d been going hard all day, trying to catch up. I was up early that morning and it was about midnight and I was still going strong.
Then all of a sudden, POP!
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
SNAP! The screen went blank and the computer powered off.
POOF! A puff of black smoke rose out of the back of the laptop.
Aaron Klein
Sitting in an airport making a connection to Chicago and thought I’d clear something up.
I’m not the Aaron Klein who is Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy in President Obama’s Treasury Department.
I’m also not the Aaron Klein who is Jerusalem Bureau Chief for WorldNetDaily and wrote the book “The Manchurian President” about President Obama.
I guess I’m somewhere between those two.
Glad I could clear that up…
Sierra College starts negotiating with second place firm on solar project
The Union covered the news today that AMSOLAR was unable to come up with a competitive price for the Sierra College solar project that will take about 20% of Rocklin campus and 90% of Nevada County Campus off the grid. The project was launched back in January and staff selected AMSOLAR as the first place firm, and Borrego Solar as the second place firm in April.
“One of the ground rules with this project is that it can’t cost the college any more for energy than what we’re paying now,” Doty said. “The AMSOLAR deal didn’t pencil out for us.”
The college is now negotiating with Berkeley, Calif.-based Borrego Solar, Doty said. Borrego has installed other solar arrays at public schools, according to the company’s website.
If negotiations go well, the contract could come before the Sierra College Board of Trustees meeting in September and construction could start as early as the end of the year, Doty said. The school originally targeted this summer for construction to begin on the array.
“We are committed to a solar project that saves Sierra College money on day one, and I’m pleased that our staff planned ahead for the possibility that things wouldn’t work out with the first place firm,” said Sierra College Trustee Aaron Klein, who represents parts of Nevada County. “We continue to be excited about the potential of being better stewards of our planet while saving precious dollars in our operating budget.”
Orphan Sunday
Last year, the first-ever Orphan Sunday happened to be set for the same day we were celebrating “Spencer Day” – the day we brought Spencer home and he made us parents. That was an incredibly special time and we enjoyed celebrating it with friends.
This year, Orphan Sunday 2010 has been set for November 7. Christian Alliance for Orphans, the group headed by my friend Jedd Medefind, is aiming for 2,000 Orphan Sunday events across the United States.
I’m working to make sure one happens in my community. I hope you will too!
Transitions
Sierra College President Leo Chavez has announced that he’ll retire after one more year at the helm. This is the e-mail he just sent to the entire college staff to let them know the news.
After much thought and deliberation I have tendered my letter of retirement effective June 30th, 2011 to the Board of Trustees. I do such with decidedly mixed emotions knowing I am leaving a great opportunity working with such wonderful, skilled, and dedicated colleagues. I wish I could give you a simple reason for my decision, but there are many, some simple and some complicated, so all I will say is that it is time. I have had the honor to work in our system since 1978 and I have been a CEO since 1989. I told myself a long time ago I would leave when things were going well rather than hang around too long and be pushed out as has happened to far too many of my colleagues nationwide. In other words, there is nothing negative about my decision, nor do I fear for the future. It is simply time.
I have told the Board that I will work with them to effect a smooth transition and that, having no definitive plans, I could remain until a new President is found or otherwise perform any other duties the board may find of use to the district after June 30th of next year. I am, however, looking forward to the day I wake up and have to decide what I would like to do that day. In the meantime, we have much work to do and I look forward to a very productive year working with all of you.
Leo has been precisely the leader Sierra College needed to make the major changes in direction that the Board wanted to make over the last four years. While I wish he could have stayed here for another five or ten, he has accomplished everything the board has asked him to do.
He deserves the thanks of every taxpayer, student, faculty and staff member at Sierra College for his service – and we look forward to his continued leadership during this next year as we start to plan a transition.
Innovation in the Developing World
I know, I know – I’m getting a lot of e-mails from you all who want to read the next installment of the “It’s Time to Change the World” series of blog posts. I want those posts to stand the test of time, so I am taking my sweet time making sure my thoughts are well-organized and cogent before I hit “publish.”
