At an emergency academic senate meeting held Tuesday, representatives of the faculty debated the different possibilities of academic cuts that EC is facing.

“It’s time to be careful in decision making,” Christina Gold, president of the academic senate, said.

Due to California’s ailing economy and Gov. Jerry Brown’s extended tax package, community colleges are just one of many areas to get hit with budget cuts, and EC is no exception.

The academic senate is preparing a document in deciding what should be looked at in regards to making academic cuts.

“Our priorities are to help students reach their goals, being able to check off general education requirements and still offer basic skills courses as much as we are able to in these tough times,” Lars Kjeseth, curriculum chair member, said.

The reality to what is to come for EC’s future, will affect everyone who is a part of this community college.

“Nobody is going to get a free pass,” Kjeseth said. “Everyone is going to have to make sacrifices.”

Even though the academic senate does not make the final decisions to what courses and academic programs will be cut, what they propose will be valid in what the final verdict is.

“We just put it out there to what we feel needs to be cut,” Lance Widman, VP finance and special projects, said. “Somebody is going to have to make the cuts.”

The academic senate want to preserve courses needed for transfer to CSU and UC, and particularly those that can meet multiple requirements in general education and majors.

The study abroad program is high impacted and there are no cost saving estimates or numbers that will lead into making the decision in cutting the program, Gold said.            

While the winter session has not been cut, it was discussed yet again at the meeting.