Leader Sought for ‘Afternoon College’

Enrollment and enthusiasm for “Afternoon College” at Valley College are on the rise, but the second-year program is looking for a new leader.

Business instructor John Burke, who conceived and ran the program that offers college credit in several disciplines to high school seniors, resigned days before Tuesday’s start of classes. He said he will remain on the college faculty and as the school’s director of TechPrep, a federally funded vocational venture out of which Afternoon College grew.

Burke said he stepped down to protest President Tyree Wieder’s approach to funding for Afternoon College’s expanding curriculum and scope. School officials plan to meet today to discuss the program’s future and who will lead it, according to Shannon Stack, director of media services.

When Burke approached Wieder recently to request additional funding, both said Wieder told him that such a request would have to go through usual budgetary channels before reaching her desk. Burke said he considered that answer a rejection.

“We have a team of people who have worked very hard,” Burke said. “That’s why I am baffled by this decision. I don’t know why the president would respond this way.”

Wieder insisted the program, which has drawn praise statewide and spawned imitations at other area community colleges, is healthy and will continue to be adequately funded. In the spring, there were concerns about the effect of rapid expansion on the budget, but she said those have been resolved.

“Sometimes faculty come in and say, ‘I just need this and you should give it to me,’ and I have to tell them that there are restrictions,” she said. “I can’t just give money to everyone who walks through the door.”

“What’s important,” Burke said, “is not my pay, but funding for all the other people supporting this program--teachers, support staff, student workers. Forget about enrollments or registration, this program is resonating with students. It’s filling a need.”