Chris Luna | Dallas County Community College District

Chris Luna on the issues

Why are you running for this office?

I believe that education is the great equalizer. My parents were the first in their respective families to graduate from high school and the first to graduate from college. Increasingly, education, workforce skills, and training are critical to obtaining, keeping and advancing in a good job. While on the city council I worked with the DCCCD on economic development projects and workforce training. I was also an adjunct instructor at Richland College and El Centro College. In short, I know first hand the integral role that the DCCCD plays in this community and the positive impact that it has in our educational process.

What does the community college district need most and how would you assure that it gets what it needs. How will you push them if elected?

What the district needs most is to improve its institutional governance. Once elected, I will go to work on the following issues:

The district needs to conduct and adopt a comprehensive long range plan. The Board of Trustees’ current Systemwide Strategic Plan is for 2005 – 2008. However, this plan does not appear to address the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s report “Closing the Gaps” or the State’s projections on the changing demographics over the next 30 years in our public community colleges. In addition, any comprehensive long range plan needs to address the changes in science and technology. I would partner with my fellow trustees, the administration, community organizations, residents, educational groups, foundations, and businesses to develop and initiate a from the “ground up” process for the development of this long range plan, similar to how we did the Dallas Plan. The district must plan to remain innovative and to maintain its edge. This type long range plan could also be used to support an increase in state funding.

The district needs to provide more information to the public. For instance, the board minutes and the board packets need to be posted at the district’s web site. That way, the public will know what was discussed and how trustees voted. (Right now, only the agenda is posted.) I would talk to the administration about this request and work with them to implement it as the costs are minimal. I would also communicate to our shareholder groups about the progress under the $450 million bond program that was approved by voters in May 2004.

The district needs to improve its outreach in the community. As a trustee, I would either collaborate with the city council members in Richardson, Dallas and Garland to have town hall meetings together or would hold them on my own. This would help inform the community about the district and to be more responsive to our taxpayers. In addition, I would write columns for the community newspapers, as I did when I was on the city council, to help spread the word about the district. All of these efforts would help market the DCCCD as a brand.

The district needs to research enlarging the board to nine elected trustees, as the Houston Community College System has done. Enlarging the board would likely require legislation from the state legislature. But if it is done as a bracket bill, then it would increase the probability of passing. I believe that a larger board would increase diverse viewpoints and increase citizen participation. I would work with my fellow trustees to research this issue and to see if it could be implemented in time for the 2010 census.

The district needs to evaluate adding a student as an ex-officio (non-voting) member of the board, as the recent state law has mandated at four year institutions. With respect to adding a student trustee, this would require the full board’s approval. I would work with my fellow trustees and the college presidents to reach consensus on this issue. As a starting point, I think that this seat could rotate each year among the seven colleges. Since students (credit and non-credit) are one of the district’s primary customers, I think that it would be beneficial to have their viewpoint and input.

Community colleges are becoming more popular as students look to them as alternatives to a traditional four-year institution or as bridges to university life. Is the district doing enough to keep pace with this trend, and if not what should it do now?

I think that there is room for improvement in area of student education. As trustee, some specific ideas that I would advocate for include the following:

1. The district should ensure that adequate resources are going to the developmental math and developmental English programs. Unfortunately, many students enroll in the district without mastering the basics. Around 1/3 of all DCCCD students are taking at least one developmental studies (remedial) course, and 70% of recent Dallas County high school graduates are enrolled in at least one developmental course. Students will not be able to get an associate’s degree, a certificate, or transfer to a four year college without a strong foundation in the basics.

2. The district should create centers of excellence at all of its institutions to promote specific programs at each school. Those centers of excellence would get the best equipment, teachers, initiatives, training, etc. We could then work with the business community to have an “adopt a program” effort so that businesses can partner with the center of excellence and assist in its programs, grants, teaching, and then hiring.

3. While the district has articulation agreements with most four year schools in the area, they only have concurrent admission programs with TWU and UNT. Because of the proximity of UTD and UTA, the district should also have concurrent admission agreements with UTD and UTA. This would allow DCCCD students to use the other schools resources and familiarize themselves with those campuses.

4. The district should conduct a thorough compensation survey and job classification study. I am concerned that the district’s salaries are not at market rates and are lagging behind other educational institutions and governmental entities. In order to attract and retain the best staff and faculty, the district’s compensation must be competitive. I know that the compensation paid for adjunct instructors (the position that I held) is considerably higher at other area universities than at the DCCCD. Statistical benchmarking and the related data would aid in that review process. It is a good sign that the district has recently hired a Vice Chancellor for Human & Organizational Development.

5. The district should work with area colleges, universities, foundations and private funding sources on scholarship programs similar to the one that was recently announced between the Collin County Community College District and UTD. We need to make sure that financial aid is available to those DCCCD students that want to go on to a four year college or university. The DCCCD Foundation has done a terrific job of raising scholarship funds for students attending DCCCD and the Rising Star program should be supported and encouraged.

Higher education costs continue to rise. What should the community college district do to keep education affordable?

1. The tuition and fees at the district’s colleges are among the lowest in the area, and we need to keep it that way. As such, gross tuition makes up less then 20% of the district’s total budget. To continue to keep tuition low, other revenue sources will have to be increased (and/or expenses decreased). These other revenue areas are: grants, contracts, state appropriations and auxiliary sources (cafeteria, bookstores, and vending machines.) While I do not support raises taxes at this time, there is room to increase other non-tuition sources of revenue and decrease expenses, as many of my answers indicate.

2. The district does not have either an independent internal auditor (appointed by the board that reports directly to the board) or a fraud & abuse hotline. The district’s outside auditor has recommended that the district consider such procedures and that a confidential, anonymous reporting mechanism should be developed. My experience is that both of these tools ensure that the funds are being spent appropriately and that waste is minimized. This would also promote accountability and fiscal responsibility.

3. The district should cap its participation in Tax Increment Financing Districts at 50% of the percentage of incremental tax committed. This would result in reducing the taxes foregone and would create additional revenue flowing into the district.

4. Another area for possible improvement is the tax collection rate. Recently, the tax collection rate has been between 96% to 98%. Additional tax revenue could be realized if the collection rate was increased, even if only incrementally. (In the past, the collection rate was as high as 99%.)

Is the district providing the proper courses and training that businesses require? If not, why not, and what changes would you make?

Overall, yes. Courses such as ESL, OSHA/safety training, and Spanish for the Workplace, are very well done.

The problem is that many business executives and HR directors do not know about the offerings or the options. I know many business leaders that are not aware of the services offered by the district. I would work with the district officials to better market these programs. For instance, we could communicate regularly with the areas 200 largest employers and our area chambers of commerce so that they know about the various course offerings. In addition, we could get feedback from them on what new topics or classes should be offered in the future.

We could also inform the business community about the custom training programs which also could use help in their marketing. Also, as more companies outsource some of these functions, customized training from the district could help fill this gap. All of these efforts would help increase the awareness of the district’s services and generate additional revenue.