SANTA ANA COLLEGE el Don/eldonnews.org • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2017
NEWS 3
CONSTRUCTION
Demolition
The Johnson Center is now closed
and scheduled for demolition in
mid to late 2018. The center was
vacated over a year and a half ago,
but multiple setbacks continued to
halt progress.
The music and theatre depart-
ments had to relocate their classes
to the Johnson Center on different
occasions this year, after roof and
ventilation complications caused
the N Building to shut down in
March and the Phillips Theatre
was closed for repairs earlier this
semester.
A pipe in the Johnson Center burst
in early September as well, forcing
students to evacuate classrooms
and causing water damage to the
walls near the first floor’s staircase.
According to Carri Matsumoto,
assistant vice chancellor of facility
planning and district construction
and support services, the demoli-
tion project was postponed due to
rejection of bids, with demolition
plans now on the schedule and
waiting for approval. She estimates
it could start as early as June 2018.
—Dianna Mendoza
DECLINE / Officials fear a decrease in funding as Santa Ana College sees student numbers drop for fifth consecutive year.
ENROLLMENT / STORY AND PHOTO BY SABRINA ZAMORA
STUDENT NUMBERS CONTINUE TO DECLINE
A
steady decline in the number of students attending
Santa Ana College since spring 2012 has district officials
concerned. College enrollment follows the condition of the
nation’s economy.
When the country is experiencing
a downturn, there are more people
enrolled in school. As the economy
improves, fewer people attend school to
work more.
Overall, the economy has improved
since the recession in 2008, in spite of a
recent dip in 2015 and 2016 of almost
2 percent in market value, according to
Statista, a leading company that collects
data and information.
“Declining enrollment is a budgetary
issue. [Santa Ana College] could lose its
large college status and state funding,”
the Dean of Instruction and Student
Services at Santiago Canyon College, Jim
Kennedy said.
According to the California Com-
munity College Chancellor’s Office, a
measure of student workload, known
as an FTES, is used in determining the
eligibility for state funding of communi -
ty colleges.
In 2010, during the recession, SAC en-
rollment numbers increased from 31,786
in the fall to its first peak of 46,772 in the
spring. The college hit its highest student
count in spring 2011, with a headcount
of almost 50,000.
One year later, the number went down
to 45,481 students. It dropped again
by more than 10,000 by spring 2017,
as shown by the CCCCO’s Enrollment
Status Summary.
“Fewer students is less demand, which
means less classes,” Board of Trustees
member Phillip Yarbrough said, after
citing a 3.1 percent gross domestic
product increase.
To increase enrollment, SAC is adding
more classes, with 238 units and 81
sections added to the business and
chemistry departments for the 2018 fall,
spring and intersession terms, according
to a report read by SAC President Linda
Rose at an October board meeting.
There will be a final report for this
academic year in June 2018.
ONGOING ISSUES
Enrollment Trends
What’s an FTES?
A Full-Time Equivalent Student represents a student enrolled in college with 12 or more units, or an
accumulation of part-time units that add up to a full-time student. For the 2016-2017 school year, every
FTES of transferable units earned about $5,000 in funding, while an FTES of non-transferable units earned
about $3,000, as stated in a Rancho Santiago Community College District report.