Administrators, classified staff, and full-time faculty jobs went on the chopping block over the break as another round of large cuts to SCC's budget were expected to come from the state. The college faces an expected 18-20 percent budget reduction for the coming fiscal year, bringing the two-year total in cuts to almost 36 percent.s Initially, the seven administrators, five classified staff, and fifteen full-time faculty positions to be eliminated would have been cut at the end of winter quarter. However, the state budget that came out after the special legislative session on Dec. 11 allowed the position cuts to be pushed back to June 30.

According to multiple sources, including Gary Parks, SCC Federation of Teachers president, the specific positions to be cut – and the number to be cut – are "in flux" until at least April 24, when the regular legislative session ends, and a state budget is finalized.

Multicultural studies instructor Betsey Barnett held the taxpayers accountable for the severity of the budget shortfall, pointing to the lack of voter support for initiatives last fall that would have generated revenue for the state. "The taxpayers of Washington have decided to dismantle their higher education systems," Barnett said. "You can't have as much education as you want if the state has no money."

During the all campus meeting on Dec. 10, President Lee Lambert said that the college would seek to replace the lost full-time faculty members with part-time instructors, but students would start to feel the impacts." We have to start getting closer and closer to the classroom," Lambert said. "Soon it's going to become even more wholesale. It's going to hit the classroom very hard." Parks explained in an e-mail that the loss of full-time faculty members means much more than just the loss of instructors. Full-time employees are, by contract, "expected to do college-wide, division, and department committee work and also to advise students," he said. "Since the committee work often has to do with things like curriculum and program development and review, college procedures and policies, campus diversity, campus training, and so on, any reduction in number of full-time faculty members will reduce our college's capability to accomplish this essential work." Parks compared our current situation to a construction site where the contractor decided to alter the design of the house while simultaneously reducing the number of carpenters available to do the work.

History instructor Amy Kinsel agreed. "When you cut 15 faculty (members), you can't have as many students," she said. "SCC has attracted the most dedicated and committed faculty, and these cuts will cause that to be lost." Barnett, Kinsel, and Parks all said that part-time faculty are already juggling full work loads and can't make up for the loss of full-time people.

"This is no reflection on our part-time colleagues," Parks said. "The associate faculty pay scale is low, so many associate faculty members have to work at multiple campuses, and they have no time to contribute free program and department-level curriculum work to the college."

At the all campus meeting, Lambert emphasized that SCC needs to boost both the size of the "virtual college," and the International Program, noting that international students pay about three times the tuition that residents do. As an experienced online instructor, Barnett said that SCC is trying to have the best online classes in the state, but it isn't without additional costs.

"People who talk about online classes being cheaper have never done it," Barnett said. Despite losing staff that several instructors called "essential" and "valuable," they said they were optimistic about the future of the college. "It will be a good school," Barnett said. "We love this school and we're not giving up on it."

Daniel DeMay - Editor in Chief