At an emergency Academic Senate meeting Tuesday, representatives of the faculty debated the different possibilities of cuts the college 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 proposed 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 to help in deciding what should be looked at in regards to campus 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 of what is to come for EC’s future will affect everyone who is a part of this community college, with tuition prices already being raised to $36 a unit.

“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 this group proposes will help guide campus administrators.

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

The Academic Senate wants to preserve courses needed for transfer to the Cal State University and University of California systems, particularly those that can meet multiple requirements in general education and majors.

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

Jeanie Nishime, vice president of student and community advancement, said in a March 17 Union article that “there are no plans to make changes to the academic calendar” but that with the current budget the number of courses offered has to be reduced.  That number is largely dependent on what happens in the next few months in California.  

Currently, with three proposed scenarios by the college, roughly 200 course sections being cut would be the best possible outcome, with nearly 700 course sections cut being the most drastic possibility.  Voter approval of the tax extension package in the special election in June, should it be held, would yield the least amount of sections being cut.