Access denied for many Sierra College students
Officials say state budget stalemate making enrollment issues worse
It’s only the second day of class but already Sierra College administrators have a difficult math problem to solve. With state legislators still fighting over budget issues, students at the Placer County community college are starting to feel literally shut out. “The budget stalemate has a very dramatic impact on lots of different people including our students,” Leo Chavez, president of Sierra College in Rocklin said Monday. “It also impacts those of us who have to make decision because we have no context to make a decision.” School officials are reporting that many classes, especially math and English courses, have been filled since the beginning of summer. When asked if more students are being turned away this year, Chavez said, “absolutely.” “Early in the summer we saw the fall schedule was deeply impacted in critical areas,” Chavez said. “The only way to add classes is to cancel others.” Chavez said the school has only canceled a very limited number of classes, which means the college currently cannot accommodate all of the enrollment requests. Biology and deaf studies major Sydney Slater, 19, said enrolling in classes is a little easier now that she is a second-year student. “I have so many units it’s easy for me but I know it’s hard for students who don’t have a lot of units,” Slater said. “I had problems in the beginning getting into science classes.” Chavez said the main reason for the problems is the school doesn’t know what kind of funding it will receive. “The issue at this point is uncertainty,” Chavez said. “If we knew what we had, we’d take more risks.” He explained that the college typically takes in more students than the state reimburses it for. In past years, the college has received about 1.5 percent for growth when its growth is actually about 5 percent each year. Chavez said the growth rate is higher than the state reimbursement because “everyone cooperates.” He explained that teachers take in one or two more students than the limit to try to ease the demand. Microbiology professor Sasha Warren was teaching one of her first biology classes of the year Monday morning. She said earlier in the morning she had 20 students trying to get into an already full 100-person section. “I can only overfill by four students,” Warren said. “It’s usually always like that. We have as many classes as we possibly can there’s just not enough space.” Chavez said that those extra allowances may be one of many things taking a hit in the near future. “Now we’re at the point where it may not be prudent to add more sections,” Chavez said. Chavez added that the school still does not have funding from last year’s budget, this year’s or does it know next year’s budget outcome. “I think it’s irresponsible,” Chavez said of the budget stalemate. “What about other areas where it’s critical? Here we’re talking about a massive inconvenience.” In Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most recent proposed budget, Chavez said there is no cost-of-living adjustment figure. That could mean a 3.5 percent cut for the school. In the meantime, Chavez said the school is doing its best to plan as much as possible. “What we’re trying to do is preserve the integrity of our programs and serve as many students as we can,” Chavez said. Pre-nursing student Quincey Clark said he’s found it hard to schedule some of the classes he wanted. He said signing up for early morning courses was his only solution. The 36-year-old student made a career change a few years ago from firefighting to nursing because he said he was looking for more stability. “I like nursing and it’s a growing field,” Clark said. “The only problem is everyone knows that so classes are always full.” Clark does have another solution to taking high-demand courses. “I try to sit near the front of the lecture hall so I see less students. If I’m in the back, the classroom looks packed,” Clark said. Packed classes are going to be a continuing trend at the college, Chavez said. Given the current economy, more and more students and parents are opting to save money by starting at a two-year community college instead of starting at a four-year institution. “When the fees at four-years go up, they’re told to go to a community college where they’re denied access,” Chavez said. “It’s a catch-22.” The Journal’s Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com or post a comment.
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This is one of the reasons people might want to speak with Sierra instructors & ask how good a job Aaron Klein et all are doing for the college.
It has been complete madness at Sierra for the past two days.
This actually strikes me as funny...these two guys are attacking me for the college growing too much, and four years ago, they were attacking me because it didn't grow enough. Or are you guys attacking me for the State Legislature not passing a budget?
Seems the only thing you're interested in doing is attacking... :)
If all we cared about was building the biggest budget surplus, we would have limited student population growth to 3%. That's the amount the state is willing to fund us for this year. Instead, we've allowed it to grow to 7% -- and we've already hired extra instructors to teach that extra 4%, without any new funding from the state.
