Thank you, Madam Chair. To 331 you and all members of Council, we again appreciate the opportunity to speak today. I am Stephen Curtis, President of Community College of Philadelphia. We have submitted earlier written testimony. I will not go through all that, but I would like to highlight three points that I think pervade the piece. The first point, certainly I will talk in a few minutes about the impact of the economic downturn at every level, not just in the City. Despite the economic situation in which we have found ourselves, I think the college is very proud that we are taking positive steps to help both the City meet its goals, but all the residents of the City meet their individual goals. There are a number of those steps described in the document. I would like to highlight three, if I may. First has to do with enrollment. There are budget reductions taking place all over the US and there are states, I can name a half dozen right off the top of my head, where those reductions have 332 led to public higher education system, community colleges, in some cases, public universities, to cap enrollment and literally turn away students by the tens of thousands. We have made a point of not to do that. I know we are all under the financial crunch but we are very, very pleased that we think when the residents of the City need us the most, we have been able to accommodate those additional enrollments. The last couple of years we have set an all-time record for credit enrollments. This year we will not set an all-time record, we have flattened out in terms of that enrollment, but even within that overall college enrollment there are two of our sites that will set records. We have been fortunate to lease a little bit of additional space at our west regional center. It has made a real difference adding some classroom capacity, additional faculty offices and what we call a learning comments. Think of it as an academic support environment. And for the first time ever, this spring the west 333 regional center passed 1,000 in terms of its head count enrollment. Four years ago, we were fortunate to be able to get permission from the State and dollars to do some expansions, and one of those expansions has been at our northeast regional center. That expansion has now been open for a good year and this Spring that campus passed a 3,000 head count mark for the first time in our history. So, overall we are flat, but there are two examples where, again, we believe we are serving the immediate neighborhoods, the immediate community in ways that we believe are appropriate. A second example of positive steps that I would like to give you is in the area of workforce. Again, this is a moment in time when our students are looking to prepare themselves through education, through training, so that they can be more competitive for the jobs that are out there. I'd like to give you a slightly different take on one way that we have 334 developed to help them in their search. We have taken at least of our Associate Degree programs and carved out of them what we call proficiency certificates. There are five or six courses for credit in key competency areas within the full degree program that we believe will allow a student to get at least an entry level position in the field, and then every course, every credit in that proficiency certificate counts toward the Associate Degree. So in effect, we are building ladders --
-- so that you don't have 15 to wait at least two years to get going on 16 that path, and hopefully at least enter the 17 field in an entry level way. I won't go 18 through the whole list, but several are in 19 the Allied health science area; things like 20 patient service representative, biomedical technician, medical office assistant. Some are in the human services field, social or human service assistant, youth work. Some are in the technology based field, 335 digital imaging. GIS, Geographic Information Systems. Just to give you a flavor, but, it's a different approach for us. For many years we went for the full degree and occasionally the certificate, but we are purposely building these ladders in order to help our students begin that trek down a career pathway. But, again, knowing that the full degree will move them even further along that path. One other quick example around workforce, for the business training that we do on campus, the primary facility for that has been our Center For Business and Industry at the Spring Garden campus. With the expansion of our northeast regional center, which geographically is the furthest of our permanent sites from the main campus. We were able to get funding for a center for small business educational training and that is staffed on an everyday basis now, and as one example, we launched a series, I guess about three our four weeks ago, for family owned small businesses. So that we are taking -- I 336 think we had a hundred turn out for our first workshop. There are individual kinds of issues that a family owned business may face that not all other businesses will. As an example, what do you do when you want to pass the business on to another member of the family, et cetera, et cetera. So, we are providing help, we are providing assistance, and again, we think it lines up with the nature of many businesses around the City. So, again, I give you that example. And lastly, as an example of positive steps, even with the funding constraints that we have, we have maintained many of the special programs, and I think the two or three that I will mention I have mentioned here before, but I think it is important because they are programs that make a difference in this kind of economic environment, one is our Opportunity Now, it's the displaced worker program, where if an individual is laid off from full-time employment we offer one tuition free 337 semester. That program stays in place. Another one, we have supported the City's efforts to get its employees in to educational programs, and we do offer a discount on tuition to City employees. There are others I can name too. There are others mentioned in the written testimony, but these are examples, they are intended to be examples, of ways in which we are trying to directly respond to what is going on economically, directly respond to the priorities of the City and so on. I am happy to answer any questions that you have about other things in our testimony. Second point I'd like to highlight is the direct impact of the recession and economic crisis on Community College of Philadelphia. I will start at the Federal level and you will see why I am starting there in just a moment. Every level of Government is feeling the pinch when it comes to the affects of the economy. At the Federal level we have lost some 338 long-time programing support. Again, I can tell you more before that afterwards, but things that in some cases have been with us or 30 years, gone as Congress has moved 5 any other directions to balance the budget, 6 but the one I want to focus on is Pell 7 Grants. There are, approximately, a little 8 over a hundred colleges and universities in 9 the tri-state greater Philadelphia region. 10 Of all those colleges and 11 universities, Community College of 12 Philadelphia is far and away No. 1 in the 13 number of Pell recipients that we have, by 14 some thousands beyond any other college or 15 university in the region.
