Holly Hamilton-Bleakley, an adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of San Diego, is running for the Area 4 seat on the Palomar Community College District board of trustees.
The San Diego Union-Tribune asked all the candidates running in community college districts around San Diego County about their policies, plans and priorities. Here’s what Hamilton-Bleakley told us about hers.
Why are you running for school board? What makes you a good candidate?
I am running for Palomar Community College Board because I believe that our community colleges are among the most important assets we have here in San Diego County, and I want to be a part of ensuring their continuing success. They are absolutely essential for the flourishing of the rising generation, and as the cost of private and state colleges continue to rise, community colleges will only become more and more important in the future. As a college professor myself, I have a unique insight into the needs of faculty and students, as well as what is necessary to ensure a useful and rigorous system of higher education.
What is the most important issue currently facing your community college district?
One of Palomar’s top priorities should always be to the total cost of attending the college as low as possible for students. As the cost of living as increased dramatically in our community over the past several years, education has been squeezed out of too many families’ budgets. We must ensure that Palomar remains an affordable option for anyone in the community seeking to advance their life and career.
What are the top three specific things you would seek to accomplish on the school board?
In addition to affordability, my priorities include:
- Aligning course offerings with local economic needs: Palomar College should offer coursework and programs that reflect the needs of employers and job opportunities in North County and always seek to calibrate programs based on the post-graduation outcomes of our students.
- Ensuring the district is reflective of the community: I know from personal experience that our institutions of higher education are often not reflective of the values of our community. I believe the job of the board of trustees is to be a voice for the community and make sure that our needs and interests are represented. That means the college should do away with the hyper-political focus on identity politics and refocus their efforts on student outcomes.
What would your approach be to budget planning and spending? What would you do if your district had a budget shortfall?
The board of trustees has a responsibility to taxpayers to maintain long-term fiscal responsibility and provide a truly independent perspective on the board. As a trustee, I it is important to balance the goal of being an attractive destination for students and faculty, with decisions that protect taxpayers and the ability for the district to continue to provide services well into the future. In the event of a budget shortfall, core academic services should always be preserved.
What would you do to make community college more affordable and accessible?
Community colleges have already taken proactive steps to ensure that those that are in need are able to receive free or highly affordable tuition. I support the Palomar Promise program which provides free tuition for first-time, full-time students and would seek to broaden the scope of eligibility for these programs, so that more students can receive this kind of funding.
In the broader scale, it is important to keep in mind that community colleges are already an affordable alternative to four-year universities so our focus should be on ensuring that our course offerings and counseling services are making that transition easy for students wishing to pursue a four-year degree, so that Palomar can be the difference-maker in helping students achieve their educational goals without going into large amounts of debt.
How should your community college district raise student academic achievement, and what would you do as a school board member to accomplish that?
The main way to raise academic student achievement is to have excellent professors. We need to have rigorous and transparent hiring practices to make sure that we are attracting the best professors possible. This includes supporting not only tenure track faculty but also adjunct faculty, who often do much of the teaching. Adjunct faculty are an essential part of student academic achievement, and they must not be left behind, ignored or underpaid.
Why do you think more students are not transferring to four-year colleges or completing a degree/program? What, if anything, do you think should be done to address that issue?
Part of the reason may be that state and private universities have very high tuition fees, so a four-year degree is not accessible to many students. This is one reason why community colleges are important, because they can provide an associates degree, or vocational training that can provide qualifications to enter the workforce, with little or no student debt. So, in that sense, this is an issue that does not need to be addressed.
However, there are many students who are suited to go on to do a four-year degree, and in that case, we need to support these students by making sure that Palomar offers courses which would easily transfer as course credits to four-year colleges. Thus, we need to ensure that a dialogue takes place between Palomar and the four-year universities in San Diego so that Palomar students have a smooth transition to whatever four-year institution they attend.
Do you think anything currently offered in community college district curricula, libraries or programming should be removed? If yes, what, and why? If no, why not?
Most curricula are developed with a specific need in mind, and sometimes the initial rationale for a course or program no longer applies as time goes on. This is a continual process of evaluation which is a hallmark of any good educational institution. As a board member, I would work to ensure that the curriculum is continuously evaluated in a transparent manner, so that Palomar offers courses that are relevant to the needs of the communities which it serves.