Cañada College budget to be slashed by 18 percent

being slashed more than 18 percent over two years, from $15.9 million in 2008-09 to $13 million in 2010-11, due to California's economic downturn.The college anticipates a 13 percent reduction, from $12.6 million to $11 million, in funds supporting instruction from 2008-09 to 2010-11, said Peter Barbatis, vice president of student services at Cañada.

These reductions translate to administrative staff reductions of 20 percent and adjunct faculty budget reductions of nearly 50 percent, said Cañada College President Tom Mohr.

Cañada's budget for adjunct and hourly faculty for 2010-11 is anticipated to be $2.2 million dollars, down 45 percent in three years. This reduction translates to cutting 121 classes, or more than 3,000 classroom seats, said Mohr.

Cañada also expects a 40 percent decline from $3.4 million to $2 million in state categorical funding that supports other programs over the same two-year period. From 2008-09 to 2009-10, categorical funds were slashed by $1.3 million.

Cañada has responded by reducing its counseling staffing by 45 percent to just six counselors, and eliminating 2,400 hours of student counseling. Barbatis suggested group orientation, group counseling and a digital librarian to offset the cuts.

State revenue projections are down, due to property tax shortfalls, said Margie Carrington, Cañada's financial aid services director. This will lead to mid-year budget cuts in spring 2010.

The decline in funding is accompanied by a period of growth in demand for courses, estimated at 31 percent from 2007-08 to 2010-11, said Sarah Perkins, vice president of instruction at Cañada.

"We are serving more students than we are being funded for, and that is the right thing to do," said Perkins.

The college has seen a steady rise in the number of transfer students since fall 2004, which had 1,770 transfer students, she said. Cañada has 2,445 students this fall who plan to transfer to either a UC, CSU or a private university.

Thankfully there have been no cuts in financial aid to students in either federal grants or loans, said Faye Soler, financial aid technician at Cañada. More students are receiving financial aid this year than in any other year in Cañada's history.

To offset the budget shortfalls the college is actively pursuing and capturing federal grant money, said Mohr. In 2007-08 the college received $1.1 million from federal grants. Cañada now anticipates receiving $3.2 million in the 2010-11 school year.

Mohr suggested renting out college facilities for private use to generate extra income, such as the theater, the gym and the recreation room in Cañada Vista homes, whose recreation room and plaza will have spectacular views of the Bay Area. When complete, Cañada Vista will house faculty where a parking lot used to be, thanks to construction bonds approved by voters.

Mohr also suggested attracting the film industry to Cañada. Ford Motor Co. recently filmed a national TV commerical at Cañada because of the spectacular forested slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west of campus. These revenues create extra income for the college and can be used however the college chooses.

One suggestion to raise funds offered by students at a Dec. 2 student budget forum was to "pawn off" the Cañada Colt horse statue in the middle of campus.

The statue adds to the beauty and intellectual climate of the campus, Mohr explained. The Colt is the official mascot and team name of Cañada College.

"We need to have a chair in the middle of our budget meetings," Mohr said. "That chair is for a student, and every decision we make should be for the benefit of that student. We should always keep the individual student and their needs in mind."

That's weak sauce," said Joe Elias, when told about about the planned cuts. "There are a lot of students that won't be able to get the classes they want."

Elias, 19, a kinesiology major, will return to Cañada next semester if he can get the classes he wants.