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New student president takes over
Future is • uncertain for ROP By Jason Dunn i:U TELESCOPE
KATHRYN CHANDLER I THE TELESCOPE
Michelle Eichelberger is sworn in as student trustee by Governing Board President Mark Evilsizer at the Jan. 9 board meeting. Eichelberger was the Associated Student Government vice president and became ASG president after the previous ASG president transferred. The ASG president is the student trustee for the governing board and gives an advisory vote to all governing board actions.
Several of Palomar's free classes face an uncertain future after the passage of a new state law. Assembly Bill 2448 requires all Regional Occupational Programs in the state to reduce the proportion of adults in their classes to 10 percent by July 1, 2011. Programs in the San Diego consortium, which includes Palomar, have between 32 and 35 percent adult enrollment, said Judy Fish, director of ROP at Palomar. "My guess is that ROP at the community college level is not going to exist much to any extent after July 1, 2011," she said. Palomar's Faculty Senate and the Palomar Faculty Federation have started to assemble a joint workgroup to deal with the future of Palomar's ROP. One option is to incorporate existing programs into Palomar's credit and noncredit programs. The workgroup would first evaluate the courses Palomar offers through ROP. "It's going to take a lot of work, but we have groups that are interested in making sure it's done properly," Fish said. • SEE ROP, PAGE 5
Honors program considered
Basic skills boosted by state grant
By Jason Dunn
By Jason Dunn
THE TELESCOPE
THI TELESCOPE
Future Palomar students may be able to join an honors program that may increase their chances of transferring to four-year schools. Faculty and administrators at Palomar College are considering such a program that they say would take two or more years to implement. "There's a lot of belief as to how it should look and even if we should do it," said Berta Cuaron, vice president of instruction. Faculty forums were held last semester dealing with whether or not to have an honors program. Proponents argue that it accommodates students who want an academic challenge and it provides stronger transfer opportunities. Palomar doesn't have a transfer agreement with UCLA because it doesn't have an honors program. Opponents argue that it would set up an elitist system and that Palomar's resources may get used on the students who need them the least. Economics professor Teresa Laughlin is
do not receive credit, but receive an honors notation on their transcript. Laughlin said if an honors program does get implemented, faculty would have to write new curricula during Fall 2007. The curricula would then have to go through Palomar's approval process. "There would be a tremendous amount of curriculum work," Laughlin said. She said the earliest possible time an
Palomar College has $514,000 to spend on a basic skills program from a grant it received from the state last semester. The money has to be used to enhance resources for improving students' basic skills in subjects such as English and math. There are no definite plans yet as to how to spend the money. Berta Cuaron, vice president of instruction, said faculty members and administrators had been talking about improving Palomar's basic skills programs for several years. "With these funds, it makes it much more feasible for us to move forward," she said. Cuaron said the Learning Outcomes Council found last year that many students are unprepared for the college level math, English and reading they encounter at Palomar, and that the money came along at the right time. According to information provided by Palomar's Institutional Research and
• SEE HONORS, PAGE 10
• SEE GRANT, PAGE 5
JOHN &ILL I THE TELESCOPE
Rebecca Thornhill and Joseph Park (left} are inducted at a Phi Theta Kappa ceremony in November while chapter officers Zoie Lewandowski and Kyle Kaplan (right) watch. Phi Theta Kappa is an honor society. Palomar is considering an honors program associated with its classes.
co-chair of Palomar's Learning Outcomes Council. She said members ofthe LOC will write a report outlining different options for an honors program and poll faculty members this semester about whether to have one. She said there are several possible models for the honors program, but it boils down to three. One model adds extra work to a class and another adds extra honors classes. The third model adds extra time to a class for honors students, for which they
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