Possible Russian program elimination at Portland Community College

[Kristine L. Shmakov]

I am Kristine Shmakov, the full-time Russian instructor and Russian
Department Chair at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. I just
joined the list and have not had a chance to introduce myself. Now I need to
use my introduction to ask for your help in preventing elimination of the
Russian language program at Portland Community College. Oregon Community
Colleges are being forced to make huge cuts over the next two years due to
lack of state funding. PCC itself will have to cut $18 million or 8% of its
budget. We have just been notified by administration that cuts will be
narrow and deep, meaning that they are looking to eliminate entire programs.
All academic and non-academic programs are now on the table in a closed
budget process. We are very concerned that the Board and administrators will
consider it frivolous to offer five languages at PCC, and that they will not
understand the great importance of Russian to the Portland-Vancouver
community. Programs chosen for elimination will be announced at the
beginning of March, and then will have only a week to prepare a defense
before final budget decisions are made. I need to collect letters in support
of our program now, in case I should need them. In the past, programs that
have received strong levels of support from the community have been spared.
I would greatly appreciate it if each of you could write a letter in support
of the PCC Russian program and send it directly to me. If you could also
pass this information onto your colleagues not on the SEELANGS list, as well
as anyone you know connected with Russian, it would greatly help our
efforts. I hope to amass hundreds of letters to convince the Board that a
strong and affordable Russian program is important to the community and that
it must be retained.

Please send your letters of support to either my home e-mail or address:

kshmakov at pdxlink.com
or Kristine Shmakov 10810 SW 62nd Place Portland, Oregon 97219

Members of the immigrant community are welcome to write letters in Russian
if they prefer.

The PCC Russian program started sixteen years ago to meet the growing need
for affordable Russian classes in Portland. It is a two-year program that
offers college transferable first and second year courses, as well as
Russian culture classes. My students transfer to state universities and
prestigious private institutions where they continue to study Russian at
higher levels. We have the largest first-year Russian enrollments in the
state of Oregon, with over 120 students taking first year classes each year.
Our courses regularly close with 35 students in each section. Russian has
been the only language the last two falls to have every seat filled in all
courses offered. Our program has very little attrition, so we keep our high
numbers throughout the year.

Part of the reason for our brimming enrollments is that Russian has become
the second most demanded language by Oregon employers. The
Portland-Vancouver Russian-speaking immigrant community seen the largest per
capita growth anywhere in the US, with a 70% increase over the last ten
years. As a result, students are no longer taking Russian just to fulfill a
degree requirement. With such a strong program and great community need for
the language, it seems absurd to consider eliminating Russian. However, in
such dire financial times, I cannot make this assumption and not act in
defense. This is why I need your letters of support now. If you have any
further questions or suggestions, please contact me at (503) 977-4841.

Thank you so much for your help, and I¹ll keep you informed of developments.

Sincerely, 
     
Kristine Shmakov
Russian Instructor and Russian Department Chair
Portland Community College
Portland, Oregon

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