COSTA MESA : College District Asks Its Officials to Teach

The Coast Community College District has asked its administrators to teach one or two classes in addition to their regular full-time jobs with no extra compensation.

By having administrators volunteer to teach the classes, either this fall or in the spring of 1994, college officials hope to be able to add new classes without having to hire more teachers, according to Trustee Sherry L. Baum. This would enable the college to receive additional per-student fees and allowances without significant added cost.

As of last week, about 20 administrators had volunteered for the extra teaching chores, including district Vice Chancellor Gene Farrell, Orange Coast College President David A. Grant and Coastline Community College President William M. Vega.

The district’s request comes as California’s community colleges face some of their worst budget problems, according to Baum. Gov. Pete Wilson’s budget proposal calls for community college funding to be reduced by 11%, a decrease that could seriously impact community colleges throughout the state, Baum said.

“Courses taught by managers would represent a value-added dimension to our course offerings without further impacting our budget,” Chancellor Alfred P. Fernandez said. “We could possibly open some additional classes for those subject areas where we have long lists of students waiting to get into classes that are full.”

The district--which includes Coastline Community College, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Golden West College and KOCE-TV Channel 50 in Huntington Beach, and Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa--has about 70 administrators or managers who are also qualified as teachers, an official said.