The fate of the Hartnell auto-collision program

was tabled until a yet uncertain date.

The Hartnell Board of Trustees heard the mostly cons of keeping the auto collision program earlier this week, after its evaluation by a team of experts. They told the board at a special board session that the job market is not accommodating graduates (spokeswoman Terri Pyer reports that one of the programs most loyal students said he had asked 30 body shops in Salinas if they were hiring and not one of them was) and that students who take courses in the program never work in the auto collision field. Research consultant Esteban Soriano, hired to evaluate the program, said that of 449 students enrolled in at least one class in the program in the last five years, only six acquired a degree.

Community colleges are getting a lot of heat these days for not graduating enough students, thus a program that doesn't give out diplomas definitely doesn't look good on paper. But the program has a loyal following, and several graduates have been able to start businesses. Supporters have been cramming Hartnell board meetings to plead for its survival, but administrators are recommending its closure.

My trusted source Scuttlebutt tells me administrators are reluctant to make room for the program in the brand new Alisal Campus, which was supposed to house it originally. But the Alisal Campus has the tech and agricultural programs -- with a lot of support from local ag giants. Then again, Hartnell and other community colleges are under a lot of pressure to prepare students for the labor market, and ag is king in Monterey County.

So it doesn't look good for auto-collision. Stay tuned.