From President Murphy: Winter Quarter Greetings - January 11, 2013
Dear Colleagues,
Happy New Year. I hope you had a wonderful holiday break and an excellent start to
the winter quarter.
The quarter has begun well for the college, with additional high-demand classes available
for our students and enrollment at De Anza up by about 2 percent. I want to thank
the many faculty and staff who worked so hard to bring more students to the college
and into classes, and who are always dedicated to helping our students succeed. The
enrollment recovery is extremely welcome.
There is more good news: The governor’s budget released yesterday is the first in recent memory without cuts to the community colleges, and gives us hope that the state's economy is slowly recovering. Nothing is final until the budget is passed, and we cannot rest easy. Once again, our students will be deeply engaged in the struggle to ensure greater funding for the community colleges, as will faculty and staff unions. All of us need to support these efforts.
There is more good news: The governor’s budget released yesterday is the first in recent memory without cuts to the community colleges, and gives us hope that the state's economy is slowly recovering. Nothing is final until the budget is passed, and we cannot rest easy. Once again, our students will be deeply engaged in the struggle to ensure greater funding for the community colleges, as will faculty and staff unions. All of us need to support these efforts.
Yesterday’s message from Chancellor Thor, regarding the planned postponement of layoffs
until June 30, represents good news for the college, both for our colleagues facing
layoff and for our students. Neither our enrollment increase nor the governor's budget
eliminates the structural deficit of the district, but the number of eliminated positions
will be significantly fewer than originally planned thanks to the passage of Proposition
30. But "fewer" is not "none," and we will grieve the loss of any of our colleagues.
Both the college and the district will be working closely with our affected colleagues
and their employee groups in the months ahead.
Let me underscore Chancellor Thor’s caveat about the necessity to enroll and retain students, and reduce non-instructional expenses, in order to have the planned layoff date extended.
Let me underscore Chancellor Thor’s caveat about the necessity to enroll and retain students, and reduce non-instructional expenses, in order to have the planned layoff date extended.
Again, my deep and sincere thanks to you for your hard work in enrolling and keeping
our students. It was wonderful to come to campus on Monday and see faculty, staff
and students at the welcome tables, giving directions and information about open courses,
and providing the kind of personalized attention students so deserve. It makes a difference.
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Brian Murphy