Note from Etech and Welding Faculty: Below is a document from the administration that was
written in anticipation of the enrollment issues that we would face this semester. When it comes to
working our way down a roster waitlist, we faculty typically look at the quality of engagement for the
student, their comfort/well being and their safety. In the event that you do not get “added” to our class
roster, please know that we carefully considered the above factors and did not make our decision in
haste. Thank you.
Why You Couldn’t Get Into a Class – Some Information from Cabrillo Administration
Full classes are the result of two main factors:
1. A record number of students. Santa Cruz has seen a record number of high school graduates,
combined with a bad economy and class reductions at CSUs and UCs.
2. A decrease in funding by the state. The state pays for your community college education. The
fees you pay – even the increased ones this term – go to the state, not the school. Often, when
there’s a greater need, the state will increase funding to provide additional services and allow access
to more students. However, because of the economic crisis and decline in state revenues, the state
chose to cut funding to schools (and many other public services). In response to the state’s decrease
in funding, Cabrillo had to reduce the number of classes and, in turn, the number of students served.
That’s why classes are packed and many students cannot find room: a record number of students
trying to get into fewer classes.
What can we do about this?
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Get informed about the state budget crisis.
Write to and call your legislator.
Work with the Cabrillo Student Senate to raise awareness and act for change.
Tell your family and friends about the funding crisis at community colleges.
Write a letter to your local newspaper.
Support reform of the state budget process.
Convince Californians that we need to pay for the cost of the services that we demand from
our government!
CONTACT THE GOVERNOR AND YOUR LOCAL STATE LEGISLATORS:
Governor Jerry Brown
c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
Tel: 916-445-2841
http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php
Senator Joe Simitian
State Capitol, Room 2080
Sacramento, CA 95814
Tel: 916-651-4011
Assembly Member Luis Alejo
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0028
Tel: 916-319-2028
Santa Cruz Office: 831-425-0401
Salinas Office: 831-759-8676
California Community Colleges,
Chancellor's Office
Senator Sam Blakeslee
State Capitol, Room 4070
Sacramento, CA 95814
Assembly Member Bill Monning
P.O. Box 942849
1102 Q Street, 4th Floor
Sacramento, California 95811-6549
Tel: 916-445-8752
Tel: 916-651-4015
Sacramento, CA 94249-0027
Tel: 916-319-2027
Santa Cruz Office: 831-425-1503
Budget cuts devastate California higher education
By TERENCE CHEA (AP) – Aug 5, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — When California college students return to campus this fall, they'll find crowded classrooms, less access
to faculty and counselors, fewer campus services and more difficulty getting classes they need to graduate — all while paying higher
fees.
The state's financial crisis is battering its world-renowned system of higher education, reducing college opportunities for
residents and threatening California's economic recovery.
Faced with steep declines in tax revenue, states are reducing funding to public colleges and universities across the country. That
could hamper the nation's rebound from a deep recession and undermine President Barack Obama's goal of making the U.S. the world
leader in college graduates by 2020, experts say.
"It's going to be harder for me to continue to be in school," said Nancy Santana, 25, a single mother who attends San Diego's
Miramar College and worries her financial aid will be reduced. "I may be forced to cut school and find a job without a degree."
No state is cutting more deeply than California, which has more than 3 million students attending college.
To close its massive budget deficit, the state has slashed funding to its 110 community colleges, the 23-campus California State
University and the 10-campus University of California, one of the nation's leading research institutions.
The schools have responded by boosting fees, turning away record numbers of students, expanding class sizes, eliminating
programs, laying off staff, and furloughing professors and other employees.
"The total magnitude of the cuts imposed in California is unprecedented," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the
American Council on Education. "In the 30 years I've been watching higher education policy, I've never seen a state implement budget
cuts of this size and scope."
California's future is at risk if fewer people earn college degrees, laid-off workers fail to develop the skills employers demand,
and universities lose their ability to recruit and retain top researchers, experts say.
An April study by the Public Policy Institute of California projected the state would face a shortage of nearly 1 million collegeeducated workers by 2025 and warned that funding cuts would worsen the skills gap.
"We'll see a decline in the number of college graduates when the economy demands more," said Pat Callan, president of the
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
For decades, other states and countries have looked to California's three-tiered system of higher education as a model for access,
affordability and academic excellence. Its 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education opened college to all residents and helped make the
state an engine of economic growth and technological innovation.
But the steep economic downturn has forced California to make drastic cuts to education, health care and social services to close
a $60 billion budget deficit, the largest in state history.
UC and CSU will receive 20 percent less state funding this year than they did two years ago.
"It's a really dramatic shift to what was once one of the most progressive higher education systems in the world," said John
Aubrey Douglass, a higher education expert at UC Berkeley. "It takes a long time to build these institutions, but they can be ripped
apart very quickly, and then it's really hard for them to recover."
The UC system, which has about 220,000 students, is raising student fees by 9 percent, reducing freshman enrollment by 6
percent and cutting at least $300 million from the budgets of its 10 campuses.
UC is also forcing most of its 180,000 employees to take furloughs and pay cuts of up to 10 percent, which officials say will
make it harder to stop competing universities from poaching academic stars.
Mark Krumholz, a leading astronomer at UC Santa Cruz, recently co-wrote a letter, signed by more than 300 top UC scientists,
warning state lawmakers that budget cuts could damage the future of science and technology in California.
"I don't want to leave, but I don't want to be the last man on a sinking ship," said Krumholz, who wondered whether he should
accept a higher paying job at another university.
CSU, the nation's largest four-year university system with 450,000 students, plans to cut enrollment by 40,000 over the next two
years. Nearly all 47,000 employees have agreed to take furloughs two days per month, and fees for in-state undergraduates will rise 32
percent to $4,827 a year.
CSU officials say the fees are relatively low and the increase will be offset by expanded financial aid, but advocates say many
low-income students may be unable to attend.
"The fee increase is going to be tough for me and other students because it's hard for students to get jobs," said Chris Morales, a
junior at CSU San Marcos who is the first in his family to attend college. "My mother doesn't make enough money to pay for my
college education. She has three other children."
California's community colleges will receive almost 6 percent less state funding than last year, even as campuses struggle to
accommodate a surge of military veterans and newly unemployed workers seeking training for new jobs.
The colleges are raising their fees by 30 percent, shrinking teaching staffs and reducing class schedules.
The Los Angeles Community College District canceled summer sessions at its nine campuses, and the San Diego Community
College District cut about 800 of its 10,000 classes last year.
Scott Lay, president of the Community College League of California, said he expects the community college system, which had
about 2.7 million students last year, to enroll 250,000 fewer students this year.
"There are more Californians that need community college than ever, and we're not going to be able to meet that need," Lay said.