Pierce College could see a drop in the number of classes offered for Fall 2012, depending on how the district plans to allocate their funding in the upcoming months.
Members of the Pierce College Academic Senate discussed how they can balance the school’s budget while they anticipate reduced funding from the district and state.
Pierce plans on offering for Fall 2012 a course schedule similar to that of Fall 2011; however, the courses printed in the Fall 2012 schedule may not reflect the classes that will actually be available for registration online.
Once fall registration begins, certain classes may appear as if they are offered at Pierce online through the Student Information System, but they will be locked until enough money is guaranteed to be available to fund the class.
When it has been determined that there will be enough funding, classes that were once locked will be made available for students to add into. Students will not be given any prior notice as to whether or not a class is available until they go online and try to add the class.
“Unfortunately there is nothing we can do,” said Tom Rosdahl, president of the Academic Senate. “If we go over too much you get what we call ‘unfunded classrooms,’ so we have to wait until we know what classes the college can afford.”
In Fall 2012, tuition will have almost doubled from the year before, rising to $46 per unit compared to $26 a unit in fall 2011.
