my vision for ccsf

• Balancing the budget and placing CCSF on solid financial footing will help ensure its stability and temper the impact of a volatile global economy. This is, by far, the most important task for the board over the next two years.

• Leveraging the rich culture of Bay Area innovation to best position CCSF students for dynamic and successful futures, this includes creating partnerships which will benefit student learning, CCSF as a whole and provide job opportunities for those emerging from workforce programs. 

• Safeguarding the mental health and well-being of students and faculty through a variety of proactive initiatives.

• Protecting the quality of education at CCSF for all San Franciscans.

• Creating a path to best practices to provide support for our lowest income attendees.

• Encouraging CCSF Administration to create short, meaningful surveys that identify faculty and student needs and gather input from the broader community; tailoring opportunities to those needs, including workforce development programs..

• In light of COVID-19, re-evaluating and enhancing distance learning plans that provide seamless educational opportunities during a crisis, as well as advance regular learning opportunities and enable the delivery of greater benefits at a lower cost.

• Increasing internship and job-placement programs for all students.

CCSF has experienced a number of challenges to its survival over the past 10 years, and I have a deep appreciation for the current and past trustees who navigated those difficult waters.  

Unfortunately, CCSF faces a new wave of hardship due to COVID-19, which is expected to cause a severe city budget deficit. I will fight to ensure the survival of this critical institution and see its position strengthened for the benefit of generations to come.  

The single best way we grow as a society, raise people out of poverty and reduce socio-economic disparity is through education. CCSF fills a pivotal role in our community, provides tremendous opportunities for all residents of San Francisco, and must be protected. Now is the time to set our priorities straight and invest in San Francisco students to prepare them to be significant contributors to the vitality of our beloved city and thrive in a post-COVID-19 world.   

The CCSF Board of Trustees must work tirelessly to safeguard the institution and ensure that it is well run, efficient, effective, and accessible to all who seek higher education opportunities. We owe it to the students to provide a quality education, and we owe it to all San Franciscans to assure them that funds are spent wisely. As a Trustee, I will demand CCSF be driven by data AND a heart. By that, I mean we need to respond to the data and metrics – we need to hold all functions accountable, but we also need to be mindful that not all performance is measured in dollars.  

All of these efforts require analysis, objectivity, and best practices experience. These attributes are what I uniquely bring to the table. While it is necessary that the board have trustees with personal experience on the ground at CCSF, it is critical to the success of any organization that there also be board members who bring independence and impartiality to the process. Public company boards require a majority of members be “outside” or “independent” of the organization, because unbiased directors are a key to good governance.  

“A BOARD WITH INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS IS BETTER SUITED TO OVERSEE AN ORGANIZATION: UNBIASED DIRECTOR INVOLVEMENT GENERALLY RESULTS IN A FRESHER APPROACH, INCORPORATING THIRD-PARTY ADVICE AND EXPERTISE.” 

Since independent directors, by definition, do not have insider relationships with the organization, they are not subject to undue influence from any particular stakeholder. While it is important to take into account all stakeholder needs, there should be at least one independent trustee who is looking at the big picture and balancing the needs of all stakeholders, including the residents of San Francisco.

許雅慧

任社區大學董事會成員