I say that to 16 emphasize the impact of any change in Pell 17 policy on our students directly and 18 eventually on the college, and those changes 19 have started to occur. 20 The main way that Congress is dealing with what it perceives to be the expanding cost of Pell is to change eligibility requirements. In some cases, they may affect students by the hundreds. In other cases, it 339 may affect a relatively small number of students. An example of the second is the so-called ability to benefit students. Forever, as far as I know, we have been able to accept a small group of students who do not have a high school diploma or a GED, under certain circumstances, but they have been eligible for Pell so they could go to college, and in doing so, get that high school diploma as well as college credits. That group has now been ruled ineligible for Pell. For us, it is probably less than a hundred students, but with the changes going on you have a hundred here, a hundred there. As the saying goes pretty soon you are talking real numbers. So, we are very concerned because we believe the sector of higher education that would be most affected by the changes in Pell eligibility would be community colleges, not just ours, but community colleges in general. So, at the Federal level, that is probably the biggest area of focus that we have. S. Senators and our congressional representatives, but that is a specific impact that does affect us going forward. At the State and local level, I think you are all too familiar with what is going on. From the College's point of view, we always appreciate the support that City Council and the administration provides. There was a moment this year, for example, when midyear City cuts were being implemented. We were appreciative. The administration gave us a chance to make a case and at the end, did not impose a midyear cut on us. So, we view that kind of action and your own support over time as key indicators of how important you see Community College in this City. Having said that, next year, if the State acts in the way it has been recommended to act, would represent the third year 341 running that either the City or the State will have reduced funding for Community College of Philadelphia. Last year it was the City reduced funding. This year it was the State, a percent reduction as part of 6 the very large scale reductions for higher 7 education State wide, and I think you know 8 there is another set of fairly large scale 9 reductions that have been proposed at the 10 State level which are being considered. The Community College amount is a little over four percent less than the universities, but still, it is consistently a cut. There are no new dollars coming from either City or State and we are literally going backwards when you add that together, at the moment, year in and year out. This year, I think I actually purport this almost every year because it doesn't change, the percentage of support that we receive from the City is at its lowest point in the history of the college. The percentage of support we receive from the 342 State is the lowest point in the history of the college, and if the recommendations in place for next year at both levels were to go through, I will say exactly the same thing to you, the percentage would be even less for both City and State. That makes us more dependant than ever on student tuitions and fees. This year it is almost 60 percent of our revenue from students. Again, assuming what I have just described for next year goes through, it will pass the 60 percent mark. I guess you should -- I should say to you, this is not even just peculiar to Community College of Philadelphia. Because the State uniformly cuts, all community colleges in the State are effected and local sponsorship has been declining across the State. It is not just in Philadelphia.
So, to my knowledge, virtually every Community College in the State will be at that same kind of point, 60 percent or more of the revenue based on student tuition and fees. And the third and 343 final point that I will make as a generalization, we recognize the crisis. We really try to do our part. We work around it, but more and more, the impact is unavoidable. I want to give you a couple of examples. Despite all the positive things that we list in the written testimony and the few that I named in my oral testimony, we are beginning to reduce programs and services. I can be more specific afterwards if you wish. Starting with smaller ones, but we are reducing. We are reducing some service hours across the campus. We are freezing administrative and classified positions. We do not freeze faculty hiring. Our position is, if the students are coming to us in large numbers and we are accepting them, then we need to provide the courses that they require, and that means we continue to hire faculty, whether it is full-time or part-time. So, there's never been a freeze, at least in my tenure at the college, on hiring faculty. But we are 344 freezing many other vacant positions and that puts stress on the organization. We are rethinking what business means. It is not business as usual. I am going to give you, again, a very tangible example of the kind of analysis that we are going through these days. We are trying to make our decisions based on data. For ages we have been open six days a week at all four sites, but it probably won't surprise you to learn that on Friday night it is pretty empty, and I will site the statistic at the main campus. The main campus is the largest campus with multiple buildings far more costs associated with it, around utilities, around security, et cetera, et cetera, and on Friday night last semester, there are some events, there may be an athletic event or whatever, but actual students registered in courses, we had something like 120 on a Friday night. We can't afford to do that anymore. On Saturdays -- let me give you this semester while I am on Friday night. This 345 semester we had a little over 200 on Friday nights at the main campus, but again, we don't think we can continue to support a wide open campus, and I will tell you how that relates to cost in just a moment for that number of students. On Saturdays, the number is greater than that, but we have done an analysis, we are operating four sites in full for a smaller set of classes on Saturday than during the week, but nonetheless, we try to provide many offerings. At the main campus, the majority of students taking classes at the main campus reside in a zip code that is actually closer to the regional centers than it is to the main campus. They may have reasons for coming downtown, I don't want to dismiss that, but in terms of access, their access in most cases is even better to the regional center than it is to the main campus. So, we have made a budget decision, starting in the fall, we will not offer courses in general at the main campus Friday nights through the weekend. We will 346 consolidate all those offerings at the other three sites. The one exception will be the Center For Business and Industry, that is at the main campus. We can operate that separately, it is on separate HVAC. It is very easy to control in terms of security, and we do not want to affect possible business training opportunities, and there may be occasional moments, such as an athletic event, we will open the gym, but as a generalization, we intend to consolidate. We are not trying to reduce the number of courses, we may lose a couple along the way, but we are not trying to do that. We want the offerings in general to be in the same number as we need, but at three sites instead of four. It will, however, save us hundreds of thousands of dollars --
