With winter session at risk of being cut, students and faculty are welcome to voice their opinions about the proposed schedule at a series of open forums.
The forums will begin next Thursday in the Distance Education Room 166 in the Library from 1 to 2 p.m.
“The Calendar Committee, which is made up of faculty, student representatives and administrators, is going to listen to all the comments,” Kelly Holt, member of the Calendar Committee and associate professor of radiology technology, said. “Anyone can come and make comments at these open sessions.”
According to the proposed schedule, the fall session would stay as is, winter session would be cut, and the spring semester would start earlier. There would also be two back-to-back summer sessions.
The second forum will be Nov. 30 in the Distance Education Room 166 in the Library from 1 to 2 p.m. and the final forum will be on Dec. 2 at the Compton Educational Center Student Lounge from 1 to 2 p.m.
“I will be leading the discussion at the open forums,” Jeanie Nishime, vice president of student services, said. “There will be a short presentation on data regarding the alternatives to winter session. We will also talk about how we make decisions and what the goals for the calendar we should have so we can help students accomplish their goals. I just want to get students’ ideas on what they think so that we can be on the same page.”
The Associated Students Organization agrees that the forums will be a way to voice its reasons for wanting to keep winter session.
“We believe it’s a bad idea that winter session might be cut,” Meg Panlaqui, region seven representative from ASO, said. “This is going to really throw off students from transferring.”
ASO started a petition for students and faculty to sign to support their views on the winter session, and currently have about 1,200 signatures.
“Rick Vega, honor transfer program president, and I created the petition in the middle of October,” Jessica Lopez, ASO president, said. “We actually talked about it during the Transfer Conference and about 400 students signed it then. I think we’re doing the right thing knowing that most of the students are in favor of keeping the winter session.”
Nishime said there are alternatives to canceling winter session and students should understand what the proposal is about.
Though a lot of faculty are against the idea of canceling winter session, there are some in favor of the proposed calendar.
“I teach in a career and technical education program, so for me, my students would be off for two months with the current schedule,” Holt said. “It would be better for me and my students if we could just get rid of winter and start spring earlier. My students are learning how to take X-rays in a hospital, and it is all skill-based learning. If they don’t do anything for two months, they would just forget.”
Discussions are ongoing for both sides of the proposal, and the forums are meant to give all sides of the debate a voice.
“Last time a change happened, it took about three years until changes were actually made,” Nishime said. “Calendar changes just don’t happen overnight,”