San Jose City College bids adieu to its French 1B class at the start of the fall 2012 term.

The class was canceled for the semester because it failed to meet its enrollment target, Dean of Enrollment Services Takeo Kubo said.

The decision to cut the class came after weighing the benefits of continuing it versus opening another section of the introductory French 1A class, French instructor Michael Berke said.

“We are in a budget crisis, so we have to do a bit of negotiating,” Berke said.

The evening French 1A class that was added in lieu of the canceled French 1B class ended up having 17 students, double the number that was enrolled in the cut class, Berke said.

Foreign language classes are not strangers to cancellation.

During the last three semesters, there have been three foreign language classes, two sections of French 1B and one section of Chinese 1B, that were canceled because of low enrollment, Kubo said.

The cuts are made by the deans of each division, Kubo said. “There is a minimum number of students or a percentage of students that the class needs in order to function beyond certain checkpoints. If they don’t meet those, then they start canceling sections.”

The increasingly constricting nature of SJCC’s budget crisis has led to increases in enrollment targets, putting historically low-enrolled classes in danger of cancellation.

“Over the last five years … the number’s been getting higher,” Berke said, referring to the enrollment target.

Berke is concerned permanently cutting low-enrolled courses would limit the breadth of education students receive.

“If we took out all the classes that were low-enrolling, we wouldn’t have a balanced liberal education college,” Berke said. “We would be only teaching history, math and science.”

Dean of Language Arts Keiko Kimura declined to comment on the topic.

Some students worry about the effect the cuts will have on the SJCC community.

“If you cut a foreign language class, you cut the education, understanding and tolerance of different cultures and languages,” said Gabby St. Martin, 19, anthropology major.

One of the proposed solutions to French 1B’s low enrollment is to offer it less frequently.

“(We would) offer 1A year-round because it’s a required level of language that people need to take,” Berke said. “Then offer 1B once a year and try to build up a critical number of students that will take a 1B class.”

Berke believes offering French 1B only once a year will not affect the success of the class.

“People who take 1A in the spring will have to wait a year to take 1B the following spring,” Berke said. “I think it’s an inconvenience. I don’t think it’s a deal-breaker.”

Despite the enrollment woes, Berke remains optimistic about the future of SJCC’s Foreign Language Program.

“Hopefully the future will be positive,” Berke said. “We have a…very strong department here, and we have a dean that is willing to help us try to grow.”