Addressed To

The Board of Trustees and President of Whatcom Community College

Beliefs 

We, the undersigned, believe that removing the positions of Directors of the Learning Center, Library, Student Life and Development, and Intercultural Center, along with decisions to remove the Program Coordinator position in the Testing Center and not fill the engineering tech position, will be a massive loss to the amount of resources available. This includes learning centers, community centers, hope, diversity, inclusion, safe environments, accessibility for those that are disabled or anyone with specific needs, future student job prospects, and more to the students throughout the campus. We do not believe that these actions save money or stimulate financial growth. It will cost more by taking away services that are crucial to students, forcing students to get help elsewhere, and putting undue financial burdens on students and faculty. This will hinder student progress and student retention at WCC for those deciding which school to attend. The Math Center, Writing Center, Intercultural Center, Testing Center, Student Life and Development, engineering, and the student body at large have different needs that will not be met when consolidating these positions. This will ultimately make it harder for students to be able to adequately access resources due to both budget cuts and eliminations of roles that have made college life easier for students. 

Reasons For Action 

This decision was brought on without, at the minimum, questioning the student body, notifying student employees and directors in a timely manner, explaining to the student body (students pay tuition that includes S&A fees: see the Killian Outline for guidelines regarding S&A fees, RCW 28B.15.045 "The legislature also recognizes that services and activities fees are paid by students for the express purpose of funding student services and programs. It is the intent of the legislature that governing boards ensure that students have a strong voice in recommending budgets for services and activities fees.", and RCW 28B.10.912, "Each institution of higher education shall ensure that students with disabilities are reasonably accommodated within that institution. The institution of higher education shall provide students with disabilities with the appropriate core service or services necessary to ensure equal access.") about why the changes enforced were made. Additionally, there was no follow up given to students on ways to mitigate the damage done by budget cuts in the state legislature and federal government. The student body should be apprised of these issues in a timely manner, and we feel left out, disrespected, and unencouraged in future life on campus. Students now question whether resources for students, such as money from retention bonuses, staff reductions, consolidation of jobs, will be available for communal space, intercultural centers, tutors, librarians, student development, testing availabilities, accessibility for people that are disabled, and safety of those in engineering in the coming years. These are only a few of the resources students rely on when navigating their time at Whatcom. We also question whether resources that are currently available at the school will go unused due to restraints on the capacity of those filling the positions. Students signing below either do not plan to come back, rethink their decision of going to Whatcom, or drop out of classes due to current changes. We are looking for positive communal growth at Whatcom. This growth can happen through knowledge, volunteering, outreach, and more. Enforcing these changes will not encourage that type of growth.  

Requests 

We ask that the student body be surveyed and considered in these decisions, given a detailed justification of the ways this could potentially save money, and to be informed of any future decisions in a timely manner. We request this to be done, at the minimum, two times before June 30th in at least one and a half hour sessions each time. We also ask notification of those meetings between the board, president, and student body be sent out one week prior to the date of the meetings. And last, but certainly not least, we ask that the removal of these positions be put on at least a one-year moratorium and that the engineering tech position be filled as quickly as can be for student safety and accessibility. We believe there is ample time for this to be resolved before June 30th and that our voices must be heard and taken into consideration for future plans.