So I'm curious what your plan would be, steelybob. Would you allow growth to 9% or 10%, and open up a budget deficit that might take two or three years to close?
Or would you have held back the growth to 3%, and turned away far more students than we have?
The management team has been discussing this with the Board of Trustees for some time, and I think we've hit just the right balance. We've increased access to college, but we've been prudent in our spending to make sure we don't dig ourselves a big hole that results in big cuts in 2009 and 2010.
A balanced approach is best here -- neither extreme would have served our students well.
Aaron Klein
ak@aaronklein.com
530-323-2607
Aaron, they are going to attack you and blame you for the state failing to pass a budget.
One way to reduce the number of students would be to charge more per unit, but then the left would complain about that too.
They think that everything should be *free* as long as they are not paying the taxes.
One way to solve the problem would be to require higher entrance qualifications as well. Let those who work/study harder get into school and those who screw off can take one of those jobs the illegal aliens are streaming across our border for.
Aaron, this got me thinking that the instructors deserve a pat on the back for doing such a great job that students readily return to graduate. And the marketing department also deserves kudos for their part in getting a 7% increase despite operating with the knowledge that access is going to be limited. I love their new Dream! Learn! Do! theme... brilliant.
Sierra College needs to keep up the excellent education it provides for our community (young and old alike) while solving the financial crises.
Plus what I see as a priority of the highest order is the college coming up with real world, tangible solutions for the improvement of the facilities and buildings in order to bring them up to 21st century standards.
This would be a win-win for the students and community. I know it can be accomplished. As I tell my children... go for it, achieve it. Because you can!
One of the reasons Sierra College has a budget crisis is that the Board of Trustees has not been fiscally responsible. The Board claims they control the Budget, but last month the Board approved a resolution delegating total budget authority to transfer funds between accounts to the
" Business Office Staff ". The Board approves a Budget at the beginning of the fiscal year, then the Board approves Business office Staff to move budget funds after end of the fiscal year to where ever the College has spent the funds! This is fiscally irresponsible!
Another reason the Board has a fiscal problem is they have agreed to allow the employee unions to set their own salary rates and staffing levels. For example, the unions have set salary ranges for entry level positions such as Cashier, Custodian and Groundskeeper up to $50,000 per year plus benefits. The salaries for classified and management staff are well above what their counterparts make in the private sector. The Board needs to take back control of salary setting and the Budget.
RationalThinker, that's an interesting point about higher qualifications. The challenge is that high school and college expectations are misaligned, so it's hard to tell the poorly prepared from the lazy. :) You can graduate from high school by getting a "C" on an 8th grade level test. Then, you come to community college, and we're expecting you to be prepared to do college-level work. Our incredible faculty have really risen to the occasion, designing assessments and special courses designed to help, but -- no knock on our local schools specifically -- there are big problems in general with our K-12 expectations in this state.
SallyMae, you're exactly right. Students would flock somewhere else without the incredible quality and value that our Sierra College faculty delivers. They deserve our support, our gratitude and our continued praise. And yes -- I love that we are inspiring so many people to Dream, Learn and Do. The credit for that goes to our marketing manager, Sue Michaels. :)
In regard to your "priority of the highest order", consider this a wink and a nod to stay tuned at AaronKlein.com. We're going to be discussing this at our September 9 board meeting, and I'll post some interesting things about that there.
Now, to Lamont Royer, a well-intentioned individual who is simply wrong on the facts. Lamont, there is no budget crisis at Sierra College, because of what we've done over the last four years -- and I'm saddened that you would buy into that baloney.
I know you believe that we should have cut spending even further, and not delivered a raise to our faculty and staff two years ago that caused the average annual raise to be 2.5%. I believe we need to stay competitive to attract the best and brightest faculty and staff.
