Community colleges no longer a place to find yourself
By Tammerlin Drummond, Oakland Tribune Columnist
Ever since 1960, California's community colleges have been required
to admit any state resident 18 years or older who has a high school diploma or
the equivalent.
It doesn't matter if an applicant has a 1.0 or a 3.0 GPA.
There is no requirement that he or she submit SAT scores. No personal essay,
letters of recommendation or laundry list of extracurricular activities.
The idea behind California's Master Plan for Higher
Education--signed into law by then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Sr. -- was that a
college education should be accessible to everyone.
The good thing was since pretty much anyone could get in,
people who were motivated but couldn't afford a four-year school could take
courses at community college and later transfer into the CSU or UC systems.
Many were the first in their families to be able to pursue a college degree.
Immigrants could come to community college to learn English. The schools
offered remedial skills to students who had been awarded diplomas from
California public high schools without being able to read or write at anything
remotely resembling college level. There were vocational courses, certificate
and associate degree programs. Then, there was the fun stuff for lifelong
learners like painting, language and exercise classes. Seniors often got to go
for free.
The bad thing was, anyone could get in.
A few years ago, I taught a beginning news writing class at
Laney College in Oakland for two semesters.
Very few of my students showed up regularly or turned in
assignments. I couldn't figure out why a number of them had even bothered to
enroll. Earlier this year, I signed up for a video production class, also at
Laney.
There were half a dozen young men who sat in the back of the
room, loudly disrupting the professor's lecture, week in and week out.
Again, I wondered, why are these people here taking up valuable
space?
There are students like these who go from class to class
with no goal in mind.
Meanwhile, students who are trying to get their act together
can't get into the classes they need to graduate or transfer because they're
full.
In the 2009-2010 academic year, 133,000 entering students
found themselves in that boat.
Community colleges still can't reject applicants. But if a
student can't get into any of the classes he needs, it's the same as being
turned away.
Over the past four years, state budget cuts have ravaged
California's community colleges to the tune of $809 million.
There are 24 percent fewer classes system wide and nearly
500,000 fewer students -- 2.4 million currently.
Meanwhile, demand has never been greater with so many people
out of work and seeking retraining.
There has been a push in recent years to hold community
colleges accountable for student progress and to weed out individuals who are
not seriously pursuing any kind of degree or certificate.
The Board of Governors, which oversees California's
community colleges, decided earlier this month to start rationing classroom
seats.
Starting in 2014, priority registration will be given to two
groups:
1) incoming students who have completed an academic
assessment and have an education plan for earning enough credits to transfer to
a four-year-college or university, getting a vocational degree or learning
English. 2) Returning students with no more than 60 credits.
Veterans, active-duty military personnel and foster youth
move to the front of the list, followed by low-income and disabled students.
Lifelong learners move to the bottom of the list.
The mantra now is getting students through the system as quickly
as possible.
Gov. Jerry Brown faces a very different set of circumstances
than his father.
Senate Bill 1456, which is now on his desk, requires, among
other things, that students make academic progress in order to be eligible for
a fee waiver and that students to be assessed and develop an education plan.
One thing is for sure. The old days of being able to hang
out and find yourself at community college until you figure out what to do next
are over.
Posted: 09/17/2012
04:03:05 PM
Tammerlin Drummond is a columnist for the Bay Area News
Group. Contact her attdrummond@bayareanewsgroup.com or
follow her at Twitter.com/Tammerlin
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