But in the mean time, here’s something interesting on the subject.
I had an exciting invitation about a week ago that I was thrilled to accept.
Back when Cacey and I were heading to Africa for the first time, my international roaming SIM card was having some problems. I tweeted about it, and out of the blue, a former marketing exec at that company tweeted back and connected me with another extraordinary person who fixed it.
Since then, I’ve become a big fan of that former marketing exec, Jackie Danicki. She now leads communications and external relations at Innovations for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, a project of Concern Worldwide US.
The “Innovations” project came about because of a $41 million dollar grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create “bold and inventive ways to overcome barriers to delivering proven maternal, newborn, and child health solutions.”
As I’m sure you can see, maternal and child mortality have a tremendous impact on developing world poverty and the global orphan crisis. At best, a mother dying in childbirth leaves the remaining single-parent family teetering on the edge of poverty by removing 50% of the adults from the family. At worst, the remaining children instantly become orphans with no one to care for them.
Bringing real change to maternal, newborn and child health in the developing world will have a tremendous positive impact on lessening poverty and solving the global orphan crisis.
“Innovations” held an exciting competition for new ideas in the field. You can watch this video about what they did in Sierra Leone, Malawi, and India.
(Mobile, feed and e-mail readers: the video is embedded above.)
Now, a small panel facilitated by retired Intel CEO Craig Barrett, will be meeting next week in New York City to discuss and analyze the process.
I was more than a little bit surprised and humbled to be invited to join this group of people.
I’m hoping that my work in entrepreneurial business and product development, combined with my passion for Africa and the developing world, can contribute some useful ideas and out-of-the-box thinking to the process.
So on Saturday night, I’ll hop a red-eye to NYC (this is what happens when you buy plane tickets at the last minute). Along with some other meetings, the panel is on Tuesday and I fly home on Wednesday.
I’ll let you know what I see and learn there!
Busy, Busy, Busy
I apologize for the lack of posts! Given the nature of life, work and public service right now, I’m going to dial back a bit and shoot for three posts a week instead of five. I might have a shot at actually achieving a little more consistency!
I’m looking forward to talking more about the emerging solutions I’ve been learning about in the “Change the World” series of posts. Hoping to get back to that topic very soon next week.
I leave you with two pictures of some of my favorite little people having a blast over the Independence Day holiday – Emma just being her happy, cute self, and Spencer fishing with my dad at Trinity Lake.
Have a great weekend!
SC@Work: July 10, 2010 Board Retreat
Board Retreat Details:
- July 10, 2010 at 8:30AM
- Sierra College Rocklin Campus, Room LR-133
- Short board agenda at 8:30AM, public comment for items not on the agenda at 9:00AM, then move into retreat and long term planning discussions
- Meeting Agenda
- Contracts (General / Capital Projects)
- Warrants
Our annual board retreat will be a discussion of long term planning issues and laying the groundwork for the main initiatives the board will want to pursue over the next year. The public is always welcome at our meetings, although the focus is long term planning over action, and public attendance at retreats is rare.
Our thoughts and prayers remain with Trustee Elaine Rowen Reynoso, who is not expected to attend the retreat. We wish her a speedy recovery.
Letter to the Boss
Many of you probably remember when we were stuck in Ethiopia and couldn’t get a visa issued for Emma to depart with us to the United States. There was some paperwork missing, and we were in trouble.
Through the help of Congressman McClintock’s crack staff, we were put in contact with a woman named Ruth Lincoln who works in the State Department. She tracked down the right paperwork, got it to the US Embassy in time, and we made our flight with visa in hand.
I finally connected with her on the telephone a few days ago to express our thanks, but after I hung up, it just didn’t feel like quite enough.
So I wrote a letter to her boss.
Who knows, maybe Ruth will win employee of the month or something? She should.
