College plans to cut jobs

Professors, classified staff and administrators’ jobs are on the chopping block as Shoreline Community College officials prepare for state cuts expected this spring.

Their layoffs, which would begin in June, would mean reduced class offerings at the college next year, bigger class sizes and maybe a switch to more online classes.

Officials announced the plan at an all-campus meeting Friday, Feb. 20 in the packed PUB cafeteria.

“It’s ironic that people here will get laid off and go to the unemployment office and they will say, ‘Go to community college and get retrained,’” said college president Lee Lambert at the meeting.

Shoreline officials are looking to cut 10 to 15 percent from their budgets– that’s roughly $2.4 to $3.2 million for 2009-2011.

The state now faces an estimated $8 billion budget gap. Community colleges statewide were proposed to be cut by 6 percent in December, when the budget gap was only $5 billion to $6 billion.

Legislators will vote on the final cut this spring, which is why college officials have planned for two scenarios.

About 80 percent of the $2.4 to $3.2 million cut in Shoreline will be personnel. The proposal is to close between 17 and 19 faculty jobs, four to five administrator jobs and 12 to 18 classified jobs.

Slightly more than half the proposed cuts target college professors.

That will affect students, said John Backes, vice president of academic affairs.

“A large number of sections will be washed away,” he said.

That will mean bigger class sizes, fewer sections to chose from and, perhaps, more online classes to help meet student needs, Lambert said.

Given current vacancies, anywhere from 20 to 26 people could be laid off, depending on how deep the cuts go.

The number of job cuts could change as the plan is refined with unions, among other variables.

Officials will talk with affected staff before presenting a more detailed list of job cuts at a March 6 meeting.

Those who received notices could end up retaining their jobs if more people retired or the fiscal climate changed.

The college spends about 80 percent of its budget on personnel, which is why any time you look at cuts, you look at jobs, said Daryl Campbell, vice president for administrative services.

The remaining 20 percent of cuts will come from goods and services, officials said. The details of that have yet to be decided.

In general, goods and services include classroom equipment, travel, budgets for marketing and other non-personnel items.

“I’m hopeful that the community college will be able to fulfill their role to help retrain workers for this new economy,” said Karen Toreson, head of the faculty senate. “The problem with cutting higher education is that we are the solution to this economic turmoil.”

Kevin Conder, a professor of criminal justice at the college, said of course people are nervous about losing their jobs, but they’re also worried about effects on students and the college.

“What will Shoreline be like, what will the quality of life be like, of (people’s) grand children’s lives, if this resource changes significantly?” he said.

In an interview, Lambert lamented the fact that Wall Street’s greed is affecting people across the country.

“Every day, hardworking people try to make a difference in the lives of others, only to find that all that effort to do good things can be undermined by a few people,” he said.