VALLEY COLLEGE : 59 Classes Cut in Budget Squeeze

Valley College in Van Nuys has cut 59 classes from its spring schedule because of budget constraints.

Classes that were canceled, however, were kept to “an absolute minimum,” said Sam Mayo, dean of academic affairs.

“The cuts were made in conjunction with the department heads and the Valley College council and academic senate,” he said.

The classes were canceled because of state-imposed cuts in the Los Angeles Community College District budget, Mayo said.

Mayo said the classes that were eliminated were determined by the number of full-time equivalencies in each department. Professors teaching 12 units of English and 15 units of any other subject have one full-time equivalency. When those units are exceeded, professors receive more pay and that was eliminated for next semester, Mayo said.

“We were told to cut 15% of the FTE, not to exceed 5% of the department’s total,” he said. “The priority of cuts were made by the department heads; they chose which classes got cut.”

Mayo said academic classes were the hardest hit because their departments are the largest. The English department had the most classes canceled, followed by math, he said.