-- this coming year. Again, it is around utilities. Several of the campus buildings are interconnected. You heat one, you heat several. They are not 347 zoned in a way that we can do it. Security, if you have been to that campus you know it is a wide open campus, so it requires a lot of security, and then some staffing, part-time staffing, to keep offices open, labs and so on. We will evaluate that. These are database decision. So, as we go through the coming year, we will do an evaluation. We don't want to lose a significant number of students. That is not the goal. If that were to be true we would have to rethink what we are doing. I am giving the example to say, we are really getting down to the bone, and we are going to be forced to reexamine how we are doing business. Doesn't mean we don't do some things, but we are going to have to do them differently. The other immediate impact is the pressure that the financial situation puts on student tuition. I think I have already eluded to that. We are extremely committed to not putting the total burden of 348 everything going on around us on students. I have suggested to you that Pell is already in jeopardy. Students are going to experience some pressure through Pell Grants and we know that we are not able to increase tuitions, as sometimes universities do, $1,000 at a time. We can't do that at Community College of Philadelphia. We will marginalize some of the students that need us. So, there are limitations. There are, basically, three sources of income for the college, three principal ones: The City; the State; and tuition and fees. City and State are having difficulty right now and are not, at the moment, adding any dollars to our budget. Tuition and fees, we are trying to keep the increases moderate. So, I will finish as I think I have on previous occasions. We work hard to do our part, but we are getting to a point where if what we contribute to the City in order to help it thrive, if we are going to continue to offer what we think we need to be 349 offering, there is a point at which both City and State, we need some additional help. You will see, even in the toughest times, we usually request some degree of additional support from the City. We did that this year, and with our sister institutions, 7 some additional support at the State level. 8 Community colleges in the State 9 continue to be the fastest growing sector of 10 higher education. Students are finding what 11 they need at community colleges, but we can't 12 do it all without some level of additional 13 help beyond just putting it on student tuition. Again, I thank you for the opportunity. I am happy to answer questions.
Well, thank you for quite the comprehensive overview of all of the channels of activity that are happening at CCP, I believe, and I know that Councilman Jannie Blackwell will be thrilled to hear that the west regional location is expanding and delighted to hear that the workforce issue that you are dealing with is happening 350 at all. So, I have a few questions, then I want to turn the mic over to Councilman Greenlee. Any linkage with Mark Edwards, who is now our City's leading workforce professional here in the City, as you think through and work through the workforce issues at CCP?
Oh. Yes, absolutely. I have sat on the WIB Board since it was created right after the wheel legislation, but we have frequently undertaken programs with the WIB. We have engaged in training through what has been PWDC. That is all changing now, and under the new merger, Mark and his staff have already met us with at the college to initiate some conversations about other ways that we can collaborate. Again, that should be a part of our role, you know, in working with the City. So, the answer is absolutely, yes. 351
So, the answer is yes. It is a matter of working smarter in a new environment?
What percentage of your budget is from the State? You say 60 percent is from tuition and fees?
About percent from the 12 City these days -- the State. Excuse me. 13 That was your question. About 15 percent 14 from the City. 15
So, you have 16 spoken a lot about the business of education 17 from the mission of CCP as an institution. 18 Let's look to the business of education or 19 the education of business, the business side 20 of education when it comes to the actual 21 institution itself. It is no secret that we 22 here in this body care a lot about what is 23 happening with all those entities and 24 institutions that receive City support. I 352 need to thank you for providing to my office or our offices, the demographic breakdown of what is happening at CCP from a staff standpoint. What I want to look to further is the spending on capital purposes. Professional services, supplies, services, and others. What I have here is helpful. It is not detailed enough for me in that I can not tell from these numbers which are -- you have general numbers here, for example FY09 and 10, it is close to $400,000, 5.5 percent from a discretionary spending for minority owned men?
What I cannot tell in that is, what part of that number is for professional services, what part is for supplies and services?
Okay. I don't know that right offhand. We can absolutely break that down.
Then we want to know who you do your insurance with; who you do your legal services with; Workman's Compensation.
Security and Maintenance, because we in this body care about doing business with local.
As well as women and people of color. So, if you can break that down further, that would be extremely helpful.
My next question, then I will bounce it, is on of your testimony last year. My staff and I reread last year's transcript, and at that time we found out there was no written policy on business diversity at the college. Councilman Goode asked a question, do you believe there should be a written policy, 354 where in your statement was, I think, a written policy is appropriate. So, as we move now to one year later, please give us an update on what that written policy is regarding minority and women contractors at the college.
The answer is, there is no 8 policy, per se. There is an equal opportunity plan that we have utilized. It is in writing, for the kind of contracting that you have been asking about. That is a multi-page document and we can provide that to you.
Have you incorporated the Mayor's goals into your Equal Opportunity Plan?
What was MBE or WBE participation on construction projects?
What we have given you, these are the recent construction projects, I 355 think last year we provided a previous construction project. This is the main campus construction project. It comes in phases, and this is the report to date. There are still -- I have forgotten the amount of money, another $13 million or something to actually be contracted and dispersed. So, these numbers we know will go up, but this is to this point in the project, it is certainly past the halfway point, but we already know, for example, from contracts out but not dispersed yet that these numbers will in fact rise.
