O'Dunn Position Paper

By Shannon Anne O'Dunn

The fair and effective governance practices Shannon will bring to the Grossmont-Cuyamaca College Board are based on Accountability, Innovation, and Respect.

ACCOUNTABILITY

PROP 'R' BOND OVERSIGHT: Skyrocketing costs on new construction threaten to leave many facilities in poor condition, voiding the promise of 'Renovation and Repair' made to East County taxpayers who voted a $207 million facilities bond in 2002. Shannon will see that the college district gets the best quality and service from selected vendors and contractors, and keeps the Repair in `R and R', to fulfill our promise to taxpayers.
ADMINISTRATIVE OVERHEAD: District overhead will take 13.2 % of the 2006-07 budget, without directly educating a single student! This is too high. Shannon supports shifting resources down to the classroom level, and away from bloated administration.
ACCREDITATION 2007: Current internal conflict may impact the WASC accreditation of our district, and overshadow the fine job Cuyamaca and Grossmont colleges are doing for East County residents. Shannon will insist that district administration address student, staff, and community concerns arising from campus accreditation reports and WASC recommendations.

INNOVATION

NEW FACILITIES: Six new buildings are coming on line in 2007-08, the first since Cuyamaca College was built in 1975. These facilities demand that we provide updated curriculum to reflect needed and emerging career programs in healthcare, technology and service industries, and pre-professional training in engineering, law, and research. We must also broaden guaranteed transfer programs so that our students can seamlessly access Bachelor's Degree programs.
HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS: Grossmont College has a backlog of student applicants for Nursing and other health care programs, and East County needs these professionals. Shannon supports working aggressively with the Grossmont Health Care District and other entities to find solutions to hiring and enrollment problems in our health care programs.

RESPECT

GOVERNING BOARD CONDUCT: Shannon will demand that the Governing Board practice a collegial manner of governance, where respect for taxpayers is demonstrated by doing the public's business in public.
EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS: The district needs to regularize negotiations with a predetermined COLA award, parity in salary increases for all groups, and a goal of setting employees' salaries at a level where we attract and keep qualified staff. Shannon supports negotiating in a timely way, with fairness to employee groups, and fiscal responsibility to taxpayers. With added funding from the State in 2006-07 and beyond, we can and should do both.