Meeting Recap for July 25, 2011

Our club was honored to have Dr. Jack Scott edify us on Monday regarding the current state of higher public education in California.  Dr. Scott is currently the California Community Colleges Chancellor, overseeing the state’s 112 community college campuses.  Collectively, the California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, serving 2.76 million students per year.  The colleges emphasize general education for two years, preparing students to advance to four-year colleges, as well as providing vocational and workforce training.  The Chancellor’s Office provides leadership, advocacy, and support under the direction of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. 

Dr. Scott explained that, given the current recession, the community colleges (as well as our 23 state colleges and 10 UC campuses) face some very difficult decisions.  On the one hand, the goal of the system is to provide public education to as many students as possible, at the lowest possible price; on the other hand, with budget cuts due to decreased tax revenues, teacher lay-offs and reduced class offerings are inevitable, along with increasing tuition charges to try to “close the gap.”  

Dr. Scott also noted that a recently conducted Pearson Foundation Community College Student Survey found that 47 percent of California students have been unable to enroll in needed courses because they were full. This compares to just 28 percent of students across the nation that said they experienced the same trouble.   It is not only the students who are hurt by the continued erosion of funding for higher education, said Dr. Scott, but the state’s future economy is damaged, too. If just 2 percent more of California’s population earned an associate degree and 1 percent more earned a bachelor’s degree, the state’s economy would grow by up to $20 billion. We have to remember that funding for higher education in California is not a cost, but an investment.

In light of the rapidly decreasing tax base for public education, Dr. Scott added that he is leading the charge to examine the level of efficiency and redundancy in our community college system.  By reducing the bureaucracy and overall costs of service, Dr. Scott hopes to improve the system for years to come.  Finally, he noted that he is striving to increase the availability of vocational training to allow students to enter the work force after only two years of specialized education.  We wish him well in his efforts, and thank him for updating us on the current position of our crucially important state college systems.