UCI eyes OCC for courses

Christine Carrillo

UC Irvine may take up summer residence at Orange Coast College,

enabling the college to offer OCC students additional courses, though

at higher fees, while giving some faculty members opportunities to

teach.

Looking for a home for the summer 2003 extension program, UCI

officials have asked OCC and Goldenwest to compile a list of courses

they’d be willing to offer, as well as the overall cost for each one,

for their review.

But the process of deciding what to offer and why has awakened a

slew of concerns.

During a planning and budget meeting Thursday, OCC administrators,

faculty and students discussed the positive and negative aspects of

opening their classroom doors to Anteaters and have since decided the

positives outweigh the negatives.

“We’re looking at it as kind of a pilot program,” said Bob Dees,

vice president of instruction at OCC. “We’re doing everything we can

with our budget and there’s going to be some students who can’t

afford it ... but we’re going to be able to offer more classes to

students who can take advantage of it.”

The classes will cost about $85 per quarter unit -- four quarter

units equates to three semester units -- not including registration

fees, and will count as UCI credit only. Those OCC students looking

to take those courses will have to register with a UCI

representative, who will be on OCC’s campus, and will have to submit

an academic petition if they want OCC credit.

Just as housing a UCI extension summer program will benefit only a

select number of OCC students, it will benefit only a few OCC faculty

members as well. Those faculty members looking to teach a UCI course

during the summer session will have to apply for the position. UCI

officials will select which OCC faculty members will teach each

section.

With its hands tied by the extreme budget cuts the state required

of it, OCC has welcomed the opportunity to do whatever it can to

increase the educational flow on campus.

By providing UCI with classrooms at a nominal rental fee, OCC will

get a small chance to continue that flow and give its own students

more opportunities to learn and its teachers more opportunities to

teach.

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].