Thursday, November 09, 2006
Lane Community College measure 20-120 failed
The voters decided to vote no on Lane Committee Colleges five-year levy 20-120 by 56% no, 42% yes. Lane County Oregon--
While I was glad to see that the measure did not pass and I will admit that I do have a dog in this fight, plus I have already contributed thousands of dollars in tuition fees, I really do feel sorry for the good instructors and programs that risk losing their jobs due to cutbacks.
From a consumer [student] standpoint and recent graduate of Lane community college who along with seven other students from my class feel that we did not receive the value of education nor did the program meet our expectations for the amount of money that we paid for our education.
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4 comments:
I voted for the measure even though I voted against most all other money measures. I last attended LCC in 1975 and thought the value I received back then was tremendous. Perhaps that is not the case today I don't know. For some people it is the only way to realistically get post high school education. I hoped that McKenzie Willamette hospital might locate near there and work with LCC to enlarge their nursing and technical training opportunities. But alas, it seems they have their minds made up on locating where most people don't want them to.
That is the sad part... is that they do have some excellent courses. I've heard nothing but good things about the art and nursing programs.
I was disappointed however when I talked to a former department head and I happen to mention that I am their customer and he replied, "if we thought of our students as customers, we would be a business." And I walked away thinking, "and you're here because... "
The pinch is on again. LCC says it will not raise tuition beyond the normal cost of living increase which means cuts in other areas. As it is, the computer labs are open only 4 hours a day and no longer on weekends, HOWEVER students are still charged a full fee for lab use. If they are not careful people will start asking for refunds.
The scuttlebutt around campus at LCC is that someone (we don't know who) forgot to apply for one of the grants that helps the college fund programs. Because of that error, the college is hort millions of dollars. I would think that they would get rid of the 'dead weight' in their administration to make up the deficit, HOWEVER, LCC has a rep for allowing the bad seeds to hang on until retirement. BAD BLOOD AT LCC! They need a new 'congress' as well.
LCC was born out of Eugene Vocational Tech. Unfortunatly, the administration sees little value in vocational training and has cut the programs to the bone. The quality of instruction is not what it was 20 years ago in those programs and the college administration knows it. What they really want is a junior University of Oregon and they would be willing to cut the vocational programs out completely if the general public would let them. Judging by the last vote, the public might be opening their eyes to what is really going on out there.
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