Student workshop at college undergoes changes due to budget cuts
By Valerie Velikaya
JCCC 2 the MAX was initiated in an effort to engage students with one another as well as faculty members through their participation in workshops, presentations and events. However, in part of a budget proposal that will raise funds to $3.7 million, the fate of the program has since been determined.
Sessions began in 2009, considerably increasing from ten workshops per semester to 100. Presentations have varied, ranging from academic enhancement tips to providing valuable life lessons, spreading cultural awareness to offering advice on career development. Since its inception, the program, operated by director Mary Jean Billingsley and coordinator Ann Fielder, has encouraged student involvement, enabling the development of a sense of community within the college among its participants.
The college has made the decision to decentralize the programming, keeping some of the well-known sessions, eliminating others while ultimately saving expenditures.
“What’s going to happen is we’re trying to divide JCCC 2 the MAX programs into different categories,” said Dennis Day, vice president of Student Success and Engagement. “One of which is academic support […] things that are directly related to an academic program or support of a study or learning strategies, that kind of thing. We’re hoping that the academic support area will want to keep those going. Those other types of programs that are of special interest or casual interest or just kind of cool to hear about will be picked up by the student life program, and they’ll incorporate it in with their other programs and activities.”
Various programs will be picked up with each leader of an individual program who are responsible for keeping sessions running and attentive to the public.
Anna Page, hospitality manager and coordinator for Project Strength, a program intended to spread awareness of healthy eating habits and nutrition, relied on JCCC 2 the MAX to help get her program across to the general network.
“To bring [Project Strength] on campus, it was a lot easier for me to contact Ann [Fielder] with JCCC 2 the MAX and say, ‘Is this something we can do?’ You know, and so they found a room, and did the coordination and all of that kind of stuff,” Page said. “It was easier to do things because there was already a vehicle in place that I could just plug into rather than having to do everything myself.”
These informative programs come at a price, contributing to about 30 percent of the college’s current operation. Extinguishing certain departments will keep tuition costs at a reasonable rate and budgets balanced.
As changes are made, Day hopes that each program will find its own place within the community, and though it’s unfortunate that JCCC 2 the MAX will experience reductions, the decision will fundamentally benefit the college.
The existing programs are expected to target a broader audience who will show interest in the field being addressed instead of getting across to the general public.
“Sometimes it gets muddled into all the other things that are out there too,” said Day.
Day has received mixed feedback about the cuts.
“There are some areas that really enjoyed and supported the programs and had people present in it, and there’s others that, quite frankly, didn’t participate at a very high level,” he said. “Over time that could have changed and over time it still might change. There still might be some programs that are enhanced.”
However, there are going to be some programs that will certainly not be replicated, according to Day.
“I will say that this has been a really good idea and very well received and very well implemented by the folks that had been involved,” he said. “We’ll miss part of it, and I would hope in the future when we get into a better situation, we can add more to it.”
Editor’s note: JCCC 2 the MAX coordinator Ann Fielder was unavailable for comment and director Mary Jean Billingsley referred the Ledger to Dennis Day.
Contact Valerie Velikaya, news editor, at vvelikay@jccc.edu.