Lansing Community College is considering major changes in its programs, possibly eliminating six and adding resources to others.
Provost Jennifer Wimbish said that for the past year LCC has “been involved in a strategic plan to look at the future and where we want to go.”
That plan, which the college announced Friday, involved reviewing programs that, based on a number of criteria, ranked near the bottom of LCC’s 60 programs.
“We were looking at the average - are there jobs out there, what’s the class size, how well do these programs transfer, how satisfied are employers and what’s the cost?” Wimbish said.
As a result of the reviews, President Paula Cunningham is recommending the elimination of six programs that Wimbish says didn’t meet the criteria. The Board of Trustees will begin reviewing the president’s recommendation at its Feb. 19 meeting.
An open forum for students and faculty will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Friday in 104 Arts and Sciences building, 419 N. Washington Square.
Programs that may be cut include aviation, court reporting, dance, dental assistant, medical assistant and quality assurance programs.
“We’re shifting resources,” Wimbish said. “At the same time these areas may not be in demand, others are, so we need to shift our resources into programs where there is high demand.”
Programs that may receive additional resources include developmental education, automotive, health careers, computer information systems, biology and distributive learning.
Of the 16,500 students enrolled at the college, Wimbish said roughly 200 are in the jeopardized programs. While the college will not accept new students, those 200 will be allowed to finish their program.
She said eight staff members and one administrator may be affected by program eliminations.
Gayland Tennis, the director of LCC’s Aviation Center, has been with the program since 1979 - six years after it began at the college.
Tennis said he’s busy finding out why the program may be eliminated, and once he finds out, he’ll try to propose alternatives to the college.
“I don’t intend to (go) to the Board of Trustees (meetings), sitting in or whining,” Tennis said. “That’s not my style and I don’t want my personnel to do that.”
He said if whatever proposal he comes up with is not approved, he and his staff will “stack arms and terminate the program.”
“That’s not a problem,” Tennis said. “I like to work - there’s many things I can do. I am concerned first of all with my students - that they’re not shortchanged.”
Okemos resident Jeremy Shuck took a tap dance class at the college in the fall and considered majoring in dance - one of the programs that may be terminated.
He said if the program is cut, there wouldn’t be many options left.
“If I wanted to take classes like that, I would have to go and pay some rich guy at a dance studio to give me lessons,” he said.
