By Eliza PARTIKA

Each week CV Weekly will examine the candidates running for a variety of different offices. This week we present the candidates for the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees, area one, which encompasses North Glendale and a portion of the Verdugo Woodlands, and candidates for area five.

Desiree Portillo Rabinov- Area One

Desiree Portillo Rabinov is the current vice president of the board of trustees at Glendale Community College, elected in 2020. Rabinov was the senior manager for Transportation Planning for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where she oversaw a $25 million budget for transit regulations.

She brings over 28 years of experience in civil and community service to Glendale Community College students, including assistance for survivors of sexual assault and financial empowerment for women, led by the Soroptimist International of Glendale, of which she is the vice president of Programs.

If re-elected, Rabinov said she will prioritize basic needs services to students, promote state-of-the-art curriculum to ensure jobs, and foster career counseling.

Basic Needs Resources

As VP of the board, she expanded the care programs for mental health, the student food pantry and food for families, and student housing vouchers. She also expanded the Metro Go Pass that gives free transportation on all Metro buses to students. Rabinov also plans to work with state legislature to continue receiving funding that will allow the college to expand their basic needs programs. She plans to start a Student Basic Needs Ad-hoc Task Force that can institute lasting and realistic ways of extending the services they provide.

Trader Joe’s and the Grocers Association are two of the partners giving groceries to fill the food pantry. Rabinov would expand the services needed.

“It offsets the needs of or families who don’t or can’t afford to buy food.”

Enrollment

Rabinov plans to utilize new bilingual and trilingual marketing plans to reach students in communities beyond Glendale to announce new programs – such as its arts, music, welding, trades and machine shop programs – and of course the state-of-the-art science programs.

Facing a declining budget from the state, Rabinov said she would look at what resources are available and reach out to local community organizations to support student learning.

“I think our role is really to look at what our current resources are, where are the gaps, where do we need to fill in. Where do we need to build those relationships? Who do we need to reach out to? Do we need to invite the campus and learn more about what we’re doing – who can help us, you know, support the services that we have [and those] that we want to do.”

Future GCC Projects

Upon re-election, Rabinov wants to continue overseeing the Rising Scholars Program, which assists incarcerated people in receiving associate degrees from GCC, along with piloting the new B.A. program in restorative justice, for which the curriculum is currently being built.

In addition, Rabinov wants to preside over the new virtual reality classroom integration. Rabinov said the synthesis of virtual reality and artificial intelligence skills into classroom learning will prepare students for the future job market.

“As our labor market changes, we’ve got to be current and we want to ensure that our students are getting the skills to be competitive in the market,” said Rabinov. “It’s already happening now; we’re creating a policy of how students use AI in their studies, in their learning capacity, as well as our instructors and faculty,” she said.

Harry Leon – Area One

Harry Leon has lived in La Crescenta with his family since 2003. Always involved in the community, Leon has served as president of the Crescenta Valley Town Council since 2016 where he spearheaded its Youth Council initiative. He served as chair for several planning commissions, including on the Measure G consulting team for Glendale Community College and the Measure S team for GUSD, and was commissioner for the Los Angeles County Dept. of Consumer and Business Affairs, experiences that Leon said have given him the knowledge necessary to handle budgets and project management required of a GCC board member.

Managing the fiscal budget is important to Leon because it dictates how the college can move forward into the future – which projects are begun, completed and ideated.

If elected, Leon will focus on student resources for success, enhance student academic performance, enhance professional development and job training, and create solutions to rising costs of class materials.

“It’s a very unique responsibility because not only are you a government official, you have to be involved with the students also. You have to always be in contact with the students to see what their needs are, and you have to see how the college can help the community,” he said.

Collaboration and Budget

Leon told the CV Weekly that there must be responsible management with the budget.

“We must be responsible with how we expand,” he said.

In terms of collaboration with the board and faculty, he said he will sit down with teachers to determine what they need to teach properly and, if need be, reinvent the wheel to make GCC a college “suitable for teaching students.”

Technological Advancement

Leon said that while there are state-of-the-art facilities already at GCC and are being developed, he would increase the amount of bonds and other funding to update facilities and to bring in state-of-the-art faculty.

“That’s how we are going to do our best and increase the enrollment and help this community college be one of the best in the country. We will probably need more funds, but we have to be fiscally responsible based on what students need,” he said.

He also wants students to have resources exceeding the opportunity that was given to him when he was a student.

“When I started going through it, it showed me how to communicate and start a business and to be in a trade. And that’s how it made me strong, and that’s one of the things that I am very passionate about. Community college made that opportunity available. Now I want that opportunity to be more developed to reach out to all the students – they can use those talents in their mission, he said. “We’ll bring AI to students and we’ll see how it’s suitable for the teachers and how suitable and how beneficial it is going to be for our students and how they can use that for their future.”

Enrollment

From Leon’s perspective, the best and only way to increase enrollment is to increase outreach. While enrollment stagnated and increased for certain communities at GCC, Leon acknowledged that something needs to be done, if he is elected, to promote GCC programs amid a statewide decrease in community college enrollment.

