Low student enrollment a factor
Staff Writer
It is the start of a new quarter: you have set your work schedule, you have registered for classes, you have paid tuition, and after driving around the parking lot for what seems like hours, you finally make it to your first class. Only to find a neatly typed sign on the door that says: Canceled Class
Whether it’s happened to you or not, cancelled classes have become more frequent than usual here at Shoreline Community College (SCC.) Megan Murphy, a second year student at SCC is due to graduate this Spring, and for the first time feels frustrated with the administration.
After having her classes cancelled one after another, Murphy will be facing a much more difficult schedule next quarter with 20 credits, because she can not enroll into any other classes needed to graduate.
“With such late notice – there’s no openings left,” Murphy said. Murphy’s class was cancelled a week before classes started, and registered for another class, but due to low enrollment, she was notified the first day of school that her class would be cancelled.
Feeling disappointed, Murphy said, “I felt that there was a lack of communication because I had to contact the administration and had no idea my class was in jeopardy. I love Shoreline but this was frustrating.”
Low enrollment has been a reoccurring reason for many programs being cancelled on Shoreline’s campus. According to Andrea Rye, Assistant Vice President, last academic school year’s over expenditure left the school in a $500,000 deficit.
Rye said that the school budget is closely tied to enrollment, because of the tuition revenue that comes from students. With lower enrollment, there is less money to fund the programs and classes that SCC was able to offer in the past.
According to Rye there has been a dramatic drop in the afternoon and evening classes, which have been harder to fill because to keep a class open there needs to be 75 percent of the minimum students attending.Rye said that there is no way to predict enrollment and that it is hard for students to prepare themselves in case a class canceled. Every situation is different and Rye said that whichever program the student is enrolled in, the division will usually work with students to substitute other available courses as exceptions.
Even though it seems hopeless for students to avoid being dropped from classes, it is possible to view class enrollment progress online. For those familiar with registering online, you will notice there is a column that says how many students are enrolled.
Rye suggests to constantly check the progress of filling and if by the time is comes close to the first day of class and if there are not many people enrolled (say 10), it would be a good idea to register for another class.
“We offer and try to guarantee, but you can’t predict what classes will fill,” Rye said. “But the faculty and division are committed to help our students.”