The six-year partnership between EC and Compton College is in jeopardy as President Tom Fallo gave a 90-day notice to the State Chancellor to dissolve the partnership over several issues, including budget problems.
“The issues that concern Fallo are not just the budget. The budget is just one of the problems, he is not in agreement with the final budget,” Jeanie Nishime, vice president of Student and Community Advancement, said.
In Fallo’s announcement, he was vague and not forthcoming about what the issues really were, Nishime said.
However, Fallo did express a lot of concerns that he had about Compton College.
In the existing agreement, EC cannot resolve the partnership until it finds a replacement. It is hoped that the new agreement will allow EC to leave without having to fill the difficult task of finding a replacement.
“It will be hard to find another district to replace EC, if EC drops Compton, they probably won’t see an accreditation in our lifetime”, Lance Widman, political science professor, said.
In the past, things have not always gone smoothly at Compton College, but some faculty and students believe that Compton College is on the verge of getting its accreditation back.
According to market research done in 2009 by Belden, Russonello and Stewart, more than half of the local residents in Compton think that Compton College should remain under the auspices of El Camino College for the sake of accreditation and other reasons.
It has been rumored around the Compton campus among the students and faculty that the college is close to obtaining their accreditation.
“Why pull away when we are so close (to obtaining accreditation)? It’s like dropping a bomb.” Jewel Hoof, Alpha Gamma Sigma Club President of Compton College, said.
According to the market research by Belden, Russonello, and Stewart EC makes an additional $4 million a year to carry Compton College’s accreditation; it has been a very beneficial partnership financially to EC and academically for Compton College.
The Compton College Academic Senate and union leaders are also in favor of preserving the partnership
A short letter was written to the Chancellor requesting his presence at Compton to answer their question directly about the partnership issue.
Since the partnership, enrollment at Compton College has flourished, students are earning degrees, certificates and transferring to four-year colleges; losing accreditation would be like losing a lifelong goal for a lot of students.
