Oakland Community College

A total of 11 candidates are competing in the Tuesday, Nov. 2 general election for three six-year terms on the Oakland Community College Board of Trustees. OCC trustees are not paid for their service.

The following are questions our staff recently posed to the candidates, and their responses to those questions. Fred M. Mester and John E. Reeves didn't respond to our candidate questionnaire.

BUDGET: As a trustee, you would help oversee a budget of over $161 million. What cuts, if any, would you propose for the OCC budget? How can the college minimize future tuition hikes for students?

COLLEGE SIZE: With nearly 29,000 students, OCC is the largest community college in the state. Given the "brain drain" that has been described by some, what, if any, concerns do you have about a shortage of quality instructors at the college? What, if any, initiatives would you propose to attract additional professors to offset the "brain drain" phenomenon that some have been describing?

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS: The Board of Trustees authorized about $2.5 million in expenditures for capital improvement projects at the Auburn Hills and Orchard Ridge campuses. This comes on the heels of significant capital improvement projects at the Highland Lakes campus in Waterford. In your opinion, what additional capital improvements, if any, are necessary on the college's campuses?

KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY: The governor and others have called for Michigan's economy to become more "knowledge-based." As a trustee, what would you do, if anything, to ensure that Oakland Community College churns out graduates who can and will function in the state's economy as envisioned? Where, if anywhere, can OCC improve the way it operates and educates its students to prepare them for that type of economy?

OAKLAND 2 OAKLAND: OCC and Oakland University paired up earlier this year to offer a joint enrollment program called "Oakland 2 Oakland," which allows students to be enrolled and take courses concurrently at both institutions of higher learning. Tell us why you do or don't think the program has been successful so far.

TOP ISSUES: What are the three most important issues for OCC at this time, and how do you propose to address them?

WHY YOU: Why, specifically, should voters choose you over your opponents?

DAN KELLY

BUDGET: Anyone involved in the oversight of governmental entities understands that the majority of expenditures are in labor costs. If elected, I will first scrutinize what savings can be obtained from the discretionary expenditures of the college. In these tough economic times, all expenditures must fulfill an immediate need and be absolutely necessary to the functioning of the college.

Once these expenditures have been reviewed, a sound policy must be implemented as to labor expenses. This includes not only salaries, but all labor costs associated with employees; including health care and retirement benefits. These are tough economic times and I do not support increasing tuition when the community college is most needed by its students. By definition, the students, like all property owners in Oakland County, have already contributed to the college through property taxes and the taxes paid to the state.

COLLEGE SIZE: I understand the concerns with regard to a "brain drain," particularly in the State of Michigan. However, it is not only the State of Michigan that is feeling the economic woes of the nation. I do not support overpaying for "quality instructors" based on an unsubstantiated claim that such instructors may be lost due to a "brain drain." I believe Michigan and Oakland County have a lot to offer and can compete on many different levels. Those advantages should be highlighted

and used to attract "quality instructors." I also believe that quality instructors can be found in many different areas, including the current business sector, lower levels of the educational tree, or even from the pool of retired educators. The reality is is that in these tough economic times, the taxpayer simply cannot afford to overpay for any expenditure of tax dollars.