By Dean Mayorga / Staff Writer
Scheduling Woes (Lauren Garcia / Photo Editor)
By Dean Mayorga / Staff Writer
In the 2008-2009 academic year, students at Riverside City College were forced to choose from a smaller selection of classes.
It is now expected that for the upcoming year starting this fall, the class schedules will be reduced even more.
However, this time the reduction will be smaller.
“We’ve got just a very few number of sections that we need to cut for this whole year,” said Dean of Instruction Virginia McKee-Leone.
McKee-Leone explained that the total amount of classes being cut is equivalent to about 100, three unit sections. This balances to be about three percent of the entire schedule.
Although it is the administration that communicates how much the college should reduce, it is the department chairs and faculty who are ultimately deciding which classes to remove.
The terms that are likely to receive a reduction are either the fall, winter, or spring.
Department chairs have been communicating their possible choices. Some have been deciding to take some classes from both the fall and winter term, while trying to keep the spring intact.
Students can expect a larger number of two or three day classes, with Friday being largely utilized for lab classes.
“It’s what the departments are wanting to do to maximize the scheduling of their faculty…and to meet the needs of the students,” McKee-Leone said.
Many students, however, became upset at the very idea of losing options for classes.
“It’s already hard getting classes here. It’s making it harder for us to graduate now,” said student Marissa Partida.
“It makes it harder for people to get degrees,” said student Brian Velazquez.
“They’re taking away time that students can be learning. People are trying to get an education, and they’re not allowing that to happen,” Velazquez said.
Other students, like Thomas Do, empathize with the situation the college is in and say they understand adjustments need to be made.
Students like Andrea Tello, don’t really feel that it will make much of an impact.
“I think the only way it will affect me is if I need a certain class and it’s not available,” Tello said.
McKee-Leone upholds still that a large effort is being made to prevent the disruption of a student’s progress.
“It may be hurtful for some,” McKee-Leone said. “But what I’ve asked the chairs to do is to make certain that it doesn’t interfere with certification completion.”
The only group, who is expected to struggle due to the deficit and cuts, is the part time faculty who are the ones that teach the 100 sections.
“We’re trying to really hone in on our mission and really focus in on what we can do to preserve as much as possible,” McKee-Leone said.
“So that students have the opportunity to complete the courses and either transfer or…get a degree,” she said.