Budget crunch a student concern

As the number of Porterville College registrants escalates, administrators are looking for ways to serve more students with a shrinking budget.

Amid Gov. Jerry Brown’s January 10 proposal — a $400 million cut to California Community Colleges — administrators are not only doing more with less, but anticipating even deeper cuts to the funding that enables them to hire teachers, offer curricula, provide maintenance and other resources for classes.

The proposed budget includes a total decrease of $1,400 to three segments of higher education, including $500 million cuts to both the California State University and University of California systems.

The budget proposal also includes a $10 increase to the cost per class unit (from $26 to $36).

As the PC campus filled with students for the first day of school Tuesday morning, President Dr. Rosa Carlson explained that one of the reasons the admissions office seemed relatively quiet was that it was too late for students to register: most classes and wait lists were already full.

“We’re living off of 2008-09 funding, so we don’t have enough funding and we’re maxed out. The state hasn’t paid us for growth in the last three years, which means we’re serving more students with less money.” said Carlson. “So, even though we’re cutting sections, our faculty are taking more students. We’re kind of locked in our classroom capacity.”

Class limits are imposed based on the classroom capacity determined by the fire marshal and on whether the discipline requires a large amount of grading.

The college now offers 419 classes, compared to 444 classes a year ago.

This semester, more students are registering for classes while less are being admitted. As of a week before the start of the spring semester, there were 3,741 registered students, compared to 3,797 students a year before. By the end of Tuesday, PC had 3,936 registered students. However, the difference lies in the number of wait listed students: there were 2,189 this spring, compared to 1,677 last spring.

Wait listed students are able to cross over and become registered students if they show up to a class to first day of school and any of the registered students in that class are absent.

Crystal Ceballos, 20, is on her third semester at PC. Getting into the classes she needs as a business major was not a problem for her, as she has gained priority registration.

Going to school, she said, is “really important” to her. “If I get a fast food job, I’ll just do that and get my education so that I can get a better job later on.”

Her response to the Governor’s proposed increase in the cost per community college class unit was a concerned one. “I hope they don’t do that because the price is already high. A lot of students don’t do school, and by raising the prices, those of us who can probably pay, can’t by then. I’ve been looking for a job and I can’t find one, and I have a 7-month-old baby, and my husband works in the fields, so it’s hard.

Mark Patternoster, 19, said that once he finishes his final semester this spring, he plans to either transfer to a university, and if he finds that he can’t afford it, he plans to join his family’s farming business.

“It seems like there’s a lot of educational jobs out there, but there are also a lot of regular jobs. The population is growing. There are other options. It seems like parents are putting their kids in college because they don’t know what else to do,” he said.

He said that one way in which he is being affected by the budget cuts is by not being able to go to the library to study. “The Learning Center used to be open at 7 a.m., and I really like it, because most classes would start around 9 a.m. and I liked going in early to study. Some place quiet, instead of home. I wish it was also open weekends. That’s when I have time to study.”

Erica Hughes, 18, said she will end up taking classes at Porterville College for five semesters instead of the usual four, due to the difficulty of getting into the classes she needs.

“I’m a starving student. School is important. I have no other option but to go to school,” she said. “I want to be a lawyer, and from a lawyer I want to become a politician.”

The Porterville College Book Store owner, Carol Moorhead, said her book sales seem to be less over time.

“The kids do need their books, so probably what affects us most is online sales and renting. I’m not renting yet because I’m not at the capacity to do that. My system needs to be updated, and they’re not updating me anytime soon,” she said. “I try to buy as many used books as possible, and we have a buy back policy. But, yes, the budget has cut a lot of programs on campus that actually pay for the books, such as EOPS. The enrollment is up, but we’re not selling more books.”

“We still have very high wait list for English, math, and speech. Those are the ones we want to keep, and it means we have to bend a little.”

As the cuts continue, administrators are trying to save three types of classes: those for transfer to a four-year university, those that teach basic skills, and those that are for career and technical training.

All 112 California Community Colleges are experiencing a similar shortage of funds for the number of students they serve. However, “The big difference is that we have a big reserve, so we’re able to serve more students with less resources,” Carlson said.

Another hurdle that students in Tulare County will face soon is the fact that College of Sequoias will not offer summer school this summer. Porterville college will offer it, which administrators anticipate will draw more students than ever. However, PC students will have priority registration as returning students, Carlson pointed out, and will likely get into the classes they need.