Does there exist a monitoring apparatus within your organization to ensure that what is written on paper is real?
Yes. We have written the parameters of the EOP plan into contracts and we have a person at the college who has general oversight of our construction on our behalf who monitors that. We report that regularly to the Board of Trustees.
Okay then. Thank 356 you very much. I am gonna push my pause button and now move to Councilman Bill 3 Green. Councilman Goode, point of information. Councilman Goode.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair. Very briefly. Just because my office made a recent inquiry, do you actually put goals within the RFPs, and what percentage of RFPs you put goals in? We made an inquiry given to us by a constituent about a specific contract opportunity and the only thing that was stated within that contract opportunity was the equal opportunity, economic opportunity statement, which is very bland, and not necessarily meaningful. Do you actually put goals in the RFPs and if not, how do you expect it to lead to participation, because there is no need for monitoring enforcement if there aren't goals that are actually set?
Unless I misunderstood the question, I was answering specifically around 357 the construction projects. Everything I said there, I think, is correct.
I am with you now. I don't know that the goals are written in that way in the RFP. On the other hand, we have a standard practice that for any RFP of the kind that you are describing, we require internally one or more minority vendors before we will move through the process.
So, you set specific diversity goals for construction projects, but not for professional services?
I just want to put on the record, I don't understand why you don't set goals for professional service contracts. I believe you should. Thank you, Madam Chair.
You're welcome, Councilman Goode. Councilman Bill Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam 358 Chair. Just quickly, I know it's been a long day. Good afternoon. It is almost evening. First of all, I just want to echo what the Chairwoman said about the accomplishments you have given, the tough economic situations that are out there. Including, I know what you feel is lack of proper funding from the City, and we understand that. You have done a terrific job. The one thing that jumps out at me is on the first page of your written testimony, you say that more than 90 percent of those that received degrees or certificates remained in the City and chose to work here.
I think that is really important because we talk a lot about trying to keep folks in the City, especially once they get out of college or whatever, and you certainly have seemed to achieve that. So, that's great news, I think, for everybody.
Thank you. I mean, that is partly because we are a local college. 359
We are a community college. We really don't serve outside this County. So, we have, among our students, individuals that want to stay in the City. They are looking to advance themselves, further themselves. I think that has been a fairly consistent -- I mean, it may go up or down slightly, but a fairly consistent trait for many, many years. So, we are not part of the brain drain, as an example.
Okay. That is great. Finally, I just want to start out by saying, I have no desire to get involved indirectly in collective bargaining in any way, but I think a lot of us always think it is important to talk, sit down, negotiate, whatever. I wonder if you can comment at all about where -- I mean we know, we read the papers, we heard from folks, where, just in general terms, have there been sit downs lately, are there plans to do more, that kind of thing with you? 360
At the moment, that is in the hand of the State mediator. We have -- If you are following then you know we have made, after many months, we have been at this, started months ago, we tried to 6 advance this with what we think is a 7 comprehensive final offer that lays out what 8 we think we can afford, but we have been 9 working with a mediator. I believe the 10 mediator is working with the union and as 11 soon as the mediator calls us back, we are 12 prepared to sit down. 13
Fair enough. 14 Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. 15
You are welcome, Councilman Greenlee. At this hour we will call on Councilman Kenyatta Johnson.
That is good. I want to first acknowledge your hard work of Government relations person Lynette Brown-Sow. I definitely want to acknowledge 361 the hard work that she has done on behalf of Community College of Philadelphia. I just wanted to have you just briefly touch base on three particular initiatives I am very interested in. One is the Center for Male Engagement. Can you just elaborate on the status of the program, how the program has done thus far to date. The other one was the actual workforce program where you provide the free semester? It kind of boggles my mind all these different cuts that's going on and dollars and cents how would that program equate that you actually still have running.
Third one is the Advanced College expense for dual enrollment program that focuses on continuing education for high school students. And those are three of my key areas that I am interested in getting an update on and a status as it relates to Community College of Philadelphia.
