Compton College Trustees OK Budget, Reorganization Plan

Trustees of Compton Community College approved a $9.19-million budget Tuesday along with an administrative reorganization plan that new President Edison O. Jackson says will enhance the troubled school’s “academic credibility” and the marketability of its students.

The cornerstone of Jackson’s plan calls for the formation of a new department that will focus on improving the basic academic skills of Compton students. A host of other changes will range from shuffling some administrative duties and conducting annual evaluations of all employees to sprucing up the 38-acre campus.

The new Division of Basic Skills and Developmental Studies, said spokesman Charles Cropsey, “will enable us to put more teeth in the existing (basic skills) program and sharpen up our effort to identify those students who need this form of assistance, and then keep them there until they are able to function at the college level.”

The two-year college, like many in the state, has been plagued in recent years by slumping enrollment. To attack this problem, the new budget--up slightly from last year’s $8.7-million--includes $90,000 that will be used essentially to recruit high school students who might not otherwise have considered attending college.

Registration for the fall semester opens next week and classes start Sept. 4.