MONROE - Theory classes are back for nursing students attending Blackhawk Technical College on the Monroe campus.
Students objected to the college's earlier decision in September to combine nursing lecture classes and to hold them at the Central Campus in Janesville starting in January. They were informed of the decision in early October.
The change meant Monroe campus students would have had to travel to Janesville once or twice a week to attend those classes. The change effected about 16 first-semester students and 13 third-semester students.
"The board gave us funding for another half-time person," Ruth Wheaton-Cox, BTC nursing coordinator, said Friday. "And by readjusting things, that means students will still take the first- and third-semester theory lectures in Monroe."
Clinicals taken at Monroe Clinic will be reduced from two to one class, however. Wheaton-Cox said students living closer to Janesville and Beloit will be paired and assigned to take clinicals in Beloit. Mental Health clinical rotations and orientation have been and will remain in Janesville.
"I can't make any promises about the future, economically," Wheaton-Cox said. "We were delayed in being hit like the rest of the world."
Enrollment at BTC is dropping, with retraining adults finishing their programs and government money going way, she added.
BTC is dealing with a $1 million deficit in its budget this year, and the nursing program in Monroe was not the only department being cut, according to Sharon Kennedy, vice president of learning. With cuts in state aid, tax levies capped and tuition set by the state, BTC must looked for ways to "pull back on costs," she said.
Kennedy said the consolidation of classes was intended to cut the amount spent on "overload pay" for full-time faculty.
Students objected to the college's earlier decision in September to combine nursing lecture classes and to hold them at the Central Campus in Janesville starting in January. They were informed of the decision in early October.
The change meant Monroe campus students would have had to travel to Janesville once or twice a week to attend those classes. The change effected about 16 first-semester students and 13 third-semester students.
"The board gave us funding for another half-time person," Ruth Wheaton-Cox, BTC nursing coordinator, said Friday. "And by readjusting things, that means students will still take the first- and third-semester theory lectures in Monroe."
Clinicals taken at Monroe Clinic will be reduced from two to one class, however. Wheaton-Cox said students living closer to Janesville and Beloit will be paired and assigned to take clinicals in Beloit. Mental Health clinical rotations and orientation have been and will remain in Janesville.
"I can't make any promises about the future, economically," Wheaton-Cox said. "We were delayed in being hit like the rest of the world."
Enrollment at BTC is dropping, with retraining adults finishing their programs and government money going way, she added.
BTC is dealing with a $1 million deficit in its budget this year, and the nursing program in Monroe was not the only department being cut, according to Sharon Kennedy, vice president of learning. With cuts in state aid, tax levies capped and tuition set by the state, BTC must looked for ways to "pull back on costs," she said.
Kennedy said the consolidation of classes was intended to cut the amount spent on "overload pay" for full-time faculty.