Unification Is One Big Job

Every Friday, the leader of the world’s largest system of higher education fires up his computer and taps out an e-mail message to campus leaders across the state.

Sometimes he’s whimsical, reporting on his nine-mile bike commute or imagining how he would have to battle the state bureaucracy to requisition a bicycle.

But Thomas J. Nussbaum’s e-mail is usually serious, updating more than 100 district chancellors and college presidents on such pressing issues as state funding and whether the California Community Colleges system is ready to take in thousands of welfare recipients sent to them for job preparation. His conclusion: not very ready.

“This is a direct line of communication,” Nussbaum said of his Friday messages. “It’s been unifying for the system.”

Unification is no small task for the system’s chancellor, who is somewhat like a king answering to an array of sometimes raucously independent fiefdoms.

The Sacramento-based system he leads educates 1.4 million students a year--more than the University of California and California State University systems combined--at 106 colleges.

And Nussbaum faces a challenge unlike his counterparts in the other state college systems--he presides over 71 community college districts run by locally elected boards with wide latitude in setting curriculum and policies tailored to regional needs. That enables them to offer everything from conventional classes in English literature to others in World Wide Web surfing, basic sewing and stock trading.

Nussbaum’s duties include distributing guaranteed state funding--up $350 million this year, to $4 billion--and stepping in when a district approaches financial insolvency. The chancellor and the 16-member Board of Governors also advise local districts on a variety of policy questions.

But Nussbaum is willing to assert authority, as he showed at a recent board meeting in Orange County. He proposed tying $100 million in state funding to “academic excellence”--how well the various community colleges do in graduating students or transferring them to four-year schools. The two-year colleges would be given a certain amount of money for each student who gets an associate’s degree or certificate, or goes on to seek a bachelor’s degree.

The board approved the concept but not the money, sending the proposal back to Nussbaum for fine-tuning in consultation with faculty, students and administrators. Critics worried that the plan would primarily benefit suburban districts, where students get through community college faster because they come from academically superior high schools, or that it would entice professors to inflate grades for higher funding.

Nussbaum, though, is intent on proving to the Legislature and governor that community college money is well spent. Next year, he plans to ask for a $500-million budget increase for the system, which in the past has had to turn away students because funding has not kept up with rising enrollment.

By state law, community college doors are open to anyone with a high school diploma or certificate. Enrollment has roller-coastered over the years, varying with changes in the economy and the fees charged for courses. But consultants predict a 4% increase in enrollment annually through 2005.

Moreover, the community colleges have come to rely on lower-paid, part-time faculty, who now constitute two-thirds of their teaching force--a sore point with union and faculty groups. Annual spending per full-time student, $3,308, pales in comparison to Cal State’s $8,425 and UC’s $16,218.

So does Nussbaum’s $135,000 salary when compared with UC President Richard Atkinson’s $263,500 or the $254,000 that will be paid the new Cal State chancellor, Charles B. Reed.

A youthful 48, Nussbaum was born in El Centro, Calif., and attended UCLA and California Western University School of Law in San Diego before moving to Sacramento in search of public policy work, preferably in education.

He found a job at the California Community Colleges as a staff lawyer, and over 20 years moved up the ranks to the position of vice chancellor for legal affairs and general counsel.

He served four months as acting chancellor, until October 1996, when the Board of Trustees abruptly ended a nationwide search and gave him a two-year contract to replace the departing David Mertes.

From the start, funding--”to provide access”--has been a priority for him. “The Legislature and governor . . . have not funded the enrollment demand,” he said.

Part of the problem is the lack of a cohesive voice for the system in Sacramento, where some larger districts hire their own lobbyists.

Nussbaum carefully dances around a suggestion that he should have more say over local boards and their actions. But he admits to some frustration when crises arise.

In September, for instance, faculty members from the South Coast Community College District in Mission Viejo complained to him about their trustees’ appointment of a college president behind closed doors and the approval--later rescinded--of a class featuring a guest speaker who questions the severity of the Holocaust and contends that Israeli agents were implicated in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Nussbaum had to tell them that nothing in the California Education Code allows him to intervene or overrule a local board’s decisions.

In an interview, he suggested “there ought to be a time when the system comes in.”

Although many agree that the community college system needs changing, balancing state and local power is not easy.

