Working on an Education : O.C. Re-Entry Programs Booming as Victims of Economy Look for Greener Fields

Layoff notices, as millions of workers can testify, respect no one’s plans. When Scott Fischer of Costa Mesa lost his job at a car rental agency March 23, just one month before his wedding, he made some fast fixes.

He immediately signed up with four temporary-work agencies. Then he enrolled in “New Horizons,” a nine-week Orange Coast College course that helps people define career goals, get motivated and learn to network. Fischer is no freshman, however; he earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration more than a decade ago.

“My goals and outlooks have changed completely since I got my degree,” he said. “The idea of taking this class is to focus me on my strengths instead of going from job to job just to have a paycheck.”

He knew a tuneup of his interviewing skills wouldn’t hurt, either. “When you’re unemployed it’s easy to get down on yourself,” he said. “You can start banging your head against the wall in frustration. I know, because I’ve been laid off before.”

Throughout Orange County, the recession has created a surge of enrollment in continuing adult education, including traditional masters programs and extension courses. And “re-entry” programs, which were created mainly for divorced or “empty nest” women, have evolved to meet the growing ranks of the unemployed who are seeking new careers.

Re-entry centers at Orange County’s community colleges are thriving. The program at Golden West College, called New Beginnings, just received federal funding. Rancho Santiago College has a long-established program, while Saddleback College’s Adult Opportunity program, which includes two men’s support groups, has increased 50%, said director Alma Vanasse.

At the Re-Entry Center at Orange Coast College, coordinator Nicolette Jackson has witnessed a student growth of nearly 150% since fall, 1989, when the center got full-time funding. In a single week in mid-March, one OCC counselor met with four newly jobless people, whose increasing numbers have led in some cases to a doubling of class sizes.

“Our career-planning workshops are filled with people who are laid off,” Jackson said. “We’re also finding a different caliber of students from what we had a few years ago. The newly unemployed have higher skill levels than the chronically unemployed, and we have to accommodate them.”

To meet the needs of this new type of student, the counseling staff has added more workshops such as the “New Horizons” class and one called “Eliminating Defeating Self Behavior,” which addresses an all-too-familiar symptom of the unemployed.

Diane Keegan, who teaches the “New Horizons” course, relishes the spontaneous networking that often occurs when her students assemble. “We stress the need for increasing self-esteem, and then for action, for persistence in making that lead to fulfillment,” she said.

Re-entry students also must master procedures and technology that didn’t even exist when they first cracked a college textbook.

“I feel like a Neanderthal sometimes,” said Barry DuBois, an unemployed construction worker who last attended college more than 20 years ago. “I went into the OCC library to look up a book, and you remember those card index files? Well, there’s a computer there now. I did some swearing before I could let that thing know what I wanted.”

For DuBois, 48, the “New Horizons” class is one of several he’s taking “to get my guns loaded. I need to learn computers. You have to have those skills to keep up with the changes. In civil engineering courses in the ‘60s I learned how to find a square root. Now it’s just one function of a $12 calculator.”

Although he worked in construction for 20 years, DuBois sees little future in it. “I did all types of work. I used to say I’d bid on the Eiffel Tower and then learn how to weld. But there’s nothing to bid on anymore. I need to find something else, fast.”

Enrollment increases in masters programs are another sign of people retooling themselves for new careers. Grad enrollment at Cal State Fullerton, for example, has ballooned by more than two-thirds despite a 20% fee hike. At UCI, officials say, the recession is causing people to apply both for grad school and campus jobs--and accepting what’s available. Chapman University added 97 new graduate students this year, a 30% increase over 1990’s total.

Fall 1991 applications for UCI’s graduate programs increased by 13% over fall ‘90, said JoEllen Graham, manager of the graduate admissions section. But, she said, “our final enrollment was up only 2.4%, so a lot of applicants were admitted but did not accept. We don’t know why, exactly, but it was probably because they got jobs.”

The extension program at UCI offers training and certificates in more than 40 subjects and thus tends to attract those seeking new careers. Most extension courses take a year to complete, although others, such as interior design, are two-year programs and are recognized by professional associations.

It is typical for college enrollment to rise during recessions, said Jim Blackburn, admissions director at Cal State Fullerton. Freshman applications are slightly down at Fullerton, but graduate student applications are up 70% over a year ago. Also, transfer applicants--former students looking to use college credit they earned years ago--are up 14%, he said.

“If people have a chance to work, they will,” Blackburn said. “The yield rate, that is, the percentage of applicants who ultimately enroll, is influenced by economic factors. We can always tell when campus jobs are down, because students’ units go up.”

Naturally, re-entry students are concerned that the cost of school will be just another burden to bear when money is tight. Re-entry counseling courses range from $33.50 for a single class at OCC’s re-entry program to $1,003.50 for a quarter of graduate-level work at UCI.

At OCC, however, nearly half the re-entry students this year were able to have their fees waived after proving they were in the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program, Jackson said. Elsewhere, financial aid centers are doing land-office business.

“The requests for aid have been increasing steadily when we compare ‘91-92 to ‘90-91,” said Cecilia Vielma-Schouwe , financial aid director at Cal State Fullerton. “Its been running about 14% higher, and about 50% of those who apply receive some form of aid.”

But continuing adult education is not without its critics.

“In social terms, (re-entry education) is simply hidden unemployment. It’s a way to protect people and the people who teach them--including me,” said John Ohliger, a teacher of the philosophy of education at Sangamon State University in Springfield, Ill. “It’s a form of structural unemployment, like the military.”

Ohliger, who in protest of the system gave up a tenured professorship at Ohio State University, said that women’s re-entry programs “began as a system devised to help the financial problems of universities, to make up for declining graduate enrollments.” He points to research that says women, in particular, do not end up making more money through their re-entry schooling.

Monetary gains, however, are often not the point, at least in the short term, say other educators who disagree with Ohliger.

According to Ira Winn, a teacher of adult education at Cal State Northridge, the number of newly jobless students is indeed growing steadily, but many students are those who are dissatisfied with current careers and want to switch.

“I get people from some very enviable occupations--the movie industry, lawyers, journalists, police,” Winn said. “They’re fed up and just feel they’re not contributing. One woman told me, ‘I spent 20 years building missiles and bombs, and I want to do something constructive.’ They’re making good money in many cases, but they’re not getting any psychic income from their jobs.”

Kersena London, a re-entry student at OCC and mother of three, couldn’t agree more.

“I was working mundane jobs that were not self-fulfilling,” she said. “Anything else I wanted to do demanded a mastering of the skills of English and speech.”

After enrolling in a public-speaking class, London began working campus jobs and became involved with the debate team, which won national recognition. Her goals don’t stop at a bachelor’s degree. “I enjoy learning and growing and plan to continue until I reach a master’s and Ph.D.,” she said. “It all begins here, at the Re-Entry Center. There’s no class that didn’t help me.”

Said Fischer: “The classes take the focus off you. You see other people in the same situation and a lot worse, and it gives you the courage to improve on your situation. I will find work, whether it’s in a week, two weeks or two months.”