SCC has extended its time frame to devise a long-term plan for the dental hygiene program after the college’s board of trustees voted on Jan. 31 to pause the demolition of the 2500 building and construction of the Allied Health, Science and Advanced Manufacturing Complex.
The dental hygiene program will remain at SCC next year instead of temporarily relocating to the Lake Washington Institute of Technology ahead of a phaseout.
“The [dental hygiene] program is still in jeopardy,” said Maryrose Bellert, SCC’s dental hygiene program director.
At present, plans to close applications to the dental hygiene program but complete the degrees of current students (a process known as “teaching out”) are still in place, Bellert said. That plan would lead to first-year instructors being laid off in July.
“The College’s Dental Hygiene program is accredited under the Commission On Dental Accreditation (CODA) which requires, at a minimum, that a location is identified for the Dental Hygiene program to operate,” SCC President Cheryl Roberts wrote in an email to The Ebbtide. “Under these CODA guidelines, it would not be appropriate to take in a new cohort of Dental Hygiene students when the location of the program has not yet been finalized after the 2020-21 year is completed.”
The vote was called because the college cannot afford construction of the new building without additional state financing, Roberts said at the Jan. 31 board of trustees meeting. The state did not approve financing for any community college projects this year.
Roberts also noted that the pause will allow the college to “develop short and long term solutions for the programs currently housed in the building,” including dental hygiene.
The vote passed unanimously. Two members of the board were present at the meeting, while one joined the meeting by phone. Katherine D’Ambrosio, the fourth member, was absent.
Legal Action
With the future of the program uncertain, some dental hygiene students have retained an attorney to help navigate their legal options to ensure the completion of their degrees, according to Theresa Kasen, the dental hygiene class president.
“At this point, we believe the College’s actions raise serious breach of contract, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, promissory estoppel, and Consumer Protection Act concerns,” wrote Cedar Law PLLC, the firm representing dental hygiene students, in a letter to SCC. “If the College intends on moving forward with their decision to relocate the dental hygiene program … the College must stand ready to provide compensation to the first year students.”
Fears about dental hygiene being cut have been expressed at a number of budget and board of trustees meetings over the last year.
SCC Board of Trustees Chair Tom Lux thanked Roberts for “exploring every option” with regard to the pause in construction. He also requested that students, faculty and staff “keep involved” as the college navigates its way through a $2.4 million budget shortfall.
Reductions
Last month, SCC announced reductions that would make up for that lost revenue. The college plans to reduce administrative positions by 4.5 full-time equivalents and classified staff by 4.75 full-time equivalents.
The college will also cut a total of roughly $900,000 from goods and services, utilities, stipends and travel, with plans for approximately $200,000 in new funding next year.
Dental hygiene was not on the list of cuts, though administrators have not taken it off the table for future reductions.
The reductions come as enrollment continues to decline at SCC. The college’s enrollment decreased by 2% in the past three quarters, according to Roberts. That enrollment decline is steeper than the 1.8% national average, according to numbers from the National Student Clearinghouse.
Other community colleges have made similar reductions. Oregon’s Mt. Hood Community College is cutting seven programs while facing a $2.8 million dollar deficit, according to The Oregonian.
Roberts noted that the change to the Allied Health, Science and Advanced Manufacturing Complex would impact more programs than the dental hygiene program, and provided data showing that dental hygiene enrolls the equivalent of 48 full-time students, while other programs in the 2500 building enroll the equivalent of 700 full-time students.
“While I am working to support the needs of the Dental Hygiene program and its 48 students,” she wrote, “I must also ensure I am supporting the approximately 700 student FTEs impacted by the delay to their much needed Allied Health, Science & Advanced Manufacturing building.”
Dental Hygiene Class President Theresa Kasen wrote a letter to the editor expressing her views on the future of the program. You can read it here.
