Due to the state of California’s financial problems,
several colleges will receive less money for
education.
This semester has 1,603 sections compared to
last semester in the fall of 2008 with 1,871 sections.
This is about a 14 percent decrease in classes
or more than 200 sections not offered to students at
BC this year.
Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs Nan
Gomez-Heitzeberg said, “One of the things we decided
not to do was to tell everybody they had to
cut by a certain percentage, because we wanted to
take a look at student needs.”
The school also wanted to take a look at what
classes could be delayed until another semester and
also which classes had a low enrollment rate.
“Our goal was to be selective,” Gomez-Heitzeberg
said.” The goal to be selective was made by
department chairs, program directors and administrators
over the summer, so enrollment has not
dropped much this year compared to last year.
Gomez-Heitzeberg shared some advice how to
not let class cutbacks affect students. “I encourage
students to enroll early, get their fees paid and utilize
the waitlist,” she said.
Also some popular student services are in operation,
such as Extended Opportunity Program
and Services, California WORK Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids, Cooperative Agencies Resources
for Education might be in jeopardy.
With 1,200 students on EOPS, including the
waitlist, 150 student on CARE and 200 students
with CalWORKs, it is fair to say these programs
are taken advantage of and make a big impact on
students.
EOPS is a state-funded program that provides
full time students who come from a low income
and an educationally disadvantaged background
with a wide range of supportive services.
Some of these services include additional tutoring
services, peer mentoring, educational advising,
counseling, grants, book vouchers and priority registration.
CalWORKs is a state-funded program that assists
students who receive cash aid to them achieve
their educational goals. Some services include education
and training for employment, child care, bus
passes, gas cards, academic counseling to provide
support and school supplies.
CARE is a state funded program that provides
full time students who are single parents with at
least one child under the age 14 and who are on
Temporary Assistance for the Needy Families or
TANF.
CARE offers many different services which include:
school supplies, academic, career and personal
counseling, peer mentoring, grant checks for
child care and educational expenses.
“There are a lot of unknowns still because the
state budget took so long to get signed,” Primavera
Arvizu, director of EOPS, CalWORKs and CARE
said.
One thing for sure is that fewer book vouchers
were handed out this semester but, Arvizu assured,
“We are here to serve the students so we will do
whatever we can to try to maximize out services
with less amount of resources.”
Arvizu also reassures students will still be accepted
into any of these programs if they qualify
and added, “I’m a true believer that we are a vehicle
for their success. We are still going to be that
vehicle. That vehicle might have a different color
but the vehicle will still be here.”