WOODLAND HILLS : 130 Classes Cut From Pierce Fall Schedule

Pierce College has dropped 130 classes from its fall semester, and as much as one-third of the curriculum could be cut next spring if proposed state fee hikes are approved and the school receives no new revenues, an administrator said Tuesday.

The community college, faced with a more than 11% drop in its budget to $21.5 million next year, will hold off on the majority of its staff and course reductions until the spring semester to give more students a chance to enroll at the current fee of $10 per unit, said William Norlund, Pierce’s vice president of academic affairs.

“Basically, we feel better putting our money in the fall classes where the students are,” Norlund said. “We expect to lose approximately 21% of our students in the spring if the stiffer fees are imposed.”

Under a plan proposed by Gov. Pete Wilson, tuition would triple for most community college students--to about $450 a semester for a full-course load.

By the fall of 1994, the Pierce student body could fall by one-third to 13,000 students, and the faculty could be pared to the full-time staff of about 250, Norlund said.

The classes targeted for the first round of cuts include a broad range of subjects in an effort to spread the damage. About 30 part-time teachers will not be rehired and 16 full-time teachers who are retiring will not be replaced, Norlund said.

“Unfortunately, there’s a very serious downward spiral effect,” he said. “The problem is that we have cut everything there is to cut. With fewer teachers, we’ll offer fewer classes and get fewer students still.”

And with 300 to 700 of the college’s about 2,000 courses slated for possible elimination in the spring, the cuts could affect the school’s ability to offer some basic courses to all students, Norlund said.

The extra money from the proposed fee increases would go into the state treasury, for possible redistribution to the community colleges.

In the meantime, Pierce administrators will continue to consider joint ventures with businesses--such as an on-campus golf driving range--to bring in more revenues, said President Lowell Erickson.