Spring Break
CAD program is among several cut
Colin Fraser
Issue date: 5/11/09 Section: WCC News
Washtenaw Community College's Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) program has met the "inevitable." It was discontinued by a vote of the Board of Trustees.
The certificate, advanced certificate and the associate's in applied science that students can earn in CAD now will end, as well as an associate's in architectural technology and interior design. CAD classes, however, will continue, and students in the program will have three years to complete it.
On the agenda at the April 28 meeting was a list of programs to be created and many more to be discontinued. Most of the changes are faculty initiated. However, three programs were cancelled by recommendation of the
administration: CAD, architecture technology and interior design. Residential Construction was also on the administration's original list of cancellation, but was spared for another year to take a look at "what students need in the market place," according to Board Chair Stephen Gill.
"We've asked them to take a look at that program," Gill said. "We're waiting for a recommendation from the head of that program."
All the trustees present at the meting, Stephen Gill, Pamela Horiszny, Mark Freeman, and Diana McKnight-Morton, voted in favor of the cuts and openings listed.
"The trustees pretty much have to rely on the recommendation from the faculty and the vice president for instruction," Gill explained. "We asked some clarifying questions and made the decision from there. It was unanimous."
Jim Teevans, chair of the Drafting Department that contains both CAD and the architecture technologies programs, is one of many people affected by the program closings.
"Roger called me into his office on Feb. 15. He notified us that we would be facing the inevitable," Teevans recalled of the day that Vice President for Instruction Roger Palay told him that the administration was looking to close the department.
On the day that the board voted, CAD was the only program defended by community members. Three people, two of whom were CAD students, rose to defend the program. One of those students was David Boprie, a three-time graduate from WCC who works at the University of Michigan's Space Physics Research Laboratory, where, among other things, he has built equipment for NASA using the skills he acquired at Washtenaw.
The certificate, advanced certificate and the associate's in applied science that students can earn in CAD now will end, as well as an associate's in architectural technology and interior design. CAD classes, however, will continue, and students in the program will have three years to complete it.
On the agenda at the April 28 meeting was a list of programs to be created and many more to be discontinued. Most of the changes are faculty initiated. However, three programs were cancelled by recommendation of the
administration: CAD, architecture technology and interior design. Residential Construction was also on the administration's original list of cancellation, but was spared for another year to take a look at "what students need in the market place," according to Board Chair Stephen Gill.
"We've asked them to take a look at that program," Gill said. "We're waiting for a recommendation from the head of that program."
All the trustees present at the meting, Stephen Gill, Pamela Horiszny, Mark Freeman, and Diana McKnight-Morton, voted in favor of the cuts and openings listed.
"The trustees pretty much have to rely on the recommendation from the faculty and the vice president for instruction," Gill explained. "We asked some clarifying questions and made the decision from there. It was unanimous."
Jim Teevans, chair of the Drafting Department that contains both CAD and the architecture technologies programs, is one of many people affected by the program closings.
"Roger called me into his office on Feb. 15. He notified us that we would be facing the inevitable," Teevans recalled of the day that Vice President for Instruction Roger Palay told him that the administration was looking to close the department.
On the day that the board voted, CAD was the only program defended by community members. Three people, two of whom were CAD students, rose to defend the program. One of those students was David Boprie, a three-time graduate from WCC who works at the University of Michigan's Space Physics Research Laboratory, where, among other things, he has built equipment for NASA using the skills he acquired at Washtenaw.
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