De Anza and Foothill College presidents briefed the district board of trustees on receiving formal notification of their schools’ accreditation renewal by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges at a meeting Feb. 6.

De Anza president Brian Murphy expressed some displeasure with the tone of the commission’s letter.

“The edge that’s in my voice, as I told the chancellor, is that I would’ve preferred this long letter to have ended with the phrase ‘thank you’ somewhere … given the amount of work that the faculty and staff put into this,” Murphy said.

He said De Anza notified the commission that the college would probably not be following a recommendation to “clearly identify the intended student population for whom the college will provide programs and services.” Murphy stated doing so would be a violation of Title V, which defines De Anza as an open access institution.

“I believe that the Foothill college mission allows students to come from the world, right?” he jokingly said, turning to Foothill president Judy Miner. “I think I’ve got that right. So De Anza pledges to serve all persons not of Martian descent.”

Miner said the commission reminded Foothill that the Middlefield campus must have comparable support services and recommended it work with the Faculty Association to incorporate Student Learning Outcomes into faculty evaluations.

The board approved a resolution from the U.S. Dept. of Education allowing for the transfer of land at the Onizuka Air Force station to the district. The district plans on building an education center there to replace Foothill’s Middlefield campus.

Executive director of facilities, operations and construction management Charles Allen briefed the board on the matter.  Of most concern was language in the resolution that states the district would pay a monthly fine between $40,000 and $52,000 should the educational center not be in operation within three years of the deed transfer.

Allen called the resolution “stark” and attempted to get the language changed in order to accommodate unforeseen events, but the Department of Education declined to do so.

The board’s general counsel John Shupe said he looked at the Dept. of Education’s record with past projects and grantees were not penalized if delays were caused by events outside their control.

“We don’t like this language; there is some risk associated with it,” Shupe said, “but given the track record of the Department of Education it’s not a significant risk.”

Allen said the district should have the deed by June.

Board vice president Laura Casas Frier briefed the board on her visit to Sacramento with other trustees Jan. 29 and 30 as part of the Community College League of California’s legislative session. She said even if Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative passes in November, “we’re going to experience some severe, severe cuts.” She also was not pleased with aspects of Brown’s proposed budget.

“I was absolutely stunned that the governor wants to reduce Cal Works and child care subsidies for our very low-income struggling women,” Frier said, “because that’s the only door open to them to become middle class.”

Foothill president Judy Miner requested that board president Joan Barram adjourn the meeting in honor of Foothill staff members Mary Green and Doug Boyett, both of whom died the previous week. Green was director of Foothill’s EMT program while Boyett was the head coach of the football team.