Lee Quinn, a homemaker and former high school teacher, is running for the Area 4 seat on the Grossmont-Cuyamaca 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 Quinn told us about hers. Why are you running for school board? What makes you a good candidate? My initial reason was to give a voice to all unvaccinated students and employees. Also, I would vote against possible future mandates compromising medical freedom. Currently there are a lot of reasons to speak on behalf of East County students and residents because I have a sense they are not well heard and served. Lee Quinn (Clifton Quinn) By having a spouse who has taught at Grossmont College for over 20 years I learned a lot about the district. I believe there is a need for fresh ideas and for the board to have at least one trustee who is not directly tied to the AFT teachers’ union nor politically influenced. DEI has run its course and it is time to focus on merit and skills, rather than the endless DEI and wokeness influences. What is the most important issue currently facing your community college district? There are many issues, yet the most important is to be adaptable to changes in society. Examples include: balancing classes to meet the needs for transfer; providing up-do-date skills to meet the needs for the changing job market; working with fluctuating budgets. Changes in are a big concern. Examples include: online classes vs on-campus classes, artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT and how they affect teaching and learning. What are the top three specific things you would seek to accomplish on the school board? Mandates that affect individual freedoms will be voted against. The COVID-19 years were a challenging example. Much less reliance on the AFT teachers’ union in setting policies. Yes, the college can listen and communicate with all relevant parties, but not be beholden to any one in particular. Less money spent on overall administration costs. What would your approach be to budget planning and spending? What would you do if your district had a budget shortfall? A budget guideline I would follow would be to function within the budget or expand the income. I would also be open to input from responsible members of the community. I realize that I do not have all the answers, and they likely exist within our community. I plan to be available to hear ideas from students, staff, administrators and community members. If we had a budget shortfall, there are many ways to cut costs temporarily, which are not easy, such as streamlining class offerings between the colleges. The colleges can also look at ways to increase revenues, such as renting out these impressive facilities that are almost vacant on weekends. With some creativity there are many opportunities. As stated earlier, I would reach out to the community for suggestions, then make the hard decisions. What would you do to make community college more affordable and accessible? The colleges are actually quite affordable and accessible. In fact, for many full-time students, the first two years are free of tuition and there are many financial services available. In regard to these two areas, I would ask the staff who work in financial aid and counseling for their concerns and suggestions. How should your community college district raise student academic achievement, and what would you do as a school board member to accomplish that? This is an interesting question, since “academic achievement” means different things to each person. For example, some students want an “A” at all costs; others may be there to audit a class; a community member in a sport or art class may not care about their grade. For stereotypical “academic achievement,” this is an area to work with the campus’ Academic Senate members and counselors to see in which areas there is a need for change. 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? As stated above, each student has their own path. Many career paths do not need a four-year degree. There are as many reasons as there are students and four-year transfer classes are just one of the three community college intentions. Not all students are at the community college intending to transfer. There are multiple two-year programs and certificates such as nursing, networking, cybersecurity, administration of justice, culinary arts, and other areas where an associate degree or certificate may be the only requirement. For many people, the need for a bachelor’s degree has lost some of its shine, as people see the value of many other routes, such as employment in the trades of working as an electrician, plumber, carpenter, or in the restaurant industry. In addressing this issue, one great step would be for students to generate their own “career plan.” 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? There is a process in place called “program review,” designed to evaluate all departments and courses for relevancy and currency. Progress will require new classes and degrees, such as cybersecurity or artificial intelligence, and in the same way, some will be outdated. An example of a change could be that if a class is taught 100 percent online, and is offered at both colleges, and both classes are lightly enrolled, perhaps the class could be offered one semester at Grossmont and the next at Cuyamaca, thus saving the class while being more economically efficient.