I would be happy to. The 362 Center for Male Engagement, the college, over the years, has tried a number of initiatives, and I am gonna call them that, I don't mean this in a bad way, but small scale initiatives. There have always been faculty on the campus that wanted to work with students particularly to address the difference in success rates for African-American men on campus and Latino men. Those are the two groups. So, we have done some things but to really make some headway, we have always thought we needed to do it at a larger scale. That is probably a comment that goes to a lot of things even beyond this particular example. So, we are fortunate about two-and-a-half years ago to get some initial funding through the Federal Government that allowed us to -- I don't know that that is true, but he has always supported us in everything we do, but it allowed us to establish the center. What is different about it, it allows us to hire full-time coaches. Think of mentors who are 363 intervening and interceding on a regular basis with the men, often young men, who work through the Center For Male Engagement. So, instead of trying to do some things at a time or 30 at a time, we are now 6 doing it hundreds at a time. There is a whole 7 series of services and activities we run 8 through the center. Some of them are unique 9 to the center. As an example, for incoming 10 freshman, we invite them, again we are 11 talking men now, to participate in a summer 12 experience prior to beginning in the fall. 13 But we are also building on the 14 infrastructure that we have in place for all 15 students. An example there would, be our 16 academic early alert system. Any instructor 17 who sees early in a semester that a student 18 is having trouble; not showing up regularly, 19 behind in homework, whatever. I won't go 20 through all the details, but there is a way of letting the college know that, and we reach out to the student. In this case the coaches can intervene with the student. The students are in effect assigned to the 364 coaches. So, we are doing some things differently and at a scale that is very different from what we have done before. It's been in place a little over two years, so we are still early in the process. But the initial data says that these male students are being retained at a rate that exceeds other male students at the college, in some cases by significant percentage points. So, we think this is a work in progress that is turning out to be very successful. Again, we still have a ways to go. The men who started with us a couple years ago won't be at a point of graduation yet. So, we have to get all the way through that, but the initial data, because we do measure everything, looks very, very promising. The second one you mentioned was our Opportunity Now Program. The answer to that question, we inaugurated that shortly after the events of 9/11. You may recall that even before 9/11, the economy was in a bit of a 365 funk then too, but 9/11 made it worse. In Philadelphia, the airline industry was laying off. Tourism was down. There were people, even more people losing jobs. So, we got this idea from another community college. We, basically, stole it from them, and have done it ever since. What we have found over time, No. 1, this is a population that tends to be older than our already adult population. Average age for us about 27. I think the average age for the Opportunity Now student is often in the 35 area. And many of those students, not all, but many are coming with some college or even a degree already in hand. So, your question was a cost question. We require no tuition from them for that semester. They do have to buy books, they have to pay fees. We do ask them to apply for federal financial aid. So, for some, that will cover the cost. If they do not qualify or if for some reason they are not eligible, we simply waive the tuition.
There is no magic bucket of money here, but it 366 turns out they are not all beginning students. If they were all beginning and needed, every one of them, English Composition I, right, which every student has to take in college, even if you scatter them across the college, in effect, you are having to create extra sections of English 101. There is a cost to the college, but a number of these students already have some of those introductory level courses. They need or want some advanced courses, and in those courses, there are sometimes empty seats. If they fill in an empty seat, it's not costing the college. So, from the beginning, there's always been a cost to us, but we have always thought that the trade off of a smaller cost than we ever dreamed it might be, with what it accomplishes, is absolutely worth it. That is the answer to your question. And the third one, the dual enrollment program for high school students, that is an example where relationships with the school district that have depended in part on 367 external funding are probably diminished in terms of what we are able to do. Specifically, in the previous state administration, there was dollar support for tuition for dual enrollment students all over the State. Each school district could apply for whatever the amount was. And however that was determined, there would be a line item for each school district that would allow them then to negotiate with a college like us to support dual enrollment. That support disappeared in one fell swoop this year as part of the budget decision making progress in Harrisburg. What we have done, we have discounted our tuition to high school students as a way of trying to encourage moving on, but realistically, we expect those numbers to be down this year because there are individual schools that will support some of that. There may be individual students, but it won't be at the levels that have occurred in the past, we believe, because of the lack of tuition support. 368 So, I can't give you the final numbers. We are actively working with not only the school district or the charter schools and others to find synergy around dual enrollment, but realistically we expect the numbers to be down this year.
You are very welcome, Councilman Johnson. Please, Councilman Henon, you are up next.
Thank you, Chair. Good evening, how are you. Seems like community college is thriving as far as your enrollment. What is your enrollment today compared to the last, let's just say, five years?
Well, as I said, on the credit side, we hit all time records. The last two years, we will not. So, in any given semester, we will have 20,000 and up taking credit courses. By the end of the year, we will enroll almost 40,000 different students. 369 About three quarters of those are the credit side. The rest are non-credit. That is literacy programs, business training that doesn't lead to credit. That may be customized job training and the like, but it will be almost 40,000 different heads.
What are the graduation rates from Community College, and of those graduation rates, those who are on the credit end and on a full-time basis, are City residents? It is pretty high, right? People who graduate and leave Community College retain here in the City; is that correct? Is that a fair statement?
That is true. Absolutely. If they graduate from us, they stay to live and work. There is no doubt it. I am not sure how to answer, there is so many permutations here. In terms of graduation rate, the most recent data I have seen we track, for instance, how many students leave us each Spring. They leave for all kinds of reasons. 370 Many students transfer without a degree. They don't intend to get a degree from us. They simply want to get to Temple University or Drexel, wherever they are going. So, I think the last data I saw said that out of 6,000 some students leaving the college for various reasons, to go to work, maybe not doing well, and actually dropping out. About percent of that number left as 10 graduates. About half of every graduating 11 class goes straight to work, but the other 12 half go on to a four-year school. We still 13 have more students looking to transfer than 14 anything else. 15
That sounds quite 16 impressive as, you know, when they leave your 17 institution. So, you know, as someone as a 18 late person just trying to assess and 19 understand, you know, how the college 20 operates. It seems like you have, you know, very good, you know, let's just say a pool and workforce of professors and teachers and adjunct teachers to help assist the credits that people need as opposed to, you know, 371 full-time students and some of your programs. So, I think it's a credit to, you know, working with, you know, the administration and the teachers.
Specifically the teachers union. How much have you -- It seems like you have had a vibrant and very good strategic plan with your capital budget and your business plan. How much have you -- How much has your capital budget been to date over the last five years, approximately?
