Part-time instructors have been hit hard by budget cuts and it will get worse, said Lance Widman, the Academic Senate’s vice president of finance and special projects, said.

Because state income is not generating as much money in the recent economic downturn, EC has had to reduce sections across the board, which is why there will be fewer part-time instructors, Widman said.

“It’s simple math, if there are fewer classes to offer, there will be fewer teachers,” Widman said.

A minimum of 200 sections for the upcoming winter, spring and summer semesters will be cut, which is going to affect teachers.

“Full-time instructors get their loads and whatever is left goes to the part-time instructors,” Widman said.

Because full-time instructors are contractually supposed to get the classes they want, they are not feeling the impact nearly as much as part-time instructors, Thomas Lew, dean of the Humanities Division, said.

Under the Humanities Division, Lew said almost 50 sections have been cut for the next year. There are currently 110 part-time instructors in the division.

“We have already told twenty part-time instructors that we will not be bringing them back next year,” Lew said.

Despite the shortage, Lew said that part-time instructors understand the situation.

“They are smart, they read the newspaper, they know what’s going on,” Lew said.

The college, Lew added, has not looked at the possibility of taking furlough days.

“We have not talked about it and there are no plans to discuss it in the foreseeable future,” Lew said.

The key factors for the state budget are income, state and property taxes. When these factors are down, the trickle-down effect means there is less money for EC, Lew said.

It will take about two or three years before things start to turn around, he added.

“There is no easy solution,” Lew said. “Maybe if you go out and buy a house, make $100,000 a year and buy a whole bunch of gifts for the holidays and pay your taxes, we might be able to turn it around.”