If students called last year’s class offerings during summer session at Southwestern College “meager,” they may call this year’s “barren.”
SWC is offering only half the classes it did last year this coming summer. Administrators said state budget cuts have impacted the college, but faculty leaders question class cuts when millions of dollars sit in the college reserve. As the debate continues, students say they may have to delay their educational plans because they cannot enroll in summer school or get classes they really need.
Only four days after the beginning of enrollment for summer session, English and math classes were almost full. Four out of five sections in each subject had extensive waiting lists for each of their four offerings.
SWC business administration major Corey Ferguson said he was one of the lucky ones.
“I was fortunate enough to be able to register for my last two classes before transferring,” he said. “I’ve heard other students haven’t been able to do that.”
SWC communication officer Chris Bender said the college is trying to maintain its offerings in academics and student support services, while at the same time working with less money due to state budget cuts.
“The college is having to do a lot more with a lot less,” he said.
The district plans to spend $1.5 million to pick up where the state drops off in funding for student support services next year. Bender said if the college does not pick up the tab it would mean layoffs and a drastic reduction in student support services.
Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs Nicholas Alioto said in November that administration planned to cancel summer session completely until SWC’s student government asked the district to rethink that decision.
“The students asked us to keep summer,” he said. “There was talk about getting rid of the summer altogether, like many colleges have done, and we chose to keep the summer going just because of the sequencing of the course work for some students who need to be able to access sections in summer that they are doing prerequisites for in spring.”
SWC has cut at least 40 percent of its classes in the past two years.
Faculty have voiced that the college is cutting classes while at the same time sitting on between $6 million and $15 million. Faculty union president Phil Lopez said that money is for a “rainy day” and “SWC is in the middle of a monsoon.”
The board has unwaveringly stood by its decision to not touch its contingency reserve. Members argue that the dismal financial outlook of the state’s budget could mean that the monsoon may be yet to come and that the reserve may be SWC’s only life raft.
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