Well, you can, if you have it or if you can just provide it the Chair at some time.
Let me just answer in a general way. The last five years are different because we received specific approval and funding from the State. We can't undertake a large scale capital project without State approval and with that comes 372 State funding.
In my previous job I was across the street. So, you know, I seen a lot of activity. A lot of goings on.
So, for the last five years, our big projects are probably $80 some million dollars worth of projects in the last five years. For construction, that's what you are asking, I think.
Yes, Madam Chair. So, yes, that is impressive. Again, I just want to continue to see the college thrive for the residents here in the Philadelphia proper and region, and hopefully they stay here. I too just wanted to follow up quickly. My colleague I think had mentioned about the ongoing negotiations, you know, with my previous background. I understand 373 what it means to be at the table and negotiate, so it's a give or take. I hope -- I hope that there is a resolve soon, you know, because it is in the best interest of all of Philadelphia and, you know, the residents as we invest in an institution that is producing good results, and for those that are participating in educating our citizens, is extremely important. Now, you said that the negotiations now are, you know, in the hands of an arbitrator. When do they --
Mediator. Okay. When does the mediator expect; anytime soon?
Good. I would encourage a good resolve, fair resolve for 374 everybody at the end of this is in all our interests.
Thank you, Councilman Henon. My final question is around the issue of sustainability and the environment being green. A few members of Council, notably Councilman Jim Kenney, myself, and others, who care a lot about this topic. On the curriculum side, has the university looked at the prospect or notion of offering curricula end in this area?
I believe the correct answer, I hope I have enough information for you, is that we in some key areas have done that. Architecture, as an example, and construction management, those kinds of things have specific, not a separate degree program, but specific modules, et cetera.
In other cases, I think 375 it's being integrated in to curricula as opposed to set aside program.
And then lastly, on the practice behavior side, what steps has the University taken towards recycling and the like?
Well, we do many things already. We also are looking at increasing our recycling and are looking to produce a plan backed by some dollars, we hope. That goes back to our budget conversation a moment ago. That would allow us to take even more steps forward. Probably the biggest steps we have taken around sustainability have been in the latest construction projects. The expansion at the northeast, the new building. We expect leave certification, same for the new building on the main campus, both of which are open now. I can't remember if I mentioned this previously, but up in the 376 Northeast, we were able to obtain a significant economic development agency allocation several years ago, Federal dollars, to support geothermal wells. I think we have 220 of them up at the Northeast.
Originally we intended to use them to heat and cool the new building, but as it turns out, we are using it for the entire campus. I think as a sort of rule of thumb, we are now heating and cooling double the square footage. We have literally doubled the size of that campus for only about 10 percent more in cost. So, not only are we doing the right thing vis-a-vis, the carbon footprint, and all that, but from a budget point of view, it is absolutely economically very advantageous.
So, we have lots of literature about those buildings, but those 377 are very substantial steps that we have deliberately tried to take in recent times.
Very, very exciting. I am going to close by beating a dead horse. Repeat again why you -- I believe -- I assume that it is a leadership decision not to have a policy, a Board policy around MBE, WBE, in addition to or instead of your EOP plans?
Honestly, I don't have a reason. We will attend to that. I promise to give you a different answer a year from now.
Because it matters enormously to many members of Council.
I think the actions we are taking are the actions that are moving us in the right direction.
We will give you more detail, but on the charts that you referred 378 to earlier, every year for the last four or five years, those totals are increasing. So, I think we are moving in the right direction, but I understand the question.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Any other questions for the Community College of Philadelphia? We thank you very, very much.
At this hour, we will ask SEPTA to please move to the witness table.
Thank you very much. You can state your name and begin your testimony for the record.
Good evening, Councilman Jones. My name is Joseph Casey, General 379 Manager for SEPTA. I submitted my testimony, you know. I will leave it to the Council's discretion whether you want me to read parts of it, or --
I think that is a precedent. I don't know how to act. You said, let's just get this started. Are you sure? I mean. Any other members, is that all right? It's getting late in the hour? Okay. We will accept your generous offer. Let me start by saying that it has been my privilege in the past four years to have been Chair of Transportation and Public Utilities for Council's Committee, but as we know, we have upgraded to the freshman Councilman, Kenyatta Johnson, who is now Chair of that committee, and has graciously allowed me to remain as Vice Chair, and I appreciate that. I have had a long relationship with you, and congratulations on settling the SEPTA police strike and are moving us forward in light of the increase in the price of 380 gasoline. You are probably our best option to move more people, more miles in a cost-effective manner. So, we were glad to hear that that was accomplished by you and your management. Hat's off to you.
Second thing is, because of the increase in ridership due to energy crisis, as Chair of Public Safety now, I am more concerned about public safety. I have sent out letters to you and other departments to talk about the geography of crime. Not so much in order to kind of get a sense, everybody knows crime happens, but where it happens and what the synergies are between agencies, whether it is the Philadelphia Police, the SEPTA Police, the Public Housing Police, school police, and working together is going to be a focus, that at least I have, and members of the Safety Committee will also have. So, in light of that, I wanted to focus on three things. My question will be, can you speak to the violence against your 381 operators that seem to be on the uptake? I have talked to members of your staff that have agreed that that is an issue. The second aspect of it is safety to our passengers and what that means and, you know, safety means different things to different people. You as CEO, can you expound upon that, and then, is there a strategic plan to work with various law enforcement agencies to keep us all safe and cooperating with the Philadelphia Police Department? If you can start focusing on that, that would be helpful to me.
