The Gentrain Society is a volunteer auxiliary of Monterey Peninsula College

President’s Corner

As the Academic year (AY25) and the fiscal year (FY25) are rapidly nearing the end I am happy to report that both the GENTRAIN Society (the Society) and the GENTRAIN Program (the Program) had successful years. The dedicated faculty who teach, organize and integrate subject matter for each of the 4 courses that make up the Program have continued to make the Program challenging and rewarding for both credit and non-credit students. The Society expands the intellectual components of the Program by organizing a lecture series of outside speakers, visits to museums and other education activities, and through a scholarship program for adult students registered at MPC. The Society funds these programs primarily through membership fees and donations. By carefully managing our programmatic expenses we were able to lower expenditures and will end the fiscal year with a modest carry-over for next year. Our membership numbers are still an issue but are stable.

The Program has received continuing support from the College through the provision of teaching budgets that cover not only the direct lecturing activities of the faculty, but adding extra budget to support a coordinator, team teaching activities, faculty attending classes of other program faculty, and group coordination efforts. This “extra” teaching budget has been a major factor in the Program’s development and effectiveness over the last 50 plus years. However, the College’s AY26 faculty budget zero’s out this “extra” teaching budget. MPC is clearly under extreme pressure to reduce expenses, but this action would essentially close a highly effective and faculty/administrator designed program for MPC students and adult learners. The Society Board will work with MPC administration to see if this action can be reversed or mitigated before the next academic year begins.