Show Bioteau addressed budget new metro campus earn us at forum r L k y IJ a Ap r vii n raF- raF M I I T j r A yF t Lt fl 1 Photo by Adam Heath President Bioteau conveyed her lofty goals to faculty forum attendees Zachary Whitney Campus Reporter President Cynthia Bioteau addressed faculty to answer questions and concerns on Monday in a presidential forum Presidential forums are held monthly to tackle the various issues pressing and its faculty Roughly 30 faculty members and a few students gathered in the student events center on the Redwood Campus to ask questions of Bioteau Topics of discussion ranged from hitting hard-hitting questions on budget to light-hearted light ones such as the possibility of ofa a faculty dinner theatre The purpose of the forums are to ask questions or curiosities and discuss f I ideas of thought for the collective good of the college said Bioteau Many of the questions led Bioteau to an idea that thatis is vel very important to her She said she wants people to know particularly the government and the community that is a comprehensive college The idea of ofa a comprehensive college is that has many different access points for higher education offers many different facets of learning ranging from concurrent enrollment to applied technology No one area of our college is more important than the other she said State g government does not understand that For that reason receives less government funding than most other schools She said has a cap on how much government funding it can receive The concern is that public institutions donot donot do donot not have a cap on the amount of aid that they can receive Bioteau said there is a bill to amend the constitution being drafted that would allow higher education tobe to tobe tobe be an exemption as public education is now For now receives million in government aidI aid aidI aidI I think we will be able to work with that said Bioteau One way is being more budget con conscience while keeping the idea of ofa a comprehensive college is with the new downtown President forum Continued on Page 3 j President holds forum discussion Continued from Page 1 metro campus There was a concern as to why is attempting another campus downtown when the first attempt didn't live up irp p to expectations sold the building that housed the downtown campus to the church in August The proposal to lease a significantly smaller building will go before the Board of Regents on Oct 26 Bioteau explained that in keeping with the idea of a comprehensive college she feels a downtown center is important in offering higher and continuing education to all its potential students To increase the success of a downtown campus the paralegal program the fashion institute and interior design will be housed out of the new campus Especially as the new Downtown Rising project goes up we want our presence there Bioteau said Another budget concern dealt with a program involving enrolled students the concurrent enrollment program Concurrent enrollment is is s a program that allows students to take college credit classes while still in high school The concern is that the school is losing money on this program Because of a bill that states schools can charge no more than 30 for college courses taken in high school doesn't receive tuition from those students for those r r B Bioteau thinks the concurrent enrollment pr program gram is very important to and does not see it as a burden to the college She said the program helps high school students get a jump start on their college career and is particularly good for those students who dont don't think college is for them Those students are able to sample college courses and perhaps see that they are easier than they once thought Bioteau does believe however that the program needs to be guided more so students dont don't take unnecessary credits She also said there arc are plans in work to make the budget work with that program Despite budget concerns Bioteau said the school is doing extremely well She has the lofty lolly goal to become the premier comprehensive community college in the nation She thinks that we are well on our way to becoming that The president said that she and faculty members are being asked to speak around the nation and that is revered as a highly successful institution Bioteau thinks this is a remarkable achievement It Itis Itis Itis is hard to have a sense of community within such a large institution she said has 14 different sites and more time part-time employees than time full employees Regardless she said the faculty still pulls together and supports one another and the school Like S has places of improvement One major concern is that student information such as current addresses and phone numbers are not being updated making it difficult for the college to contact them Bioteau agrees that this this' is a problem and one they dont don't have a solid solution for President Bioteau invited Deneece Huftalin vice president of Student Services to expand on the topic Huftalin said that this is a major concern for them and that their focus is mainly outreach to students We need to explain to students why it is important to update information she said Huftalin continued by saying student services is trying to implement ways to better communicate to students the necessity of keeping such information current and making the process to do so easier Huftalin also said students can come to the Student Service Center and learn leam just how fast and easy it t is Keeping information current allows to contact students regarding their account and receive information on their major Overall Bioteau said she is enjoying her job immensely She said that in the year that she has been president at she has seen a lot of growth in the school She hopes the school will continue to improve and that students and faculty members will continue to come with questions aswell aswell as well as suggestions and improvements to make the best school in the nation |