First I will mention the assaults on the operators. It is really discerning for me as the Chief Executive Officer for SEPTA to see, you know, our employees going out on a day-to-day basis trying to do their job, to be attacked. We do see an uptake in those incidents. It's not unique to Philadelphia. It's happening across the country, unfortunately, and you know, we are doing a lot of training up front with our operators, frontline people, to try 382 to defuse situations. But, unfortunately, these instances are still happening. We are working with Senator Tartaglione to issue a bill to make it a felony assault on any uniform SEPTA employee. You know, other than that, we are focusing on the areas that we constantly have problems. If the operator identifies a specific area, specific group that he is having problems with, we do send undercover policemen out there. Supervision, et cetera. It seems to be hit or miss. We are sort of chasing our tail as to these instances.
Well, you know, Kia Gregory did an article, it said 90 assaults on operators last year. That is up from 81 in 200-- No. 81 of them resulted in a physical assault, and that is up from only two 19 years ago. 20
So, this is an alarming uptake. So, are there steps -- I know you use cameras. Are there cameras on all of the buses at this point? 383
Within two years, they will be 100 percent outfitted with cameras, but, you know, I will say the cameras don't deter some of these individuals in perpetrating whatever they are going to do.
My concern is, of the 90 cases, only resulted in arrests. 12 Is there a reason for that? 13
I will introduce Luther 16 Diggs. He is -- Well, Luther, you can 17 introduce yourself. 18
I am Luther Diggs, I am the 19 Assistant General Manager of Operations for 20 SEPTA. We -- of the 90 assaults, they are -- We consider an assault as anything from throwing a transfer at an operator to spitting at an operator. They are not all physical assaults. Of those, yes, 20 we have 384 made arrests and they are for the aggravated assaults, the simple assaults, where there was actually bodily harm done to the operator. We use a lot of the cameras. Sometimes we can view it on camera and actually arrest the perpetrators. Other times, you know, it happens in a way that we can't arrest the perpetrator. So, when you say 90 assaults, a lot of the times it's not physical contact with the operator. It could be somebody threw a transfer at them or something of that nature. But, we do take this very seriously. We have a multi-prong approach to try to deal with it. We found that a lot of the training that we are doing --
Conflict resolution 22 training. We have a group that we are working, that is working with us for the last over two years now, and we actually just 385 extended our contract for two more years, to work with our operators and our conductors on the railroad to work with defusing situations, and we actually get a lot of feedback from the operators that that is really helping the situation on the vehicles. We have a good connection with Philadelphia Police, and my police department, and I actually do have a police department under me, SEPTA police, doing a lot more vehicle checks, making more contacts with the operators. Being a lot more proactive in addressing their needs. We are making sure that we have -- that radios are working, that we get better responses at night. Particularly when operators call in and put in out of emergency calls to address some of the issues they are dealing with. We are really working hard to try to address this particular issue, but it is an ongoing problem. We know it is. We will just keep focusing on it and hopefully we can reduce it. Thank you. 386
Councilman, one thing I want to mention is, approximately, a year ago, I moved the police department under Luther -- to under Luther Diggs, to get more of a synergy between what is going on from an operator's standpoint so they can, more or less, synergise the police effort on to the transportation. But the other thing you mentioned is, you know, our customers. And again, we are installing cameras throughout the system, but we are finding most of the crime perpetrated against our customers are a lot of petty theft type things. For the most part is people snatching their cell phones, Ipads. They are listening to music and not necessarily focusing on their surroundings. So, we do have an effort to make the public aware of -- more aware of their surroundings. I just found out this morning, I was listening to the Today Show or one of those news, that there was ability to deactivate these cell phones if they are stolen. 387
How many assaults on SEPTA property were there last year to the ridership?
That is an important statistic that we want to keep track of. So, if I were to ask you again how many were felony assaults, you wouldn't know that?
Well, if you take in every category, there was 426. Aggravated assaults were eight, robberies were 99 and theft 3 --
I can't hear you. You have to speak into the microphone, sir.
All categories 426; aggravated assaults, 8; burglaries, 3; robberies, 99, and theft, I guess that is the snatching of cell phones and things of that nature, 315.
You don't keep track of what happens around stations within a block of the station, I would imagine?
Only if we are involved in it. If our police department is involved in it, in the station or around the station, we have it, but if it is the City police, we couldn't have those numbers.
I am gonna turn it over to my colleagues at this point and as you can see, I am very concerned about it. My focus is on the geography of where crime happens will allow us to better to deploy limited resources where they are needed. So, if you need more assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department, we are gonna kind of nudge them in the right direction. If a crime happens in or around a stop, 60th Street is one of the stops that I am very concerned about. We are going to try to encourage some type of partnership and we 389 will speak on that a little further on. We will turn it over to Councilman Goode at this point.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, Mr. Casey. Hopefully you anticipated my first question. Can you provide an update on lease negotiations for the City?
