California college apologizes for delayed Cantonese program

City College of San Francisco recently issued a press release apologizing for the contentious delay of a Cantonese certificate program.

Advocates for the program expected two new Cantonese certificate programs to be available this fall, a nine-credit program and a 16-credit program. The college’s curriculum committee determined that plans for the 16-credit program wouldn’t meet appropriate quality standards without developing additional classes and hiring more instructors.

The district’s legal counsel stated at a June board meeting that the committee’s approval of the certificate was “improperly withdrawn after governing board approval,” according to the release.

“The College and the Board would like to apologize to our community for any harm, confusion, or frustration this process may have caused,” the release read. “As we move forward into the upcoming academic year, the College remains committed to developing the needed curriculum and obtaining the proper state approvals to offer a high-quality 16-unit credit Cantonese certificate starting in the 2024–25 academic year.”

The governing board also unanimously voted at the meeting in June to include an asterisk notation in the course catalog addendum for the 2023–24 academic year to express support for the forthcoming program.

Alan Wong, the president of the board, who initially proposed the programs, said in his own press release that he did not believe the program required “additional resources or classes.”

“It strung together existing classes already offered by City College to comprise a certificate,” Wong said. “Withdrawing the certificate after the program had already been ratified and celebrated by the community to discuss adding a new course or getting more funding baffles me.”