On Wednesday, Sept. 11, The Academic Senate convened for the first time this semester, instructing faculty to detect and flag fraudulent enrollments at City College.
The Academic Senate meets every second and fourth Wednesday of the month, discussing curriculum, faculty roles, and other academic matters.
Fraudulent Bots
Fraudulent bots are enrolling at City College, causing fake students to take up space in classrooms, and leaving real students on waitlists, according to Joshua Ramirez, president of academic senate. The Academic Senate discussed what steps to take as the semester proceeds.
“We should not be having to call every single one of our students to make sure they’re real,” Laura Woyach, accounting professor said. “It’s not part of our jobs.”
The senate brought up the issue of students being put on class waitlists, due to these bots taking up spaces in classes, and causing real students to lose opportunities. These bots primarily target late-start, fully online, and low enrolled classes, according to Paloma Arnold, assistant superintendent president/vice president of student affairs.
These bots were caught within the first few weeks of July during summer 2024 classes, and caused an extreme decrease in full time equivalent students (FTES) compared to last summer. According to Villagómez, FTES has increased in the past three and a half semesters, but ran flat over the summer.
Although summer 2024 was making great progress, Villagómez acknowledged the bots disrupted enrollment exceedingly, marking zero headway for summer classes compared to 2023.
It was noted that fraudulent enrollments will continue to be dealt with as late start classes begin this fall. All fraudulent applications can now be flagged, according to Joshua Ramirez, president of the academic senate. Once the fraud is confirmed, the bot is unable to add or drop classes at City College.
“We have been diligently working to identify and remove these bots,” Maria Villagomez, assistant superintendent and vice president of academic affairs said. “We are also asking faculty to assist by reviewing their rosters and dropping any bots they encounter, as these false enrollments take seats away from real students.”
Faculty Hires
The senate also discussed the six faculty members retiring this year, from a variety of departments. City College’s estimated faculty obligation number (FON) has been reported to be over an estimated 20 hires, meaning the school has gone over the amount of hires they can afford for the school year.
Because City College will need to replace these six faulty members, the senate has come up with a criteria when it comes to emergency hires, while being mindful of the school’s budget.
“We have criteria discussed and approved regarding essential full time hires,” Villagómez said.
The senate discussed various ways to deal with faculty hires as the year progresses and faculty members begin to retire. The senate was on top of this during October of 2023, where the criteria was approved. This criteria includes guidelines when needing an emergency hire this year, strictly enforcing student needs.
Public Announcements
It was brought to the senate’s attention that the women’s lacrosse team is in need of an advisor, requiring an estimate of 15-20 work hours a week.
“Lacrosse has always been an issue [at City College],” O’Connor said. “They have strange schedules, safety, and funding problems.”
Athletics Academic Advisor Kathy O’Connor expressed how men’s lacrosse utilizes UCSB’s fields, because of the difficulty with field space at City College.
The next Academic Senate meeting will take place at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