In the coming months, a community college system task force and the nonprofit California Citizens Commission on Higher Education plan to release recommendations to improve the system.

Meanwhile, Nussbaum is paying close attention to how the colleges meet one of their new challenges: moving welfare recipients through education and job training programs before their two-year limits on public aid expire.

Under welfare reform measures, the system got $65 million this year to rework curriculum and job training and provide day care for those new students. Already, 10% of community college students statewide receive some form of welfare.

Most enrolled welfare recipients spend more than two years in the schools because they need remedial English classes or basic skills training. So the pressure is on for the colleges to find ways to get them through more quickly.

“That’s the scary thing,” Nussbaum said. “I don’t think it’s doable right now.”

The chancellor’s office is providing guidance for districts, but each is supposed to handle the problem its own way. “It’s going to be messy for a while,” the chancellor said, “but I do trust we will play a big role.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Thomas J. Nussbaum

Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.

Age: 48

Hometown: El Centro

Family: With his wife, Barbara, a 16-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son, lives now in Sacramento.

Education: B.A. political science, UCLA (1971). Law degree, California Western School of Law, San Diego (1975)

Professional background: A 20-year veteran of the chancellor’s office, he served previously as vice chancellor of legal affairs and general counsel before being named to the top post in October 1996.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Laughs on the Internet

Nussbaum likes to add levity to his weekly e-mails on budgets, staffing changes and policy--such as an imagined account of the frustrations he would encounter if he requisitioned a bicycle from the state. Here are excerpts:

Aug. 23, 1996:

As many of you know, I am an avid cyclist. I have little need for a state car--particularly a Ford Escort with ‘E’ license plates. Accordingly, I have put in for a “state bicycle.” This will be great for me; the only problem is that I’m not sure the new Chancellor [Nussbaum awas acting chancellor at the time] will react to having a state bicycle instead of a car. At least it comes equipped with a cellular phone.

Sept. 6, 1996:

“Bad news on my state bicycle. They’ve denied my request because the bike I wanted is made in Japan. I tried to argue that some of the parts were made in the USA but the democrats [sic] in the Senate are concerned that the bike is assembled in Taiwan. I’m hearing that a special session may be called to debate the issues. Meanwhile, I could be driving a Cadillac and all this public expense of debate could have been avoided.”

Oct. 4, 1996:

I’m in trouble. The State has determined that my use of E-mail to perpetuate this fabricated story is both a misuse of public resources and an effort aimed at bringing discredit to the state and its procurement processes. Consequently, I have lost not only my bid for a state bicycle, but also the accompanying bicycle parking spot.

May 9, 1997:

I withdrew my order for a “state bicycle” because many of you bragged that you could produce a superior bike at less expense through your own mechanisms. So far I haven’t received so much as a spoke. But please don’t feel shamed into action. Under the Conflict of Interest laws, I couldn’t accept such a gift anyway.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The California Community College System

Enrollment: ** 1,396,400

86% taking classes for credit, 14% non-credit

70% part-time, 30% full-time

1975: 1,331,000

1980: 1,384,068

1990: 1,513,010 (peak year, 1991, 1,515,000)

Faculty: 16,000 full-time; 26,700 part-time

Oldest college: Santa Barbara City College (established 1909)

Largest college: City College of San Francisco (86,000)

Smallest college: Palo Verde, Blythe (1,168)

Age distribution: 46% of students are 24 or younger; 33% are 25 to 39; 21% are 40 or older

Ethnic mix : white, 45.4%; Latino, 23.9%; Asian American, 12.3%; African American, 7.6%; Filipino American, 3.3%; Native American, 1.1%; Pacific Islander, 0.5%; other, 1.7%, unknown, 4.1%

Tuition: $13 per credit, plus local charges for parking, health services and other special services.

Total cost: Average annual cost for a community college student living at home is about $5,046--$9,114 for “independent” students, those living on their own. The figures include tuition, fees, books and supplies, transportation, food, housing and other expenses.

Transfers: 48,688 going on to California State University, 10,886 to the University of California, and an estimated 10,000 to private colleges and out-of-state schools. **

** Fall, 1996

Sources: California Higher Education Policy Center, California Postsecondary Education Commission and California Community College’s chancellor’s office.