Students a Study in Sharing

Every day, the economic news was getting worse for Ventura College. Classes were cut by more than 10%. Workers’ hours were shaved. Reserves were dwindling.

So when the student government board voted to donate $25,000 to beef up the college’s summer school schedule, administrators were thrilled.

“It’s incredible,” said interim college President Mike Gregoryk. “I think that’s the first time something like this has been done.”

Ray Giles, a spokesman for the Community College League of California in Sacramento, agreed.

“I’ve heard many stories of students giving money for scholarships, trips, parties, whatever,” Giles said. “I’ve never heard of students giving money to the general fund of a district. Certainly in this day and age, when colleges are struggling to provide services, I think this is great.”

The donation means that eight to 10 classes will be added to the summer schedule, said Joan Smith, executive vice president of the college. Last year, Smith said, about 130 classes were offered, a number that was expected to dip this year.

Eight to 10 classes “might not sound that significant,” Smith said. “But really, what is great about the gesture is more the statement it makes.”

Doreen Juarez, student body president, said making the decision to donate a chunk of the reserve fund was easy.

“Tuitions are going up, everything is going crazy,” said Juarez, a sociology major from Oxnard. “We’ve got to start helping each other out.”

In return for their donation, which was approved last week, the students sought a promise that the money would be funneled toward summer school classes, Juarez said. “We wanted to assure the students that there still would be summer school. We were trying to save what we have now.”

Adding the classes in the summer benefits both current Ventura College students who want to speed up their education and Cal State and University of California students who take summer courses closer to home.

The $25,000 comes from a fund the student association replenishes through a variety of means. Its main money-making venture is selling student IDs at $10 each, but the group also runs a video arcade and has just purchased a coffee cart.

The summer-school donation isn’t the only way the group, Associated Students of Ventura College, helps scholars.

The group is about to put an additional $1,000 into its textbook trust fund, which aids students burdened by the cost of books.

The association also runs the Internet Cafe that is free to students, and it helps campus clubs attend conferences.

Juarez likes the fact that the board is student-centered. It has to be, she said, given the lack of funds.

“When it comes to making laws regulating schools, it’s always for K through 14,” she said. “But when it comes to money, it’s always K through 12.”

The small windfall comes at a good time for Ventura College.

Last year, the college lost 29 full-time faculty members, 17 classified employees, two supervisors and two deans.

Smith pointed out that, although community colleges in California receive less state funding than the Cal State and UC systems, “we serve three times as many students as UC and six times as many as Cal State.”