Lamont, facts are stubborn things. The budget has been balanced four years in a row. $2 million in new surpluses. Reserves grown from $6 million to $8.1 million. And because we are being responsible in our growth, we are not deficit spending, and we have the ability to ride out the fiscal storm on the horizon without massive cuts to our academic programs.
In regards to this "control" thing, I've been attacked as a micromanager by the "Save Sierra College" group, and now you're attacking me as a rubber stamp. I'll take that as having achieved the right balance. We have a great finance staff, led by an incredible CFO, Doug Smith. They use the authority we give them only to make small, non-material budget adjustments between board meetings, and that authority is constrained by a variety of policy decisions we make, including the balanced budget and prudent reserve policy.
With these attacks, you are starting to sound like your former opponent, Bill Martin, who I know you don't agree with. Of course, he says Sierra College should be run more like the rest of California government. I want us to set a far higher standard, and continue to make Sierra College the best run community college in state government.
Aaron Klein
ak@aaronklein.com
530-323-2607
Trustee Klein says there is no fiscal crisis at Sierra College but I have heard from the Board, College President and Sierra College community that one of the biggest challenges facing Sierra College is the failing infrastructure ( roofs that leak, buildings in disrepair, etc. ). Is this not a budget crisis?
Trustee Martin seems to just focus on his definition of a balanced Operating Budget, what about the Capital Outlay fund budget, does Sierra College have serious Infrastructure Needs or not? Let's stay with one story line.
Trustee Martin how can you say there is no fiscal crisis and also say you would support a modest bond campaign? Which way is it?
No, that's not a fiscal crisis, it's a facilities problem. Unlike Bill, I've taken concrete steps to address it, namely by supporting the small, conservative and efficient Measure B bond in 2006. Bill was very politically active that year, but failed to lift a finger to help the college get those funds -- largely because that would not have helped his cause.
There's a big difference between a fiscal crisis -- like, for example, the lack of a balanced budget or prudent reserves, both of which we have at Sierra College today -- and a facilities problem that needs to be solved, and needs real-world solutions, not just the "we can't do ANYTHING without raising taxes" rhetoric we hear from Bill.
Trustee Klein speaks as many politicians speak; double talk. He says above that there's a big difference between a fiscal crisis and a facilities problem. What will fix the facilities problem, the fiscal ability to fix the facilities?
The failing infrastructure of Sierra College can only be addressed with additional fiscal resources. And if the tax payers/ voters have not approved another bond then the Board must address the facilities needs ( by fiscal means ) from current resources.
Trustee Klein continues to say he supports competitive salaries to attract the best and brightest staff.
Does Trustee Klein really believe the College needs to pay cashiers, custodians and grounds keepers $50,000 per year plus 22.5% benefits to attract employees?
Mr. Royer, of all people, you should know the difference between operating funds and a capital improvements budget. While there are of course connections between the two -- ongoing maintenance, and the ability to fund smaller capital projects out of the operating budget -- we simply don't have a fiscal crisis at Sierra College, and this article in the Auburn Journal proves it!
The overarching point of this article is that Sierra College, though only funded for 3% student growth, chose to accommodate 7% student growth, in a year when the economy is tough and more people than ever before need Sierra College's job retraining to find a new job or change careers.
If we had followed the budget policies of Bill Martin and our opponents -- spend however much you want, as long as you can borrow the money to make up the difference -- this would never have been possible.
Aaron Klein
ak@aaronklein.com
530-323-2607
Trustee Klein, if you wish to address the issue of this Auburn Journal article, " Access Denied for Sierra College Students " then answer this question: Could Sierra College hire more faculty and teach more students if Sierra College paid only competitive salary rates to staff, such as Custodians, Cashiers, and Grounds Keepers whose salary rates were set by the unions at $50,000 plus 22.5% benefits???
Do you think these salary rates are competitive or more than what these positions earn in the private sector?
Who controls salary rate setting and staffing levels, the Board or the unions?