Local community colleges reduce classes

Published online on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009

Local community college students face a reduced menu of spring semester classes because of budget-driven cuts to academic schedules.

Officials say the belt-tightening trend continues because of a slump in state funding. Some colleges may cut course offerings by up to 40% compared to last spring.

At Fresno City College, officials have chopped more than 200 class sections — or close to 10% — from the spring schedule because of budget stress.

“We’re being cautious about our course offerings because we just don’t know” about the state’s financial outlook, said Tony Cantú, vice president of instruction at City College.

Cantú said officials have trimmed low-enrollment classes and cut back on the number of sessions offered for some classes. But they also worked to maintain enough diversity so that students can stay on track to earn degrees or certificates, transfer to a four-year college or pick up new skills for the job market.

Campuses generally save money by hiring fewer part-time instructors. Cantú said no layoffs of full-time faculty are expected because of the cuts.

The spring semester begins in January.

With a near-record 25,157 students, City College is the most popular campus in the State Center Community College District. The multi-campus district, with schools in Fresno and Madera counties, posted record enrollment this fall, with close to 38,900 students — up about 850 students over fall 2008.

Experts say a poor economy usually translates into increased demand at community colleges as students search for new skills or retraining. Cutbacks and fee increases at four-year universities may also fuel enrollment.

Now, many community colleges are juggling record demand with dwindling budgets that are forcing cuts.

Officials at West Hills Community College District, with campuses in Coalinga and Lemoore, project 30% to 40% fewer classes for spring. The district traditionally offers more than 1,000 class sections.

Chancellor Frank Gornick said he can’t rule out some selective layoffs. District employees already are participating in furloughs.

Ken Stoppenbrink, vice chancellor of business and human resources, acknowledged that “the numbers sound drastic” for class reductions. But the primary targets are low-enrollment classes.

Authorities made similar moves in the fall, Stoppenbrink said. Yet district enrollment fell only by about 100 students, from about 6,600 in fall 2008 to about 6,500 this fall.

Stoppenbrink said students simply are cramming into other open classes.

That’s also the case at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia. This fall, the college hit record enrollment of about 13,460 students despite reducing the class schedule by about 3%.

Bill Scroggins, superintendent/president at COS, said instructors once begged to keep classes that weren’t full. Now, they’re working to manage packed classrooms.

For example, 70 students are enrolled in calculus this fall.

“That’s more students in calculus than we’ve ever had,” Scroggins said. For spring, the district plans to trim about 5% of its class sections.

This year, California’s 110 community colleges are struggling to balance heavy enrollment with $680 million in budget cuts statewide. Locally, districts have had to cut millions of dollars from individual budgets.

Several community college leaders worry that the state may impose more budget reductions in January and again later next year, which could mean even more cuts. And local officials don’t expect much — if any — enrollment drop from the fall to spring semester.

John Cummings, vice president for admissions and records and institutional research at State Center, said enrollment usually dips about 5% between the fall and spring semesters. But this year, he said, “that may not happen.”

At City College on Monday, about a dozen students interviewed said they weren’t worried about finding spring classes. Still, freshman Krystyan Martinez, 18, of Fresno, said she’ll sign up as soon as her registration window opens next week.

Martinez said she knows “there’s a lot of competition” for classes.