By Danny Tomko in News
Clark College Administration will release the rubric that will be used to determine budget cuts in advance of the projected operations budget shortfall for the 2015-16 school year.
According to Miles Jackson, dean of social sciences and fine arts, the finalized rubric will be released the first week of June. According to an outline given to the Independent by instruction, the rubric will rank career and technical education programs and transfer programs, in the following categories.
Transfer Programs:
- Relevance to transfer degree programs
- Relevance to workforce/CTE certificate and degree programs
- Student/faculty ratio, 3 year average
- Running Start FTE (full-time enrollment), 3 year average
- Engagement in Retention Plan Initiatives
CTE Programs:
- Program completions, 3 year average
- Total job openings in service district and Oregon border counties, 2012-2022
- Employment rate for program graduates, 3 year average
- Median hourly wage in program-related occupations
- Program availability in service district and Oregon border counties
- Engagement in Retention Plan initiatives
- Student/faculty ratio, 3 year average.
Jackson echoed the concerns of Vice President of Instruction Tim Cook regarding the role of the rubric.
“This rubric is just a screening step in the process,” Jackson said. “We’re not just going to mechanically use the rubric, and every department that scores below a certain level, we eliminate.”
Regardless of what the results of the rubric are, decisions on cuts cannot be made until administration knows the results of the Washington State Special Legislative Session. According to the The Columbian, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called for an extension to the session starting May 29.
The gridlock stems from a basic partisan ideal. Rep. Paul Harris summed it up best for The Columbian, “There is a group that feels like we have to raise taxes and a group that feels like we do not need to raise taxes.”
Rep. Jim Moeller expects the legislative sessions to continue up until the deadline of June 30th, as both sides are firm in their arguments.
He joked that an outside factor could lead to an early break. “We could end around the 18th,” Moeller said. “That’s when the PGA tour comes to town, and they’ll be taking up all the hotels.”
The Independent will update this story as more information becomes available.
