MISSION HEAD STILL BATTLES PROBLEMS LAND SWAP, INFIGHTING ARE ON BARRERA'S TO-FIX AGENDA.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

SYLMAR - Five years into her tenure as Mission College president, Adriana Barrera has earned high marks for improving community relations, working tirelessly on the college's master plan, and boosting enrollment and the number of degrees awarded.

But problems continue to plague the college - including a crucial three- way land swap needed for expansion that remains stalled after years of negotiations.

In recent months, Barrera also has come under scrutiny from some who say she hasn't done enough to address faculty infighting or the college's academic programs.

And now she faces a high-stakes deadline in the land swap between the college, Los Angeles County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: If the deal isn't final by the end of the year, Mission could lose $13 million in state funding.

``It has been the toughest year,'' Barrera said. ``It seems like I went from one major issue to another.''

Founded in 1975 in a series of storefronts, and with a permanent, 22-acre campus that dates only to 1991, Mission is the smallest and youngest of the nine Los Angeles Community College District campuses.

The campus faces particular challenges because it is thought to have some of the poorest students in the district. Pacoima, where many Mission students come from, has the highest level of poverty in the San Fernando Valley: More than 40 percent of Pacoima residents earn less than $15,000 annually and 75 percent have no health care.

Barrera, formerly president of El Paso Community College, arrived at Mission in April 2000 to find a campus with a history of botched expansion plans and years of friction among faculty and administrators.

Community members were suspicious of a new president from Texas, and Barrera said there were some who suspected she had been selected solely because she is Latina.

Barrera said she overcame the fractious relations by ``going to a lot of meetings'' and listening to community leaders. And many agree that she has succeeded.

``I can't say enough good things about her,'' said Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla. ``There were serious problems before her arrival - community relations were terrible. She came in, and with her trust and her leadership style, restored the trust of the community and community leaders with the campus.''

Tammy Flores, president of the Sylmar Neighborhood Council, noted that Barrera was instrumental in getting the council started, and she remains accessible to the community.

``I think she's been doing a great job,'' Flores said. ``She's in touch with her community, and she's helped the college come a long way.''

But this year has been particularly rough. In January, the campus faced a $1.5 million budget gap caused by declining enrollment in the wake of higher fees.

In February, a state audit found the college had improperly claimed $5.7 million in state funds over three years for enrollment in two noncredit computer courses. Mission ended up forfeiting $326,000.

Then a glitch in a new enrollment software program delayed publication of the college's spring course schedule by three weeks, leaving officials scrambling to boost enrollment.

Finally, this spring, faculty tensions erupted when some non-Latino faculty and students claimed Latino faculty members were discriminating against them. Meanwhile, Latino faculty argued that the faculty guild and faculty senate were resistant to hiring more Latino faculty to better mirror the student population at Mission.

Trying to resolve the issues, Barrera says that after a series of cuts, the college's deficit has been sliced to about $169,000.

And the district has agreed to hire two conflict resolution experts from Loyola Marymount College to work with the faculty this summer to resolve some of the tensions that Barrera attributes to power struggles over scarce resources.

But outgoing LACCD Chancellor Peter J. Landsberger said that while Barrera has tried to address the problems behind the scenes, she also has been distracted by the land deal and college governance issues.

``She has not been the personal ambassador, in many instances, and sometimes I think they hold it against her, and I think, unfairly,'' Landsberger said.

Angela Echeverri, president of Mission's faculty senate, said she thinks the tensions are real but have been blown out of proportion. Still, she said she believes Barrera needs to pay attention to academics, not just the college's master plan.

``She is making an honest effort to work with the faculty and do justice to the institution,'' Echeverri said. ``She needs to have a vision for the academic growth of the college for the next five to 10 years. That is the major challenge she's going to have.''

The master plan also is a major challenge: Mission's share of the LACCD's $2.2 billion Proposition A/AA bond fund comes to $176 million, but completion of the master plan hinges on the land-swap deal that would give the college 10 acres.

``If we're successful there, that's going to have a 100-year impact on Mission College,'' Landsberger said. ``That's why it predominates in all of her thinking, constantly.''

Because Mission is restricted to two-story buildings, the college cannot grow ``up,'' Barrera said. Two educational buildings, a $26 million Health, Physical Education and Fitness Center, and a parking garage are planned for the new land.

``We know we don't have the capacity to grow, because we are already challenged in terms of classroom space,'' Barrera said, adding that ultimately, she hopes to see 15,000 students attend Mission.

But if the land deal can't be finalized by the end of the year, the district may have to go to Plan B, Landsberger said, declining to elaborate.

For her part, Barrera remains optimistic. She also said she plans to stay at Mission to see the results.

``I'm attracted to the challenge. My first groundbreaking will be something to look forward to.''

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Adriana Barrera, president of Mission College in Sylmar for the past five years, talks about her accomplishments, struggles and goals. A land swap for construction is high on her to-do list.

Joel P. Lugavere/Special to the Daily News