Jack Friedlander: The Next Steps for SBCC Continuing Education

» lou segal on 10.31.11 @ 07:35 PM

No and No to both questions

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» Joan Livingston on 11.01.11 @ 02:05 PM

2005 marked a watershed year when serious state-wide challenges affected our local SBCC Adult Ed programs. The state budget issues in 2008 exacerbated this already serious challenge.

In 2005, the California Department of Education published the History of Adult Education in California which surveyed both needs and resources allocated to this important state need. It is a fascinating read and I recommend it to anyone wanting to track this issue and the changes we have been witnessing in Adult Ed these past few years: http://www.caadultedhistory.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=book

This comprehensive 2005 study concluded there was a disconnect between state adult ed needs and and state adult ed funding allocations. The report also included an ominous observation that disproportionate funding was benefitting an “affluent coastal community” where adult education needs were few, compared to other areas in the state were the adult education needs were far greater.

Along with this Dept of Education study in 2005 came stricter adult ed compliance guidelines for state funding authorization. In 2005, SBCC embarked upon a wholesale survey of its classes to ensure proper compliance with the new guidelines.

Corrective actions were taken where necessary: some classes had to be converted to fee-based classes and some classes conforming to the new guidelines enjoyed continued state support.  This process is still going on as the vast array of local SBCC adult ed classes become integrated with the state computer systems for better compliance tracking.

That is why we are seeing changes every term in the SBCC Adult Ed offerings as classes move into different and more appropriate funding categories. This remains a work in progress and we ask everyone’s patience as we work through the backlog of class offerings on record; one of the largest in the state.

Under the guidance of the former SBCC board of trustees, scholarships were set up to help adult ed students continue taking classes they enjoyed which under new state guidelines became fee-based.  The scholarships were successful and met their goals every term. Generous donors also stepped in to fully fund some classes, so enrollments stayed high and most former adult ed class needs were met.

Now on to the challenges we face in 2011: The recently published preliminary state Chancellor’s Office Board of Governors “Student Success Initiative” presents even further challenges for adult education in California.

They continue to prioritize the state’s critical adult education needs today are adult basic skills, workforce training and short-term vocational programs that get adults quickly trained for new occupations. But they also take things a step further and actively de-emphasize other less workforce critical adult ed funding categories.

Consequently, these Student Success Initiative panel recommendations can materially affect our own traditional SBCC adult education programs that have received significant state funding in the past for such classes as older adults (arts and crafts), parenting (parent-child workshops), nutrition (cooking classes) etc. While some of these programs will continue to be funded, they are not being prioritized for funding under the recommendations of this state task force.

**See SBCC Continuing Education website for more details about these new funding requirements. Close to 50% of our current SBCC Adult Ed course offerings fall into these now less prioritized state funding categories.

If these task force recommendations are followed at the state level, SBCC will be asked to restructure its local Adult Ed offerings yet again in face of these continued state funding challenges.

In response to these possible new adult ed funding challenges, SBCC is now proposing, as Dr’ Friedlander’s article points out, the creation of this self-funded SBCC Institute for Life Long Learning which asks the local community to come forward with time, money and energy to build this new adult ed program from the ground up.

This also means having the opportunity to take local control of the Life Long Learning Institute’s direction, programming and continued presence in our community, which has long loved adult education and considers it an elemental part of the fabric of our lives.

Time, money and energy - we all have something to bring to this challenge. Please contact the Foundation for SBCC and/or the SBCC Continuing Education Division for ways you can help.

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» Joan Livingston on 11.03.11 @ 01:34 PM

Who takes SBCC Adult Ed classes;

Source: Nov 3, 2011 Board of Trustees Agenda attachment 3.6 p.6 of 32

Fall 2010:                12,408 students

Older Adult classes:        4,238
Multiple categories:        2,052

Short-term vocational*    1,512
Fee-based                 1, 143
ESL:                        1, 378

Parenting Ed                   932
Basic Skills*                  663

Health/Safety                 195
Family/Consumer Sci         180

Immigrant Ed                   54
Adults with Disabilities         16
Workforce Prep*                0

*State priority classes

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» lou segal on 11.03.11 @ 03:25 PM

That is an interesting map. Have both the Board’s factions agreed to the map or if is it being pushed through by the new trustees, like what is happening with the Board of Supervisors. Also, it is interesting to see the declining population in Santa Barbara. I wonder what these number would show for the white population in SB during the last 10 years. I suspect the percentage decline for this group would be far greater than the numbers cited in the map.

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» lou segal on 11.03.11 @ 11:32 PM

So are you saying the two trustees (including you) who are up for re-election in 2012 have lost their Districts and would not be able to run even if they wanted to? Do you support this plan?

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