BY HEIDI SANDERS
hsanders@kentreporter.com
Two Green River College programs will be shut down in a cost-saving effort, and more cuts could follow as the college faces a $2.5 million to $3.5 million budget deficit.
College officials announced on July 15 the elimination of auto body technology and geographic information systems, while carpentry, which had also been on the chopping block, will continue to operate.
As a result of the program cuts, two full-time instructors – one from auto body and one from geographic information systems – will lose their jobs.
The program closures, along with other savings proposed by faculty – including not filling vacant or temporary positions and increasing math and English class sizes – will save about $300,000.
“In order to zero the budget balance, further programs and services on campus will be reduced,” said Allison Friedly, Green River’s executive director of college relations.
Decreased enrollment and changes in state allocations of higher education funding have led to the budget deficit.
The college is developing a new prioritization process to determine the viability of instructional services, student services and institutional support on campus, Friedly said.
“We are going to seek the assistance of the community to make that happen,” she said. “That was one of the primary complaints about this process, so we are planning to involve everyone in this decision.”
Faculty were notified in April of the potential cuts. The college cited low enrollment in the auto body and geographic information systems and high program costs for carpentry as reasons for the cuts.
Faculty members claimed the potential cuts targeted members of the Union Faculty and were an act of retaliation.
Programs retained
Parent-child education also was originally on the list of programs facing elimination but was spared after faculty came up with a solution to cut the program’s costs. Per union contract, faculty members had the opportunity to come up with suggestions to keep the programs.
Friedly said the carpentry program was spared through an agreement with Renton Technical College that will allow students to join an apprenticeship program through the carpentry union that is offered at Renton. Renton Technical College students can take some of their carpentry classes at Green River prior to entering the apprenticeship program.
“This will increase enrollment,” Friedly said. “We will have a whole new pool of students.”
Green River will help students enrolled in auto body technology and geographic information systems find ways to complete their programs, Friedly said.
The 34 geographic information systems students will go through a teach-out plan, which will allow them to finish their degree or certificate at Green River.
“Until all students who have credits in the program have completed the program, we will make sure all of the students are taken care of,” Friedly said.
The 35 students in the auto body program can meet with academic advisers to discuss completing the program at a nearby college. Renton Technical College, Pierce College and Bates Technical College in Tacoma offer auto body technology courses, Friedly said.
Uncertain future
Mark Millbauer, auto body program head and union president, is concerned about his students’ futures.
“There were lot of tears, mine included, when I had to tell them (the students that the program had been cut),” he said.
Transferring for trade program students is not as easy as for academic programs, Millbauer said.
“There are no standards between programs,” he said. “When students transfer to me, it is not a simple transfer. They don’t get credit for every class.”
Friedly said the Green River students who are close to completing their degrees would not be transferring to the other colleges but would instead be taking the needed classes to complete the degree, which would be conferred by Green River.
“They won’t get their degree from a different college,” she said.
Millbauer said he is disappointed he and his students will not get to use the new trades building that is set to open in the fall. Auto body technology was one of five programs slated for the new facility.
“That was going to be the most state-of-the-art auto body training facility in Washington,” he said.
Building will be used
Friedly said the space in the new building left vacant by the program closure will be used by another program, possibly robotics welding, which the college recently received a grant to offer.
“It will still be a trades building,” she said. “We need to make sure we are putting in trades that students can be ensured they are getting jobs, that are profitable for the college and that the demand is there.”
Under faculty contract, faculty whose positions are eliminated by reduction in force have 10 days to request a hearing to have the decision reviewed. As of Wednesday, neither Millbauer nor Sabah Jabbouri, the geographic information systems instructor, had filed an appeal with the college.
Millbauer said he was exploring his options.
“I will avail myself of every opportunity to make this situation right,” he said.
