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cadetspouse
04-04-2006, 12:56 PM
*** PLEASE USE THIS THREAD TOPIC FOR INFORMATIONAL UPDATES ONLY.
PLEASE START A NEW THREAD TOPIC FOR OP/ED POSTS. THANK YOU. ***

In the past two weeks I have received many friendly and supportive email requests direct from male & female applicants and wives of current officers & cadets asking me to leave another update. Enjoy.

End of Week 4 of 27 (March 31):
- CTC I-06 is down to 56 Cadets (they began with 75 Cadets).
- All 19 have quit --- none were terminated.
- Most left because #1) family separation, #2) couldn't keep up with PT, and #3) "this just isn't for me". None gave an academic reason.
- Cadets are keeping busy with PMA and Baton training and have recently begun EVOC.
- Cadets average 1-2 exams each week. In the coming months, they will average 2-3 exams each week.
- One female Cadet and one male Cadet were officially selected and assigned as the two Company Commanders.

- RE The Financial Costs & Medical/Dental/Vision Benefits:
Cadets get room and board free of charge. Each Cadet had to pay the CHP Recreational Fund approximately $300 in week 1 for mandatory supplies and $50 for class supplies in week 2. Furthermore, Cadets have to pay $75 monthly to their Cadet class fund and $25 monthly for their uniform rental. Also, Cadets are required to have ready on pick-up day items such as uniform supplements (e.g., shirt stays), court shoes, running shoes, sweats, crewneck shirts, loads of office supplies, toiletries, alarm clock, cleaning supplies, etc. In addition, some Cadets spend around $20-30 weekly to have their uniforms dry cleaned and pressed professionaly. Most Cadets have spent between $600 and $900 in their first month of Academy attendance. Paychecks are handed out on or around the first of each month.

Medical/Dental/Vision benefits are effective approximately 30 days after pick-up day, sometimes sooner depending on the day of the month the Academy class begins. Basically, coverage starts on the 1st of the month following the Academy start date. There is a varying cost for medical benefits depending on which plan a Cadet chooses, and some dental and vision plans are free of charge. Most Cadets enroll in the Safeguard Dental Plan and Vision Services Plan (VSP). One major medical plan is the CAHP Health Benefits Trust Blue Cross Prudent Buyer PPO. HMO and other PPO plans are also offered. Mandatory CAHP union dues are $35 monthly and are automatically deducted from a Cadet's pay warrant. Also, CALPERS offers Cadets the opportunity to enroll in a 401(k) and/or a 457 retirement plan.

*** NOTE: For applicants/future Cadets who have earned and were conferred A.A./A.S. or B.A./B.S. degrees and have received their diploma PRIOR to an Academy start date --> Educational Incentive Pay (e.g., an additional $240 monthly or 5% of base salary, whichever is greater, for Officers possessing a B.A./B.A. degree) is not given while at the Academy. This specialty pay goes into effect after a Cadet graduates from the Academy and is officially hired and working as an Officer. Also, if you attended a 2-year college and transferred to a 4-year college before officially earning an A.A./A.S. degree, but did not complete your B.A./B.S. studies at the 4-year college, you are considered to have not earned an A.A./A.S. degree and will not qualify for the additional $120 monthly or 2.5% of base salary specialty pay. Educational Incentive Pay can also be earned by possessing Intermediate and/or Advanced POST Certificates.

- RE CTC IV-05: Graduation Day for CTC IV-05 is Friday, May 19, 2006, which has approximately 57 Cadets remaining. Senior Cadets recently received their Area Office assignments and their "Ride-Along Weekend" will occur later this month.

- CTC II-06 is rumored to have 180 Cadets and is scheduled to begin on Monday, May 29 (Memorial Day).

SB 405
04-04-2006, 01:39 PM
CTC IV-05....Can someone refresh my memory and tell me if Nellie and Res-Q are in this class? The Graduation date looks right.

makakona
04-04-2006, 01:41 PM
yes, nellie and res-q are ctc iv-05 and both are still there. :smile:

i can't believe i-06 has already lost 19 people. insane. guess it's proof for mentor, haha, that times HAVE changed. :neutral:

makakona
04-04-2006, 02:32 PM
i think i've mentioned that a good family friend is ctc i-06? anyway, after all of his talk about "laying low," he volunteered for company commander, "because no one else would." DOH! :smile:

pupdog
04-04-2006, 03:10 PM
180 CADETS!!!:shock: Wow, that's a lot of folks to be yelled at!

schutzpolizei
04-04-2006, 03:30 PM
"Also, CALPERS offers Cadets the opportunity to enroll in a 401(k) and/or a 457 retirement plan. No notice of a matching program has been mentioned for the retirement plans."


Uh, Calpers IS the retirement plan, and they pay for that one. The 401k and 457 plans are supplemental...they aren't going to pay for two plans. I highly recommend the 457...start out at $100 a month if $$ is tight and go from there.

cadetspouse
04-04-2006, 04:13 PM
Uh, Calpers IS the retirement plan, and they pay for that one. The 401k and 457 plans are supplemental...they aren't going to pay for two plans. I highly recommend the 457...start out at $100 a month if $$ is tight and go from there.


