Letter to the editor

By Skip Hunter, instructor at Mendocino College

Dear Editor,

The "hubbub" going on at Mendocino College that K.C. Meadows refers to in her HERE AND THERE column presents numerous erroneous facts and assumptions.

The E.A.P. Committee (composed of faculty and staff at the college set up the criteria for the hiring of new staff. Using that criteria, the Dean's were directed to come up with a priority ranking. That ranking had a football coaching position ranked as number one. (By the way, the Grand Jury Report from 1998 reccomended M.C. hire fulltime staff in athletics.)

K.C. says that she can't "quite grasp the logic of giving first priority to a football coach at a college where language instructors are sorely needed." Who made that decision? I didn't know K.C. worked at the college and was qualified to know what is needed. If she would take the time to investigate the facts and not just listen to her group of college "informants", she would know that several sections of language classes were cancelled this fall due to lack of enrollment. In addition, at least two classes that were allowed to continue have enrollments much lower than the figure of twenty students that is supposed to be the standard. Does K C. think that it's logical to hire another fulltime instructor in an area that isn't able to fill classes presently?

That there are 60 fulltime students in the football program taking a minimum of twelve units (each) generates enough income through state funding per FTES (fulltime equivalent students) to allow programs, like languages, with lower enrollment to keep their fulltime faculty members and, therefore, their programs.

Her "problem" with the logic of the impact of 60 fulltime students on a college campus of 900"escapes me. Perhaps she should educate herself as to how community colleges are funded! As the student population grows, additional funding is recieved that allows new faculty to be hired, new programs to be instituted, as well as justifying efforts to add new buildings and other capital improvements.

K.C. says that she finds it astounding that a football position is even in the running, that the college couldn't even consider improving its sports program and still call itself an academic institution, and that her "audience" met Mr. Vasconcellos' statement that, "the football field is a classroom".. .with round-eyed giggling! It would appear ignorance of what teaching and learmng is, was demonstrated nicely by her "coffee crowd".

Mendocino College has a dedicated athletic staff that "teaches" their respective sports as effectively as any instructor in any other program at the school. For K.C. to imply that athletics should not be a part of an academic institution would be to indict almost every college and university in this country. To single out athletics to "giggle" about as non-academic and not apply the same criteria to theater, dance, agriculture, automotive technology, ceramics, music, visual arts, and textiles--all programs "taught" at Mendocino College by fulltime instructors, yet not meeting the definition of an academic discipline--is ridiculous. All of these programs, including athletics, contribute to the educational atmosphere and are valuable programs at the institution.

When she says that it seems to her "the college has lost its mission in its hunger to make money"...I find that statement unworthy of a credible reporter! How would she fund collegiate programs? As long as the state sets the guidelines and "growth" is the present factor, then the college is following the correct path by hiring in areas with high student enrollment. Presently, between 18% and 20% of fulltime students participate in Mendocino athletics (volleyball, football, baseball, softball, track and cross-country). This significant population has benefitted the entire institution and all its various programs, and you will find these athletes sitting in most of the courses taught at the college.

K.C. calls the amount of money brought in by football as "piddling", and I suppose she feels the same way about all of the athletic programs, and again, she had better check her facts. Kevin Smallcomb, the college's part-time paid (filltime in effort) baseball coach, pointed out to the E.A.P. Committee that over the last six years, his program averaging 45 fulltime students each sememster (times four semesters) had brought in over 2.5 million dollars in FTES funding to the school. While K.C.'s coffee clatch are "round-eyed and giggling", she might have checked to find that Mr. Smallcomb's team, which played in the N.California Regionals last spring, had an average G.P.A. of over 3.0, (one player winning an academic scholarship), and along with the team's academic success, he has matriculated 100% of his sophomores to four year schools when they leave his program. K.C. says only 19 players of the 60 football players are from this county... hey, maybe she forgot our district also includes Lake County; and as far as learning, teaching, and academic excellence are concerned Mendocino College welcomes anyone.. .yes, even if they are not from Mendocino County, and the state will still pay for their attendance.

Finally, K.C. says the college should rethink its "priorities and show vision, creativity and serious responses to the real needs of the local people"--as she should have done when she listened to her "coffee clatch" and sat at her desk, instead of getting out and doing some real investigative reporting for this column.


Skip Hunter, Instructor
Mendocino College
Ukiah

 

Copyright MPFA 1999
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited

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