Proposal Revived for Donors to Save Courses

The chancellor of City College of San Francisco, Don Griffin, has revived his plan to have donors "sponsor" courses that would otherwise be eliminated due to budget cuts, and this time he may win over a previously skeptical board. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Griffin offered a new version of the plan, and that board members were receptive because it involves an administrative review, with the chancellor making the final decision on whether a sponsorship would be appropriate. The new plan also would not assure anyone of the right to add a name to a course title. As originally discussed, the plan would simply have allowed anyone to donate $6,000 to become the official sponsor of a course. Amid California's budget disaster, the college is being forced to eliminate more than 800 courses and the idea was to save as many of them as possible. Objections from trustees when the plan was first discussed centered on fears that, for example, a tobacco company might sponsor a public health course.