CSM Horticulture Program Ends

Six academic programs at the College of San Mateo, including the contested horticulture program, fell victim to severe budget cuts at Wednesday's board meeting.

The Community College District Board of Trustees voted to cut American Sign Language, Japanese, Italian, humanities, meteorology and horticulture from the course schedule beginning in academic year 2012-2013.

Budget cuts show no signs of abating, and the district has squeezed as much efficiency as possible from the current structure, said college president Michael Claire. The colleges must reshape the curriculum to survive financially, he said.

In the past year, the college has discontinued other programs, including French, German, education, manufacturing and industrial technology. Other poorly-enrolled programs may be up for termination in the future, he cautioned.

The most impassioned discussion focused on the horticulture program. Several speakers, including residents and students past and present, urged the board not to shutter the 60-year-old program.

Supporters said the program is ideally suited to help meet the demands of a booming green sector, which requires educated horticulturists.

“The decision to eliminate the program could not have come at a worse time,” said Donna Bischoff, part-time CSM student and volunteer at the San Mateo Arboretum Society. “There is a burgeoning demand in this area and nationwide for sustainable land practices, organic farming, composting and drought tolerant landscaping.”

Alumni have started successful small businesses, supporters said.

“There is a need out there for educated horticulturists, not just gardeners who learn on the job,” said Kathleen Bryan, head gardener at the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park and an alumna. A great demand exists for gardeners, she said: “Educated gardeners who can talk to them about their materials, not just shape their hedges."

But labor market analyses predict a drop in local demand for horticulture and floristry professionals, says a report prepared by Claire for the chancellor. Much of the industry demand lies in areas that do not require formal training, he said, adding that the program has seen no uptick in enrollment.

Over the past five years, the program has awarded only five degrees and 47 certificates of achievement, the report says. Although the program's curriculum is designed for transfer to state universities – a criteria for retaining programs – Claire said in the last 10 years, just 1.7 percent of the college's transfer students to CSU or UC went on to major in agriculture.

The 50 students – equivalent to about four full-time students -- currently enrolled in the program will have a year to complete their degrees.

Debated but expected

Although the closure of the horticulture program was hotly contested by students, the closure came as no surprise to supporters on- and off-campus. The program has been on hiatus since 2009, with only floristry classes available.

The board has argued that it lacks the money needed to rehabilitate Building 20, which houses the program.

The program came into sharp focus last month when an informal group called Friends of the College of San Mateo Gardens , charging that the bond-funded plans to pave the complex, parts of an adjoining mature garden and a greenhouse for a surface parking lot. 

The planned demolition and the “potentially significant environmental effects” of losing the garden call for an environmental impact review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the complaint says.

While some supporters urged the board to keep the program on hiatus, Claire said it would simply delay the inevitable: “We will be kicking the can down the road.”