Mon, Mar 07, 2005
Cites Falling Enrollment In 60-Year Old Program
Saying there's not much demand for
airplane mechanics, Southern California's Glendale Community
College says it may drop its 60-year old A&P vocational
program. A decision is expected as early as Monday.
"It's very, very difficult to meet the needs of students when
there's low enrollment because it's so expensive to run," board
member Armine Hacopian told the LA Daily News. "If the students are
not there, it's not financially feasible so we have to cut programs
that are in danger."
But what of the 21 students now enrolled in the program?
Hacopian said they will be transferred to one of the other two Los
Angeles-area schools offering the course -- Mount San Antonio
College or West Los Angeles Community College.
But the move irks followers of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
who just last week encouraged an expansion of vocational education
in California.
It also irks students like Phil Samuelian. He told the Daily
News the Glendale program was the only A&P class offered at
night. "It's unfortunate that vocational education is suffering.
It's unfortunate that motivated students are being turned out. It's
unfortunate that a well-respected program that has a long history
in Glendale and has evolved into a fine institution is being
dropped," the 46-year old aircraft owner told the LA paper. "There
seems to be a push within academia to shut down vocational
education."
What will replace the aircraft mechanic's course if it is indeed
shut down? Steven White, the college's vice president, told the
Daily News, "The environment for technical training is changing...
and I anticipate a shift of resources from things like aviation to
programs like digital arts. We're under continuous budget pressures
and in this kind of environment when we have so few students in an
expensive program like aviation, we just can't do it when there are
waiting lines for other programs."
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