As you are aware we met, I am trying to think whether it was last week or the week before. It is -- My days seem to run together. We met and I know the lawyers are meeting to discuss some of the language suggestions that you had made with the basic outline of agreement. That is where we are. Hopefully we can get things wrapped up. I don't know the time frame, but the last couple months --
For the record, for the purposes of the Committee Of The Whole, could you just provide a semiformal update?
Yeah, the outline of the agreement that we have was for us to continue operating the City assets and for your 390 information, the City assets include the Broad Street -- ownership of the Broad Street Subway and the Market Frankford line north of Spring Garden, and also the subway surface lines when it goes under the City. I think that is the basic. I think there is a couple other small items that are still being worked out. We are still in the process working with the City to identify all those assets, but the basic outline of the agreement is we will -- SEPTA will continue operating those assets in revenue service. There was an issue with the concourses. The City owns the vast majority of the concourse. SEPTA was going to take over responsibility for those concourses, including the responsibility to fix them up, to upgrade them, improve the lighting, et cetera, and also include the liability for maintaining those concourses. I think that is the outline of the agreement.
You left a few things out. I will get to that in a second. 391
Is there a likely timetable for the agreement to be finalized?
I don't have a timetable. I can talk to the City. You know, I think the intention from Rina Cutler is to try to get something wrapped up, you know, this year.
The scope of the agreement will include provisions for revenue sharing with the City?
How will Council be briefed on the lease before it is formally submitted for our approval?
You know, I guess, we will come to a conclusion between us, SEPTA and the administration. There is two things, the 392 administration has to present it before Council for approval and we have to submit it to the SEPTA Board for their approval. Hopefully before that happens, that you will be briefed on.
I actually will pose that question to the administration, but the agreement is between the executive branch and SEPTA for the original lease, that had to be approved by Council.
A new lease agreement had to be approved by Council before there is a final agreement. I just think it make more sense that Council be briefed where we are gonna end up even before that final agreement is reached. It makes more sense than to bring us a final lease.
Just lastly, related to diversity goals that are set. Has SEPTA ever done a Disparity Study to determine what the availability is of participation in its contracts? 393
Yeah, we do that on an annual basis. I will introduce Lily Clait. Lily, you want to introduce yourself for the record.
Good afternoon. I am Lily Clait. I am the Director of the DB program at SEPTA. Technically our last Disparity Study was conducted in 1999.
I think that is appropriate, and then connected to that and in the spirit of regionalism, do we try to capture business opportunities and workforce opportunities for Philadelphia and the surrounding counties; those counties that make up the region. Is there a policy that looks to provide those opportunities to those people who provide the subsidy and the fare revenue?
In terms of 394 contracts and jobs. Do we have a region first approach to it?
Well, right now our DB program is based on Federal regulation, which is our guidelines for how we administer our program.
And there is no local preference under the Federal guidelines.
Is there a requirement in the Federal Regulations to update the Disparity Study?
That is something that we could do at our discretion, if need be.
The Chair thanks Councilman. Now recognizing Councilman Johnson, Chair of Transportation and Public 395 Utilities for the Councilman.
Thank you, Mr. Leader. Good afternoon, Joe. How are you doing?
I am doing pretty good. Where is Fran at? How are you doing? How are you doing, Mr. Kelly? First I want to start off by thanking Francis for providing me an update to follow-up with you and Mr. Kelly regarding coming to the table with Richard Neil, Jr., and the police officers union, transit police officers union. Sir, I thank you for actually resolving that issue. From a public safety standpoint and echoing Chair on Public Safety, that is an issue I have always been, you know, passionate about, but more in particularly during that particular case because there are some many incidents of violence taking place, whether it be on the subway or against certain folks that actually 396 work for SEPTA. I am just glad that ya'll came to some type of understanding, whatever it is, because I feel more safer with a highly trained police officer with a gun as opposed to, you know, just an actual security officer. I am just being frank.
I do appreciate that. My question is more along the lines of seniors. That's just my big thing in my district with constituent services. Francis Condell has done a couple presentations to the seniors regarding the CCT program, just to keep on the radar as we move forward the level, as we advocate, which is really out of your purview but to que you in on the radar on the state level, support for that CCT program, the actual subsidy that the seniors receive so they can go back and forth to the senior center and back and forth to home. I am always gonna advocate to see how we can increase that. Some of it is out of your hands, but at 397 the same time, if we work together on a state level, we can keep it on the radar as they divy up the pot to see how we can continue to support the CCT program. How is the transition to the actual smart -- the Smart Card Program that you are going have, how are you gonna update seniors about that transition?
We have a long way to go. The implementation is gonna be two to three years. There will be a lot of outreach and currently there is a mention in my testimony where we currently are doing focus groups, more or less policy decisions on the fare, how much we charge for the fares. That will be progressing, you know, and hopefully next year, next spring we will be having public hearings on, you know, changes in the way -- what we charge for our fares and the way we collect our fares. But, regarding the seniors, we also have to talk to with the Smart Card, we will need a chip in the card. We are hoping the Department Of Transportation will issue a 398 consider senior card, if you will, that can be used on SEPTA and when it's lost, it can be replaced, et cetera. But those discussions still have to take place, but we have about two or three years.
Conflict resolution, I think that was mentioned in regards to -- that training, is that like a partnership with the union to try to help the drivers learn how to resolve conflict when they get into a confrontation with somebody on the bus? I am not sure.