DR. ANDREW JONES New CCCD chancellor
By Eric Silkenson
Western Sun Staff Writer
According to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, over 100,000 more students are enrolled this fall compared to last fall at the 108 community colleges across the state. The increase is the largest in the history of the system.
This is a big challenge for Dr. Andrew C. Jones, the new chancellor of the Coast Community College District. Jones, a first-time California college chancellor, has been on the job since August, taking over for former chancellor Ding Jo Currie who resigned in June.
It is a difficult time to be in the education business in California, especially for the new man in town. Triggers in the state budget have forced automatic funding cuts for community colleges when state-wide revenues fell below projections.
“We are going to lose six to nine million dollars in the spring and it could be more,” Jones said. “We can’t control the budget, but we can control our level of efficiency.” As a chancellor in the Dallas Community College District for the last six years, Jones’ state budget was never this tight.
With the sagging economy, community college enrollment rates are rising, while students look to re-train or switch careers. At the same time, state funding is waning.
“We were able to get Governor Brown to hold off on raising the tuition fees to $46 per unit until the summer,” Jones said. “But I fear that it will really impact students.”
With less money coming in from the state, the district will have to find ways to save money and some changes have to be made.
“We need to eliminate things that don’t work,” Jones said. “We need to tailor classes to what employers are looking for in the current job market.”
A study done by the California State University at Sacramento shows that seven out of 10 students from Coast Community Colleges fail to transfer to a four-year university or qualify for a two-year degree.
This is where the Vision 20/20 plan, a comprehensive district plan to raise the graduation/transfer rate to 60 percent by 2020, comes into play. The plan also intends to increase the international student enrollment to between 15 and 20 percent and for the district to be voted a “Best Place to Work.”
“We try to make long-term plans, like the Vision 20/20 plan, but we need to come up with short-term strategies,” Jones said.
These strategies may determine whether or not Jones will be able to make a difference in a district with a decreasing budget and an increasing enrollment.
