Palo Alto has tried to draw more students by providing programs such as telecourse, interactive videoconference courses, dual credit classes for high school students and Internet classes. This year, the college reached its goal of 7,000 students. Last fall there were 6,688 students enrolled, 353 fewer than now.
Limited space is one of Palo Alto’s challenges. Rachel Marez, Associate Director of Residency and Reports, said limited space makes it difficult for more students to enroll. The president of the college is looking into this issue.
Parking lot on Villaret Boulevard is packed on a Friday
morning.
Photo by Michelle Tyler
Another issue that Palo Alto faces is not enough parking space. There were plans for 200 additional parking spaces next to the Fine Arts Building, said Robert Triana, the Facilities Superintendent.
“We expected to have that ready by this fall and for reasons unknown to us, we did not get the money to put the lot in,” said Pat Terrell, assistant to the President.
Funding held back
the additional spaces, but Terrell and Triana both said they are working
on it.
“We want to make parking as convenient as possible,” said Ginger
Carnes, director of Community and Public Relations. Until the college
can get the funding it needs for a parking lot to be built closer to the
main cluster of buildings, there is parking available by the Ozuna and
the Natatorium.
Another issue now
that enrollment has increased is that the cafeteria is crowded and leaves
very little space to hang out.
“Tuesdays and Thursdays are the busiest days. There are more students
on those days,” said Sue Valle, the Cafeteria Manager. “There
are plans to expand the cafeteria within the year.”
Increased enrollment also caused more instructors to teach more classes.
One of these instructors is Dr. Antonio F. Castillo, who teaches in the
Math Department. He now teaches Calculus III because there are more students
enrolled.
“With a larger number of students, the demand is greater,” said
Castillo.
The staff at Admissions
and Records is focusing on enrollment and retention.
“We were just calculating that the last time we had 7,000 students
enrolled was in 1997, which was five years ago,” said Marez.
With enrollment increasing, the best thing for students is to register
early for Spring 2003 and pay their tuition on time so that they aren’t
dropped from their courses.
Registration starts November 18 over the phone and on the web, and the
payment deadline is Monday, Jan. 6, 2003. Otherwise, students might not
be able to get into the courses that fit their schedule.