“We need to create a new PR program. I will find ways to develop a strong PR campaign to get the name of our college out to the community. We have to increase involvement as much as we can,” he said. “Everybody keeps telling me, ‘Oh, the enrollment is down’ and, you know, statewide and all that, that’s fine. But what are we doing about it? Not doing anything like what we have to do – not rolling [up] our sleeves and going ahead and start making sure that our community college correctly develops our campaign.”

If elected, he will collaborate with the board and with community members to find ways even further to increase enrollment at GCC. He plans to create curriculum to attract students statewide.

Basic Needs Resources

As a former student at Glendale Community College, providing students with the financial support needed to get a successful education is key to academic success.

Leon also acknowledged the need for more comprehensive mental health resources.

“Right now they do have a small program that helps mental health issues, but we’re not addressing it. Mental issues are a very, very, very big issue that is not only hitting schools in the education sector but it affects the livelihood of every person in the state of California. So, as a trustee, you have to develop a new program that tackles those mental health issues. And substance abuse is very important, because that is a key to taking care of our kids to increase their awareness,” he told CV Weekly.

He said he would connect with local and state governments to get funding.

Sevan Benlian – Area Five

Sevan Benlian is the current president of the board of trustees at Glendale Community College. He was elected to the board in 2020. Benlian is a small-business owner and an executive overseeing the design and construction of multi-family housing projects. Benlian said this experience prepared him for the large-scale design projects currently in the works at Glendale Community College, including a state-of-the-art science building, the Vaquero athletic complex, and a virtual reality center.

Collaboration and Budget

Benlian’s most important issues when running for his second term on the board are to promote a fiscally responsible college, enhance the college credit rating, continue to upgrade facilities, improve the college IT infrastructure and provide better student services. Benlian views his position on the board as a resource to help elevate for the next generation the educational experience at GCC.

If elected, Benlian is committed to helping increase student enrollment through the Glendale Community College Promise Plus Plan, which offers free tuition for up to two years, dedicated Promise Plus counselors and peer mentors, priority registration, and networking activities with peers.

“I want to give back as much as I can to students,” said Benlian. “I’m not in this for the career.”

Enrollment

Since the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, the board of trustees and college leadership have implemented policies that have contributed to increased enrollment. Over the last two semesters, they have observed a double-digit enrollment increase.

During his first term on the board Benlian, alongside his colleagues on the board of trustees and college leadership, updated the Glendale Community College website to incorporate a learning and professional pathway. This initiative assists students in determining which classes to take for a specific major or career path. Beyond outlining required courses, it illustrates the sequence and prerequisites necessary to complete an associate degree and prepares students for transfer. Benlian expressed to the CV Weekly that the website was a “game changer,” particularly for individuals in need of guidance in charting their educational or career trajectory.

“It makes it easier for people to see what they are getting into,” he remarked.

Benlian plans to contribute to updating the college IT infrastructure and establishing additional programs aimed at attracting more students. If re-elected, he intends to expand the existing partnership with Glendale High School to bolster student recruitment. Furthermore, he said he aims to focus on developing programs to attract more students to skilled trades. Additionally, he plans to enhance the Garfield Campus in south Glendale and the PDC Center in Montrose to offer a wider array of non-credit courses and professional development curriculum.

“Programs such as courses teaching Microsoft programs or email usage equip individuals with fundamental skills for basic jobs, as computer literacy is essential in today’s workforce. However, we must expand beyond that so individuals aren’t merely completing a course or two but are engaging in activities that will benefit their future,” he emphasized.

Basic Needs Resources

Increases in enrollment also entail an escalation in basic needs support and services, noted Benlian, including the expansion of the Glendale Promise Plan and enhancements to mental health and food pantry services.

For Benlian, providing support and educational opportunities for students holds particular significance as his journey as an immigrant to the U.S. and enrollment at GCC were made possible by the support he received from faculty and staff, enabling him to pursue his education unhindered.

Benlian underscored the importance of securing grants from both state and federal governments to bolster services such as mental health, food pantry and financial aid programs.

“I’m committed to upholding GCC’s excellence, affordability and accessibility. We must persist in our advocacy efforts on both state and federal levels to secure the necessary budget to support our students. Ensuring college affordability is paramount; when it’s affordable, it becomes more accessible,” stated Benlian.

Glendale Community College Future Projects

Glendale Community College is poised to become the first community college in the nation to integrate virtual reality (VR) technology into its classrooms. Thanks to the assistance of Senator Portantino, GCC secured $4.5 million in funding from the state to initiate the integration of VR technology into science courses through a collaboration with Dreamscape. Benlian, hopeful for reelection, aims to witness the project’s realization in the coming months.

Benlian envisions the program as cutting-edge, providing students with the latest technological skills to prepare them for future careers.

“We’re already well into the 21st century and we need to ensure our students are prepared for it,” he said. “GCC is poised to lead in this area.”

“Today’s generation is incredibly talented and technologically adept. They’re born with technology at their fingertips. We must modernize our college and educational system to capture their interest. To attract and retain the new generation of students, we need to be more innovative,” emphasized Benlian.

Armine Pogosyan – Area Five

Candidate Armine Pogosyan did not respond to multiple attempts to contact her.