As the semester winds down at College of the Canyons, the school's student government has already set aside $4,000 so it can sponsor a much-needed class in the fall, as it did during the spring.

"What better way to serve our students than by giving them exactly what they came here for?" COC student trustee Nick Onyshko said.

Onyshko proposed the Associated Student Government sponsor a class that would otherwise be cut after talking to a student trustee from another community college who proposed the plan at his school.

COC's Associated Student Government began its sponsor-a-class program in the spring. It sponsored a section of English 101, which served 35 students and picked up a waiting list of its own during registration.

"This is a class that everybody either needs for graduation or transfer," Onyshko said. "It's the basic, first-level English class."

College of the Canyons, like other publicly funded schools throughout California, has seen its funds drastically cut over the past several years as the state struggles with recession-driven revenue cuts.

Thousands of local community college students have been denied the classes they need as unemployment drives up the demand for new training but budget cuts drive down the number of classes offered.

In response, student government underwrote the costs of the three-unit English 101 class, including lecture hall space and professor pay, at a cost of about $3,700, Onyshko said.

The class would otherwise have been cut.

Some $4,000 has been set aside for another college-level class that is on the chopping block for the fall 2012 semester, Onyshko said.

Student government also challenged the College of the Canyons Foundation to join the sponsor-a-class program, he said.

The student government, which counts 14 student officers, already maintains a computer lab for students and runs mentorship and campus escort programs.

With students in the middle of finals week, the student government is also sponsoring six additional COC library hours to give students a bit more time to study before final examinations.

"We are very involved in the social and cultural aspect of the student life at COC, and I personally felt like it would be a good idea for us to provide more services as well," Onyshko said.

tmarashlian@the-signal.com
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