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Faculty Protest Elimination Of 7 Programs At Springfield Technical Community College

Faculty members at Springfield Technical Community College are protesting the elimination of seven entire programs, most of them vocational.

In June, the college announced it was ending automotive technology, landscape design, biotechnology, cosmetology and three other programs, affecting about 90 students and 21 staff positions. 

“We were all blindsided by this,” said Renae Gorman, a union representative with the Massachusetts Community College Council at STCC. “Each of the programs had absolutely no idea that this was coming down the pike.”

College president John Cook said that's because COVID-19 created a lot of unexpected financial uncertainty. He said administrators chose to cut those particular programs for practical reasons.

“One is what will enrollment look like? And frankly, just how large of a decline will we experience?” he said. “And the other is state support.”

Cook said he doesn’t know how much the college will lose in state funding, but that it could be in the millions of dollars. 

“We had to make decisions one way or the other, that were going to be difficult,” he said.

Some union members and faculty have said they’re skeptical about the college’s reasoning, especially since the state budget has not been finalized.

“I think that COVID is a really good excuse to eliminate some programs right now,” said Gorman, who chairs the physical therapist assistant program, which is not currently slated for cuts. “I think all of the faculty now are feeling like they could easily have a target on their back.”

For more than a decade, Romiro Soares has run the automotive program. He said he was completely surprised at its elimination, since the college recently spent thousands of dollars on new automotive equipment — and he’d been in talks with the administration to expand the program, since demand is generally high.

“We have never had underenrolled,” Soares said. “We have always started with a full class in the last 14 years.”

Gorman said some of the other programs, such as cosmetology, have also filled their slots without trouble. 

Cook refused to give specific enrollment numbers for any of the programs being eliminated. 

“What I am working to try to avoid is a situation where we would seem to debate what are incredibly difficult decisions,” he said.

Cook said it came down to how many students could be served in those programs, and how expensive they are to run.

“In this case, low enrollment means programs that — whether because of the lab or classroom space — are limited, let's say, to 20 to 30 students,” he said. “It is those types of parameters, if you will, that we have had to unfortunately take a hard look at.”

Soares said that’s a shortsighted approach for technical training that leads to jobs.

“Our programs tend to be more expensive than a chalkboard and a set of magic markers that they write on the wall with,” he said. “But by the same token, we also turn people out to get employed ...I get a 90% employment rate.”

Cook would not say how much money will be saved by ending the seven programs — only that it’s a portion of $4 to $5 million in total cuts or savings the college is making.

Holyoke Community College, the closest similar institution, announced that it’s laying off 33 part-time employees, and reducing paid hours for other part-time workers, but it has not eliminated any programs outright.

STCC said some of the classes being eliminated could be rolled into a noncredit workforce development program, but Gorman said those would not lead to college credit, and would not have to meet the same accreditation standards. 

Cook pointed out that approximately 90 programs remain at STCC, serving about 5,000 students.

The union is planning a rally at the college on Monday morning, July 13, to protest the cuts. 

Correction: A previous version of the online article mischaracterized the positions that are affected by the cuts. They are 21 staff positions, but not all teaching positions. 

Karen Brown is a radio and print journalist who focuses on health care, mental health, children’s issues, and other topics about the human condition. She has been a full-time radio reporter for NEPM since 1998.
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