Fresno City College is planning ahead. President Cynthia Azari, president of FCC, presided over an open forum to discuss the merits of the proposed 15-year Educational Master Plan on Wednesday Nov. 19 in the FCC Theater.
The 92-page Educational Master plan addresses accommodating the college’s annual growth over a span of 15 years. The writers of the plan explained the “concept of using a student-based model to generate all future planning efforts is essential with today’s ever-changing economic environment and the competition for students.”
The overall goal of the plan is “to assist the college in projecting the educational programs and support services that will be needed through the year 25.” In order to determine the future needs of FCC, plan developers conducted both internal and external environmental scans which outlined the projected environmental effects on the college. Through the environmental scan analysis, plan developers predict more higher education budget cuts due to state and nation wide recession. With limited funding, developers of the plan must ensure all resources are utilized which include space, full time faculty, and effective student services. In order to improve efficiency of programs offered at FCC, the plan recommends considering various scheduling options “in order to maximize the availability of classes for students and the utilization of college facilities.”
Developers of the plan also recommend “developing and implementing a comprehensive program of articulation to ensure consistency of prerequisites, units of credit, and curriculum to allow students to transfer credit for coursework between instructional locations throughout the District,” along with identifying and promoting, “Signature Programs” for FCC and other college/centers within the District.
Expanding growth of facilities seems to be a predominant matter addressed in the Master Plan. In order to accommodate the expected 1.5 percent growth in student population, developers of the plan estimated 747,454feet total growth of facilities over the next 15 years. With such a large expansion of campus facilities and population growth on campus, stakeholders might ask, What about expanded parking facilities?
“It is not going to happen,” said Dan Rosenberg, MAAS Company representative and plan developer concerning parking lot expansion within the next 15 years. This raises a large issue for the FCC campus student population whom at a head count of over 25,000, spend a large amount of time each day “hunting” for a parking space.
In regard to the current and future need for additional parking space, Sergey Saluschev, Associated Student Government President, said, “The number of students exceed the amount of available parking on campus and the only way [to solve this problem] would be to purchase additional land available on the South East end of the campus, or go up and build a parking infrastructure [which is going to be proposed in 2010].
On which issue should be top priority in the drafted plan, Saluchev said, “My main source of concern was the fact that the plan does not accurately reflect the college and its capacity and potential.” Results of student surveys collected last year show their concerns about “Green” activities, high cost of textbooks and the issue of safety on the campus. Saluchev said, “There was a logical need to use those results of student concerns to make sure they are reflected in the educational master plan.”
Many participants in the forum expressed concern about student population growth. One FCC faculty member suggested the college raise prerequisite requirements and enforce tighter registration deadlines in order to “Pace growth.”
The plan states, “Without students, the college does not exist,” but its developers said they are in support of “pacing” student growth. Does this not limit opportunities for students to obtain their college education? And in what ways can this “pacing” occur without curbing student chances? Azari confirmed that the ultimate mission of the plan is to “enrich student opportunities [and] progress student success.”
About the projected rate of student growth included in the plan, the president said, “We are at a land-lock. We really can’t grow here. [A projected growth rate of] 1.5 percent is probably realistic.” She added, “As an institution, we have to decide how large we can effectively be unless we have the resources for more faculty, more counseling [and other student services].”
Among the options being considered by faculty and decision makers of the college include increasing the amount of full-time faculty and using district wide resources to accommodate the needs of the growing student population. Dr. Azari said, “We need [more] resources because if we just grow, we are not going to be able to accommodate everyone.”
The State Center Community College District contracted MASS Company to develop the Educational Master Plan for campuses district wide, including Fresno City College, which is focused on bringing together “educational components of the College into a long-range plan that will support decision-making for the future.” Developers of the plan included MASS Company, FCC President Cynthia Azari; Vice President of Administrative Services Michael Guerra; Vice President of Instruction Tony Cantu; Vice President of Administration/Records John Cummings; Vice President of Student Services, Chris Villa, and Director of Marketing and Communications, Cris Monahan Bremer.
Dr. Azari said, “I do not want to deny access to any one, but I want to have the resources to provide it. I want to be able to say, ‘we are full but there are classes available at Willow’ [or any other district campus], [therefore] we need district wide planning in allocating resources and determining where programs are [in order to provide efficient services to our students].”
