Possible Russian program elimination at Portland Community College

[Catharine Nepomnyashchy]

Dear Kristine,

I will write a letter in support of preserving your program as President 
of AATSEEL.  I encourage others to write in support as well.  Best wishes, 
Cathy

On Sun, 16 Jan 2005, Kristine L. Shmakov wrote:

> 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
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

Catharine Nepomnyashchy
Director, Harriman Institute
Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Russian Literature and
Chair, Slavic Department, Barnard College
phone: (212) 854-6213

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------