OCC plans cuts to spring schedule

Deirdre Newman

Like a profligate charge card holder who has exceeded a credit

limit, Orange Coast College is trying to rein in overspending by

taking a scalpel to its spring schedule.

The financial retrenchment is forcing the college to trim about

$500,000 in classroom instruction from its budget, said Bob Dees,

vice president of instruction.

Individual departments will be whittling away sections and

part-time faculty at their own discretion, Dees said.

The net loss will amount to about 20% fewer sections, Dees added,

meaning fewer options for classes with multiple sections and more

crowded classes that are still available.

While the administration is downplaying the severity of the cuts,

some students say they are disappointed that what they consider one

of the trademark appeals of OCC -- an intimate classroom environment

-- is losing its luster.

“I think it would bother me because I like personalized classes,�

said Tayna Reyes, 23.

The school’s financial crunch is only partially due to the

multi-billion dollar state budget deficit that was recently reduced

through cuts and funding deferments. It’s also because of

miscalculations within the school’s own finances, Dees admitted.

“We’ve overextended our budget for offering classes,� Dees said.

“We’re trying to get back closer to our actual budget. We’ve been in

such a high growth mode that we’ve extended ourselves too far.�

Dees emphasized that the school’s priority next semester will be

to maintain large group classes that meet the transfer needs of

students and not turn away any students.

The school will also take the plunge onto the information

superhighway, as one way of cutting costs, by making the spring

schedule and schedules thereafter available online only. This will

save approximately $100,000 for the spring semester, said Jim

Carnett, college spokesman.

Carol Burke, president of the school’s Academic Senate, said she

is not surprised that cuts are imminent, considering that “over the

years, our finance tracking system in one sense has been abominable.�

Burke said more planning by administrators is imperative and

declared that the senate will not let runaway spending get out of

control again.

“One-third of the faculty are new full-timers and they need to

know that we’re not going to let this go away,� Burke said. “We’re

going to demand that we plan.�

While Burke said the school’s intersession during the semester

break will continue, she added the senate has just started examining

how to reduce summer school.

OCC, like other community colleges in the state, is always

confronted with a tough balancing act of trying to provide enough

sections for students, said Jim McIlwain, vice-president of

administrative services.

This year, however, the challenge has been exacerbated by

inflationary expenses at the state level, McIlwain noted.

“If you take the fact that California is at a record deficit and

the [increases] in the retirement system, health insurance, workers

compensation and utilities -- all of that means that there’s just not

as much money as you would like to have to operate,� McIlwain said.

The financial pinch means that the social and behavioral science

division is eliminating about 30 sections out of 350 by not

re-assigning the part-time instructors to teach them, said Dean Dick

Marsh.

“What we’re trying to do is have some large group sections that

will accommodate more students than actually enroll,� Marsh said.

“We’re hoping we can shoehorn students into existing sections rather

than have additional classes for them at less attractive hours.�

Some students, who are already miffed that some of their classes

have been eliminated this fall, are critical of the cuts.

“The classes [being cut] may not seem important, but to some of us

they are,� said Elly Jocham, 32. “For me, one of the most

advantageous reasons for coming here is the [small] class size and

the quality you get.�

Other students, however, are either indifferent or looking forward

to the prospect of larger classes.

“I don’t really care about the size of the class because in

psychology, you have about 400 people,� said Katrina Rosete, 18. “It

doesn’t really affect what you learn. I like big classes because the

stadium seating is more comfortable, the view is better and it feels

more like being in college.�

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].