 The Eastern Sierra College Center in Bishop (above) and Mammoth Lakes is still offering core classes for vocational, AA degree and transferring students despite budget cuts from the state level. Enrollment continues to increase and classes are filling up faster than they were even four years ago. Photo by Darcy Ellis By Mike Bodine and Darcy Ellis
Register Staff
7-15-2010 Once a group of rooms in an old furniture store, the local community college now offers 50 courses a semester, has an enrollment more than 300 and graduates more than 30 students a year.
Cerro Coso Community College’s Eastern Sierra College Center, which includes the Bishop and Mammoth campuses, has seen its number of graduates increase from approximately 15 in 2006 to nearly 35 in 2009-10.
Also during the past four years, ESCC has not decreased the number of courses it offers and student enrollment has increased. And class size is growing to an average of 24 per room.
Deanna Ing Campbell, director of the ESCC, gave a four-year update on successes and dealing with financial difficulties to the Eastern Sierra Foundation Executive Committee on Tuesday.
“Things are going very well despite financial challenges at the state level,” such as caps being placed on funding for students, Campbell said.  Students Raquel (Kim Cash), Gabriela (Parisa Payman, middle) and Ismeraí (Kim Stober) converse in Spanish in the Beginning Conversation class offered during the Spring 2009 semester at Eastern Sierra College Center’s Bishop Campus. Photo by Darcie Kanukayev
The state will no longer fund classes unless they are part of a degree or for career technical educational, so there have been some course changes. ESCC, for example, can no longer offer credit for a ceramics class or other art special topic art class.
Campbell said ESCC is still serving the same number of students as last year but the ones not reflected in the enrollment total are taking “community education” classes – which are self-supporting and not funded by the state. The professor sets the cost for these classes. Some, like ceramics teacher Patty Holton, keep the costs really low because they like what they do and want to offer a service to the community.
Campbell wanted the public to know that even at higher rates, these “community education” courses are still affordable when compared to other areas and other options. She also wanted the public to know that these courses are still available.
The college’s primary focus, though, is on “basic skills courses” – the ones that get students to the university level or earn them their AA degrees – and career tech programs for transfer students.
However, a lull in funding does not mean the college is short on technology. In fact, more than 40 percent of classes taught in the classroom are taught via interactive television. And ESCC has added two full-time faculty members in the last four years, bringing the grand total up to six. In 2006, there were only four permanent staff and management personnel; now ESCC employs 10-12 staff positions.
The college also held its second commencement of licensed vocational nurses, or LVN, in 2010. The courses are taught in conjunction with Northern Inyo and Mammoth hospitals and an ongoing committment from the Donald M. Slager-Sunset Foundation for $35,000 a year each for the program.
ESCC is also working with the high school to increase enrollment of current high school students, and to extend its learning services to the K-12 set in general.
“Our goal is to get all the way to kindergarten and we have the funding and programs in place to do that,” Campbell said. This includes “college days” and career fairs, ongoing visits with local high schools, the Mammoth High School Health Careers Academy and allowing high school students concurrent enrollment.
Another thing the college is doing is focusing more on at-risk and under-served populations, such as disabled students, and Native American and Hispanic populations.
ESCC is trying to remove as many obstacles as possible for these students.
For example, the college began offering certain of its classes at the Owens Valley Career Development Center campus and they’ve proven “wildly successful.” Campbell indicated that for some students, it is less intimidating to take classes within their own community than to venture to the ESCC campus.
And last year – because Dial-A-Ride stops operating at 6 p.m. and many students without their own transportation are unable to get home at night from the ESCC campus after classes – the college moved its English as Second Language classes to the Bishop Union High School campus and enrollment doubled.
“Every day that these students hit a barrier they’re walking away from education – possibly forever,” Campbell said.
A major barrier for any students is trying to finance their educational careers. Luckily, the Mammoth Lakes and Eastern Sierra foundations help out on that end.
The Mammoth Lakes Foundation supported 50 scholarship students in 2009-10, paying full tuition, fees and books. The scholarships not only help the students, but help to maintain a sufficient enrollment base to support core classes.
The Eastern Sierra Foundation awards nearly 100 scholarships to Inyo County residents every year.
Between Mammoth Lakes Foundation and Eastern Sierra Foundation, they fund approximately 25 percent of the students each year on both campuses.
“The scholarship program supports students (not overhead or administrative costs) and that’s what’s most important,” Campbell said.
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