California education budgets have been severely cut by $4.8 billion in the recent months, leaving many students wondering if they will be affected.
So far, EC has not yet been impacted by the state budget changes.
Most of the budget cuts were given to four year universities (with $386 million in cuts) in California as well as the K-12 grades (with $360 million in cuts), but community colleges were not affected as severely (with $40 million in cuts).
“Community colleges actually did surprisingly well in terms of the budget cuts compared to the four year schools,” Peter Marcoux, English professor and Academic Senate president, said.
So far, the fall semester has not seen any changes to curriculum or faculty, but the reason is because the effects of the state budget cuts have not been felt yet.
This year, the winter, spring and summer semesters will see small changes due to the education cuts made by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when the budget was signed last month.
“Core classes such as mathematics, English and science will not be changed and there will be the same number of available classes to take in the upcoming semesters,” Marcoux said.
The changes will be felt in less noticeable areas around campus.
Hours in the Writing Center, Learning Resources Center, Health Center and various other centers around campus will be decreased, leaving less time for students to take advantage of these programs.
“The Health Center and Writing Center might not be open five days a week during the winter and spring semesters,” Marcoux said.
The students of EC will not be the only ones bearing the brunt of the recent cuts; the faculty will feel the effects of the educational budget changes.
“Some part-time faculty members might not be rehired for the upcoming winter and spring semester,” Marcoux said.
Even with the recent cuts, enrollment at EC has seen a significant growth of 8 percent in recent semesters, with 24.457 currently enrolled.
The problem is that the state of California only recognizes the 2 percent growth in enrollment from last year.
“Our school enrollment is growing very rapidly and our budget just cannot keep up with the growth,” Dr. Jeanie Nishime, vice president of student services, said. “We had a drop in enrollment two years ago and our budget is still reflecting that.”
Consequently, some classes and programs will be cut to make up for the recent budget changes.
The growth of this year, however, will be reflected in next years’ budget.
Students will be affected by these budget cuts, but the changes are not drastic.
The number of classes in various areas of curriculum will not change much and students will most likely still be able to add into classes during the first week of spring semester.
“We are a growing college. The budget will change and things will get back to normal soon,” Nishime said.
