Statement on Growth

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The following is the third of three documents (the other two are in the two blog posts immediately preceding this one) that was distributed at yesterday's Convocation.

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Position Statement on Institutional Growth

Developed in consultation with campus leadership at the Growth Retreat | July 31, 2019

The leadership of West Los Angeles College, through a process of productive dialogue that has engaged representatives of all our College divisions as well as our partners in the District’s collective bargaining units, is unanimous in our recommendation to continue to increase annual FTES enrollment in order to provide an educational opportunity for as many students as possible.  In establishing this position, we also understand the challenges inherent in institutional growth and the importance of effective and proactive management of our physical, fiscal, and human resources through a process of transparent communication and engagement with our participatory governance process.

Our growth will not be limited exclusively to achievements in recruitment.  We will also place specific and focused attention on student success and performance, emphasizing the metrics highlighted in the Student-Centered Funding Formula.  Further, we will address the quality of services provided and its impact on student retention with the full understanding that we must ensure a working environment that is supportive of and celebratory of our faculty and staff.

In short, we will not simply grow the number of our students, but the quality of our outcomes. That is our true call as an academic institution.

However, said growth must be recognized by the District in terms of financial compensation for both the growth and for our expenses in attaining that growth.  Further, because growth incentives are not part of the intra-District distribution formula, it is the responsibility of the President to continue to advocate for recognition of growth and for inclusion of growth incentives in said formula* (see Note below).

This document will be further vetted and discussed through
the College’s participatory governance entities in fall 2019.

*Please Note:
Ms. Jeanette Gordon, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer for the Los Angeles Community College District, has confirmed in a memorandum dated August 8, 2019, and as distributed to the District Budget Committee on August 12, that West Los Angeles College will receive in its 2019-2020 budget an additional $724,021 for growing our “FTES above the 2016-2017 hold-harmless FTES level.”  Further, West’s ability to maintain or increase our 2018-2019 FTES in 2019-2020 will result in an additional infusion of approximately the same amount into our 2020-2021 budget.  Our combined efforts to increase our enrollment will result in an additional $1.4 million.  Campus discussions will begin this fall regarding the disbursement of our growth dollars.