President's Message
The mission of a community college is defined in the California Master Plan for Higher Education which describes the role of the three higher education systems in California.
One essential part of our mission is advancing California's economic growth and global competitiveness through education, training, and services that contribute to work force improvement. We accomplish this task by staying in touch with our community leaders, regional businesses, and elected officials. We respond to industry needs by creating programs such as Mechatronics and the new Photovoltaic Solar Energy program.
In addition to developing programs for workforce development, California community colleges provide training for 80% of the law enforcement officers, firefighters and EMTs in the state, as well as 70% of the nurses. There is no denying the importance of these public safety programs, however these programs require a low student to faculty ratio and high cost facilities. It is the high cost of such programs that limits our capacity to meet community needs.
While job skills training and public safety programs are important, yet another major component of our mission is preparing students for transfer to four-year institutions. With the increase in fees at the UCs and CSUs, as well as enrollment restrictions, more students are turning to community colleges. Community colleges provide lower division education for less than $6,000 in state funding per full-time equivalent student. A CSU receives twice that amount or $12,000 in state funding and a UC receives three times that amount or $18,000 for the same student.
Transfer preparation, public safety training, and workforce development; these are the core elements of our mission. Add to that list, however, a range of permissible activities such as lifelong learning for active older adults, academic enrichment for high school students, programs for our returning Veterans, and many others. All of these programs are important and vital to our community, which brings us to our current dilemma.
Community colleges receive funding based on a limited number of students the state elects to fund. For the 2009-2010 academic year that number has been reduced. Moreover, vital support for our students has been reduced with a 66% decrease in funding for our categorical programs. Our categorical programs provide counseling and support services for students.
While we are a publicly supported institution, we still must conform to certain fundamental business practices. One is matching expenses to revenues. As the funding for the number of students we can serve is decreased, we must correspondingly reduce our course offerings. As we weigh which courses should take precedence in our schedule, we ask ourselves which part of our mission is most important; of the areas mentioned above, which is the most critical?
Fortunately, we have a dedicated staff and faculty who are passionate about what they teach and about serving students. They are working hard to minimize the effects of the budget reductions on our students and our community. They are absorbing more students into their classes than they should and they are shouldering an ever increasing workload. Despite their diligent effort, the severity of our budget reductions will begin to produce noticeable differences. As a result, students will need to register early and plan more carefully. Services and staff may not be as readily available as they have been.
We ask for your patience and understanding as these reductions begin to take effect. We remain the best value in education and we remain committed to preserving the quality our community expects. We will become somewhat smaller and more focused, but we will remain true to our core mission.
Dr. Leo E. Chavez
President
Sierra College