Funding for Cabrillo College

Cabrillo College is undergoing some serious budget cuts. So - what are we looking at here?

We're looking at somewhere between a $4 million - $8 million deficit (sources below), depending on whether lottery and tax revenues projected in the governor's budget proposal come to pass. Cabrillo's enrollment is at an all-time high as they are struggling to serve a flood of displaced workers that are seeking to upgrade their job skills. I am currently trying to find a list of all of the classes that they had to cut this semester.

However, here is my own personal story:

I had enrolled in several journalism classes this semester. The day is Sunday, the day right before the start of the semester. I decided to double check my schedule using their hawk talk phone system. I was faced with this: You are not currently registered for any courses.

I got out the schedule of classes and tried to re-enroll for the classes I had wanted to take and received this reply: "This course has been canceled."

I was not notified about my classes being cut. Fortunately, I was able to find several classes that I needed to take that were still available.

I went into the Cabrillo College Foundation. The Cabrillo College Foundation pays for everything that the state doesn't cover and has been established as long as cabrillo has. I spoke with Eileen Hill, who works there and supervises various donations that come in through the college. I wanted to know about the Journalism Department and what kind of funding we're looking at for that. Apparently, there is a group that is donating around $10,000 every year for the journalism department which it seems (this is a speculation) is the reason that the journalism department is still running strong.


So, here's the short story: the journalism department is facing extinction from Cabrillo College. Last Tuesday, the governing board met at the Sesnon house to discuss the future of journalism. They are undergoing some serious cuts and we will have to wait to see the future of journalism at Cabrillo.

Sources:

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_11614415
http://www.cabrillo.edu/associations/foundation/support.html
http://www.cabrillo.edu/academics/journalism/
http://www.cabrillo.edu/services/marketing/budget_center_updates0822Oct.html
http://www.cabrillo.edu/associations/boardoftrustees/Agenda6-4-07.htm