I was aware that CALPERS is responsible for the main retirement program (the one that offers up to 3% at 30 years service for uniformed officers, aka the "up to 90%" program). And actually, the State of California AND the employee fund this main retirement program. For last month's pay period, Cadets had a pre-tax deduction of approximately $80-85 (depending on exemptions claimed) to fund the CALPERS retirement program, while the State of California contributed $500.14 for the same monthly pay period.

Sorry if I confused anyone that the 401(k) plan and the 457 plan were the main retirement programs. These two are supplemental, totally optional, and as far as we've been notified, funded solely by employee contributions. For those coming from the private sector, many people had their own personally funded 401(k)'s with an additional company match up to a certain percentage. My objective disseminating this information was to notify the people coming from the private sector that CALPERS/the State of California offers a similar program called the "Savings Plus Plan" that is administered through Nationwide Retirement Solutions. These two plans require a minimum $20 payroll deduction each pay warrant (monthly paycheck for Cadets). Also, for people who have "old" 401(k)'s with their former employer(s) and want to do a direct rollover to retain it's tax-deferred status, you can ONLY roll it over into the 401(k) plan and not the 457. The 457 plan was created under statutory law to benefit public sector/government/non-profit employees whereas the 401(k) was created for private sector employees. A Cadet may elect to enroll in one plan or both plans. However, the minimum $20 payroll deduction applies to both plans, so if a Cadet enrolled in both, the minimum deduction would be $40 each pay warrant.

REFERENCES:
CALPERS ~ http://www.calpers.ca.gov/ (http://www.calpers.ca.gov/ )
Savings Plus Program ~ http://www.dpa.ca.gov/spp/svplmain.shtm
Nationwide Retirement Solutions ~ http://sppforu.nrsservicecenter.com/nrs/CDA/nrsEmployeeHome/1,4626,,00.html

SEE ALSO:
Morningstar: Personal Finance and Investing ~ http://www.morningstar.com/Cover/PersonalFinance.html?pgid=hetabperfin
Yahoo Retirement & Planning Center ~ http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement

Your Mentor
04-04-2006, 05:25 PM
19 quit in the first 4 four weeks! You're right Makakona, things have changed. They've changed just since I left at the end of 04'. Quitting never entered my mind. Not once. The 180 person class size is actually more normal. That'll means the staff will be dealing with three companies which is a handful. The current class sizes have been lower for a couple of years now; about the time Arnold took over. When I taught from 98 to 2000 the classes were in the 80+ range. They raised the class size to three company strength just after I left (I returned to teach for one week about a month after my transfer and taught those three companies). They remained at three companies for roughly four years. When I returned in 2003, we had three companies. It wasn't long before we shut down classes for a very short time and then put through a single 65 person class. Two companies is easy if you're handling one subject with one instructor. Any bigger than that and it's easier with two instructors. I imagine, and Makakona or cadetspouse can confirm or deny this, they're running one company classes.

makakona
04-04-2006, 05:55 PM
so far as i know, both the junior and senior classes are running two companies right now.

ctc i-06 was rumored to have 180 to 190 cadets, so it'll be interesting to see if ii-06 actually does. i imagine if they keep rolling people long enough, they'll finally get a big enough class. it seems so wasteful when a quarter of the cadets are kicking out in the first month. i guess it's a sign of the times? i just can't imagine going through all of that work for a year and a half just to walk out after a few weeks.

cadetspouse
04-04-2006, 06:00 PM
I imagine, and Makakona or cadetspouse can confirm or deny this, they're running one company classes.

CTC I-06 has two companies, A & B, but your assumption is correct, Your Mentor . They are only running one-company academic classes with all 56 in one classroom. So far, the two companies are split up only for PT, PMA, Drill, and specialty LD's such as Traffic Enforcement and EVOC.

Your Mentor
04-04-2006, 07:01 PM
Well I'll just have to sit and listen. I've been out of the teaching loop for over a year now. Thanks, though, for keeping everyone updated. It means a lot to a bunch of folks here.

KingFrankSam
04-04-2006, 08:05 PM
Well I'll just have to sit and listen. I've been out of the teaching loop for over a year now. Thanks, though, for keeping everyone updated. It means a lot to a bunch of folks here.

There a VC Instructor spot open now...

bcjack
04-04-2006, 08:31 PM
Please pass on my best wishes to all of the cadets making their dream come true. As the comedian, whose name escapes me right now said..."YOU CAN DO IT!!!":biggrin:

Your Mentor
04-05-2006, 05:42 AM
No more teaching for me until major, positive, changes are made at HQ. The guy who just vacated that spot couldn't wait to get back to the road as well. He was getting overworked with side projects though. Besides, this RP is too cool. I don't miss the over-flowing in box. And I missed the road every day (well, maybe every other day) I was teaching. I do miss teaching DUI. That was marginally funner than teaching report writing.

TheForceCHP
04-05-2006, 07:28 AM
thanks for the update!

redhead
04-05-2006, 03:01 PM
As the comedian, whose name escapes me right now said..."YOU CAN DO IT!!!":biggrin:


(side note-Rob Schneider (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120484/quotes) in The Waterboy. Second to last quote....)


Back to our regularly scheduled programing.:smile:

bcjack
04-05-2006, 06:44 PM
That's the one...Thanks:lol: