Board support for telecast was hesitant
Catherine Sum
Posted on: 3/11/10 Section: News
Of six members, three on the Board of Trustees hesitated to fully support the approved one-year pilot for the televising and webcasting of its meetings.
The final decision was a narrow 3-1 vote with one abstention. Student Trustee Brian Abadia, who receives an advisory vote, also indicated his support for the pilot.
Trustee John Martin, who was not present at the meeting, declined to comment on the decision without further review, but cited student success as one of his biggest priorities for being on the board.
"To me [student success] means more money to support more classes," said Martin. "I would hope that instead of using class money to broadcast board meetings we would have a college class in Broadcast Journalism that produces the program and uses the money for more classes for students, instead of fewer classes for students."
The one vote against the plan, one of several options presented to the board by Interim Dean of Education Services Robert Miller on March 3, belonged to Trustee Jeanette Mann. During the discussion, Mann raised concerns about the televised broadcast's inability, on PCC's Charter Channel 96, to reach all of the college district's residents.
"Part of my district is in Sierra Madre, which does not get Charter Cable. So I don't think we should go through all this effort and not have it be available to everyone," Mann said. "I do fully support webcasting the meeting because everyone who has a computer can access it at any time."
Trustee Berlinda Brown abstained.
"I did not feel comfortable with the details to whether or not everyone will have access to the televised meetings," Brown said. "I would be absolutely for it if everyone was able to view it."
Aligning with the start of the 2010 fiscal year, the telecasts will begin in July as to allow for video production, sound recording and facilities costs to be included in the new budget.
The first available telecasts will dovetail with the last stages of PCC's search for a new president/superintendent, though it is unclear at this time if production will be mobilized to allow for the recording of on-site visits for the final candidates.
With the current path the board has taken, the plan is to install a new president sometime in August.
The topic is not new to the board. Former Trustee Beth Wells-Miller, according to Trustee William Thomson, was an advocate of the idea during her tenure on the board.
Said Thomson, also a longtime supporter of the plan to televise board meetings: "This [decision] makes our business more accessible, because there's no topic more important right now than public education. Community colleges, and PCC in particular, play a central role in the educational need of younger people. We promote opportunities."
The final decision was a narrow 3-1 vote with one abstention. Student Trustee Brian Abadia, who receives an advisory vote, also indicated his support for the pilot.
Trustee John Martin, who was not present at the meeting, declined to comment on the decision without further review, but cited student success as one of his biggest priorities for being on the board.
"To me [student success] means more money to support more classes," said Martin. "I would hope that instead of using class money to broadcast board meetings we would have a college class in Broadcast Journalism that produces the program and uses the money for more classes for students, instead of fewer classes for students."
The one vote against the plan, one of several options presented to the board by Interim Dean of Education Services Robert Miller on March 3, belonged to Trustee Jeanette Mann. During the discussion, Mann raised concerns about the televised broadcast's inability, on PCC's Charter Channel 96, to reach all of the college district's residents.
"Part of my district is in Sierra Madre, which does not get Charter Cable. So I don't think we should go through all this effort and not have it be available to everyone," Mann said. "I do fully support webcasting the meeting because everyone who has a computer can access it at any time."
Trustee Berlinda Brown abstained.
"I did not feel comfortable with the details to whether or not everyone will have access to the televised meetings," Brown said. "I would be absolutely for it if everyone was able to view it."
Aligning with the start of the 2010 fiscal year, the telecasts will begin in July as to allow for video production, sound recording and facilities costs to be included in the new budget.
The first available telecasts will dovetail with the last stages of PCC's search for a new president/superintendent, though it is unclear at this time if production will be mobilized to allow for the recording of on-site visits for the final candidates.
With the current path the board has taken, the plan is to install a new president sometime in August.
The topic is not new to the board. Former Trustee Beth Wells-Miller, according to Trustee William Thomson, was an advocate of the idea during her tenure on the board.
Said Thomson, also a longtime supporter of the plan to televise board meetings: "This [decision] makes our business more accessible, because there's no topic more important right now than public education. Community colleges, and PCC in particular, play a central role in the educational need of younger people. We promote opportunities."
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