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The Santa Rosa Junior College administration is expected to definitively reverse last week’s decision to make massive cuts to the summer schedule tomorrow after an overwhelmingly negative response from students and faculty.
Vice President Pedro Avila and Vice President of the Board of Trustees Jordan Burns said the administration will likely announce that the summer schedule will not be changed as previously planned. The decision will be announced after a meeting with the administration and constituent groups like the Student Government Assembly (SGA) and the Academic Senate Wednesday morning.
“I’m optimistic that the summer schedule is not going to change,” Avila said.
Avila also said the Student Services department he presides over advocated for so-called “categorical students,” like veterans and the disabled, who planned their summer and fall schedules together.
Senior Vice President Dr. Mary Kay Rudolph announced the decision in an email to faculty last Thursday. The administration did not inform the student body.
President Dr. Frank Chong sent a vague email to students only Friday purportedly rescinding the decision, although some faculty members have suggested the email was an attempt to mislead students.
The administration failed to say if cuts would continue as announced or if the summer curriculum would be offered as previously planned.
The anticipated reversal comes after blowback from students, faculty and the media. SRJC student Hannah Cagle organized a sit-in outside Chong’s office Monday morning.
Chong addressed students’ questions about potential loss of financial aid and delays to educational plans.
He said a decision would be made at the constituent meeting tomorrow.
“We’re going to meet on Wednesday,” Chong said at the sit in. “I’m going to bring the concerns that all of your are raising. I’m pretty sure we’re going to restore much, if not all, of summer session.”
On Monday afternoon Chong joined a special Student Government Assembly (SGA) meeting to field another onslaught of questions and demands for answers about the opaque decision to slash summer classes.
Should the decision be completely reversed, it will come at a time when Dr. Chong faces possible no-confidence votes in both the Academic Senate and the SGA. Who exactly made the decision, how it was made and for what purpose remains unclear.
