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Michael Yanow / Getty Images Contributor
Nnaemeka Alozie is hosed off after suffering the effects of pepper spray outside the SMC Board of Trustees meeting at Santa Monica College on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif.
Santa Monica College trustees voted Friday to postpone a fee hike that prompted a student protest and pepper-spraying incident earlier this week.
The California community colleges chancellor had requested that the school delay a program that would raise tuition for summer classes to make up for cuts in state funding that have impacted public colleges across California.
College President Chui Tsang at an emergency meeting recommended to the Board of Trustees that the program be postponed. Students, who filled the meeting room Friday, applauded that recommendation.
Trustees voted 8-0 to postpone the program, saying they wanted more input from college teachers and students.
The meeting was held in a larger venue than the board normally uses to accommodate the crowd. At Tuesday’s regular meeting, about 30 students who tried to get into a packed board meeting were pepper-sprayed by campus police.
Some students staged a protest march on campus Thursday. Tsang said at the Friday meeting that the pepper-spray incident was "regrettable" and that an internal investigation had been launched.
On Wednesday, California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott asked Tsang to put the controversial summer-course program on hold.
Earlier this week, Tsang said the pilot program, approved in March, would offer about 50 extra "self-funded" classes this summer at the college's "actual cost" of $180 per credit unit, compared to state-subsidized classes that cost $46 per credit unit for California residents.
“SMC's cost is far below the tuition rate at the state's other public educational systems,” Tsang said. “The college's action comes at a time when SMC is confronted with the greatest budget crisis ever to face higher education in California.”
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Nice work, protesting students! The next time your friend complains he or she was not able to get into a class, remind them that you had a hand in making sure the additional classes would not be offered, even if your friend could afford to pay and was willing to pay the increased tuition so they could reach their educational goals. Now they won't have that opportunity, thanks to you. Good job!
The inmates are running the asylum.
When I was taking my Masters, Classesat my University were $450 per unit.
When I was a College Instructor Community College was $ 26 per unit .
Most dont pay if they file the Gov Exemptionfor hardship .
By the way Who is the Gov now ?
Isnt he a Democrat For the School system?
It is about time that young people blame the universities for the high cost of education. Over paid administrators and profs are to blame.
Big Jim, I don't where or if you went to college, but my best friend is a college professor. He is a full professor and the head of a department. Neither he, nor his staff, have received pay increases in several years and have to deal with monetary cuts. As for the administrators, I can't say, but to make a blanket statement like this isn't helpful - or informed.
Suzbaggins,
You are correct. A lot of the professors and TA's have modest salaries, but many colleges overcompensate their Regents, Chancellors, etc. while asking students to pay more. Currently, the very top people in University of California campus are earning upwards of 400k. The cal state top brass are in the 200-300k range. They think of themselves as CEO's. However, unlike a CEO who has to ultimately balance the books at the end of the year and deliver an acceptable profit with appropriate production, sales, business strategies, expansion, contraction, whatever, these guys do the same thing over and over again. They pass the cost off onto the students when they need money. And the need for additional money is often coming from a desire to award compensation. I have not heard of one university going through a largescale reorganization, ultimately delivering a more affordable product. Continuious improvement and lean practices create more competitive business. What's competitive about colleges just hiking their tuitiion year after year? So these top administrators are not CEO's and are not deserving of high compensation and need to stop passing the buck. They know that kids will take out college loans to pay for their education, so are similar to the property developers who until 2008, figured that easy money from the banks would allow them to hike up property values. Unfortunately, a student can't foreclose on a college loan and walkaway when they are upside down on it.
For profit colleges and universities need to understand that simply raising fees just makes it more difficult for less fortunate people to become students. Maybe if the students just boycotted these schools, they might get the message.