Editorial: Four-week summer class session should stay

The Ventura County Community College District has been forced to make changes to adapt to the budget cuts given to them by the state and some of these changes have unfortunately had a negative impact on its students.

In a February 17 Town Hall meeting held by the Moorpark College administration, the latest budget review called for cuts to the four-week summer sessions at Moorpark College.

According to Clare Geisen, the director of administrative relations of the Ventura County Community College District, the four-week summer classes will not be available to students across the district this year because the budget has been cut and the money just in not there to support the session of classes.

"The four-week summer session was eliminated this year because of the significant reductions in the 2009-2010 state budget for California," Geisen said in an email.

According to the VCCCD mission statement, "The Ventura County Community College District (VCCCD) is committed to assisting students in the attainment of its primary mission as a system of state supported two-year colleges."

However, it seems quite the contrary when you cut an entire summer session for the students, as well as cutting some six-week summer class sessions.

According to Geisen, the justification for the cancellation of the four-week summer session was that the district was projected to be serving 3,400 more full-time equivalent students (FTES) than the state would fund.

Yet this is meant to be the students’ problem? Students come to a two-year college as a way to develop vocational skills and continue the cognitive learning process through lower-division classes that the college promises to offer.

However, it now seems inevitable that students will be forced to spend more time in the classroom during summer vacation by loading up on courses in the six-week session due to the elimination of the four-week session.

Geisen also said that it does not even stop there, as the district also plans on not offering the four-week session next summer, following a budget projection that will not allow for budget development. Budget development refers to money being put aside to help revive or bring back something.

Not only are students affected, but also the faculty, who now are unable to make an extra buck during the summer.

The budget problem makes the future look bleak, and you can't stop the bleeding of a hemophiliac bureaucracy.

According to Geisen, the district is trying to resolve the problem by continually promising to offer enough classes needed for students. She remained sympathetic toward the situation.

"It's unfortunate the four-week summer session was eliminated…VCCCD is mitigating this impact by continuing to offer classes in the regular summer session," she said.

In the end, students will be spending more time in the classroom if they intend to take summer classes. The best plan is to either just settle for taking more courses in the six-week class session or to or increase their academic load in the fall.