SRJC's Petaluma campus cuts 70 classes

<p>Under normal circumstances, the Santa Rosa Junior College Petaluma campus, with its many brand-new facilities and the ability to now accommodate three times as many students, would be preparing to expand its class offerings.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>But the current economic plunge has left the Petaluma campus, as well as virtually all other educational institutions throughout the nation, with major financial challenges, and it has turned to eliminating classes to save funds. The campus will be cutting about 70 classes from its fall offerings, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that enrollment will drop, says Jane Saldaña-Talley, the executive dean.</p><p>“We’ve had enrollment growth before, despite class reductions,” she said. “I expect that many of our classes will be full or nearly full, rather than the usual 80 percent full, and in many cases, we will be offering fewer sections of courses, rather than completely eliminating them.” </p><p>During the 2008-2009 academic year, enrollment at the Petaluma campus jumped 13 percent, to 6,500. The Phase II construction, which is nearing completion, is expanding the campus to three times its original size by adding an additional 127,500 square feet and it will be able to accommodate up to 12,000 students, double the previous total. </p><p>This fall, around 15 percent of the classes will be cut, thereby helping SRJC to save about $425,000. The entire SRJC system is eliminating about 430 classes, and will save about $3.2 million.</p><p>The cuts at the Petaluma campus were made after Robert Chudnofsky, the dean of instruction, consulted with many people at the Petaluma and Santa Rosa campuses.</p><p>“He was intimately involved in conversations with our faculty, department chairs and deans, as well as with the administrators in Santa Rosa who oversee the Petaluma departments,” Saldaña-Talley said. “He came up with suggestions that will have the least impact on students and employees.”</p><p>She is not sure how many teaching positions will be cut as a result of the class reductions.</p><p>The Petaluma campus is retaining core courses and those needed for students interested in transferring to University of California and California State University campuses. Many of the classes that were cut out altogether were personal enrichment courses, Saldaña-Talley said.</p><p>The SRJC system previously cut around $3 million from the current budget, including $650,000 to $700,000 from the Petaluma campus, and last month, Saldaña-Talley and four other administrators at the campus agreed to a 3 percent pay cut.</p><p>Despite the cutbacks caused by the financial dilemma, Saldaña-Talley remains optimistic.</p><p>“At this stage, I’m more optimistic than pessimistic,” she said. “We’re all aware of the overall state of the economy, and that it won’t turn around any time soon. But we’ve been through tough times before, and there has been some overall improvement across the nation.”</p><p>She praised SRJC’s administrators and employees, as well as Petaluma community members.</p><p>“We have a great group of employees at the Petaluma campus, and I’m really comfortable about SRJC’s administrative leadership and board of trustees. And I feel confident that people will continue to come to the Petaluma campus to take advantage of the great variety of programs and the beautiful facilities we have. The campus is very well appreciated by the community,” she said.</p><p>(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)</p>