California Apparel News

California’s budget crisis is putting the pressure on fashion and merchandising programs at state-run colleges and universities—a move that could eventually trickle down to the apparel industry and affect the job pool that companies pull from down the line.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on July 1 declared a state of fiscal emergency when state legislators failed to approve a budget. California is faced with a budget shortfall of $24.3 billion. Legislators blame the shortfall in part on1 percent cap rates placed on property taxes years ago as well as on the current economic downturn.

Education has been one of the areas targeted for cuts, and schools have been re-evaluating their curricula and faculty for further cost cuts, even though they have already been trimming the fat. Potentially, some students may be turned away because of cut programs. Fee hikes are imminent, as are furloughs for faculty. Educators warn that the curtailment could have a big impact on the apparel industry in the future.

“A couple of years from now, the industry may be shorthanded in looking for talent,” said Dr. Peter Kilduff, chairman of the apparel merchandising and management program at California State Polytechnic University Pomona.

“The talent being developed now is severely constrained. It may become an issue [for the apparel industry].”

To offset constraints, Kilduff said, he is exploring ways to raise funds for the university’s unique program, which puts students into a working environment using the school’s retail store along with partnerships with leading apparel companies. In the meantime, Cal Poly Pomona may be forced to ration classes and trim hours for faculty members.

“We’re all in the same barrel,” he said.

On July 7, California State University trustees met at California State University Long Beach and proposed hiking tuition by 10 percent to 15 percent this fall as well as reducing enrollment by 32,000 students for the 2010 school year. Students pay about $4,100 a year in tuition in the 23-campus Cal State system. This would be on top of a 10 percent increase in fees already implemented. Two CSU unions have already approved 10 percent pay cuts for instructors. Cal State Long Beach’s budget alone is running at a more than $500,000 deficit.

Administrators for the community-college system are proposing a fee hike of $7 per unit for the state’s junior colleges.

At Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, administrators plan to scrap 12 courses that draw low enrollments and place affected instructors in different classes, said Henry Cherner, an instructor at the school.

Debra Shaefer, chair of the fashion program at Long Beach City College, said the school is cutting classes taught by adjunct faculty.

“Advanced classes will be offered less frequently, so it may take students longer to graduate,” Shaefer explained.

In addition, newly developed courses needed for graduation will be put on hold.

“If this continues, new and fresh talent will not be trained and prepared [for apparel-industry jobs],” she added.

Pamela Knights, director of the fashion program at LBCC, said she expects to see more CSU students trying to get into community-college programs because of the large fee hikes. Knights said the program at LBCC has been filled to capacity for at least the past five years.

That may or may not bode well for private schools. Shaefer said the credit crunch has made it more difficult for students to obtain loans for private fashion schools, which generally have higher tuition rates.

However, Mary Ann Gale, academic director of fashion design and fashion marketing & management at the Art Institute of California—Orange County, said she is noticing a boost in transfers from state schools and an overall interest in the school’s fashion program. She is expecting record enrollment for the summer quarter, which begins July 13.

“We are able to offer students an accelerated program where students can finish their bachelor’s degrees in three years versus four to seven years due to class availability at state schools,” she said.“This allows our students to start working earlier. Without the budget issues, we are able to offer smaller class sizes for more-personal attention. The more students we have, the more classes we will offer to meet their needs.”

Gale said one benefit from the economic downturn is that the recent spate of layoffs in the industry has created a larger job pool for AI to pull from for teachers with working knowledge of the industry.

“It’s actually a great time to be in school because the economy could become more stable by the time this generation of students graduates,” she said. “In a few years, the industry is going to have a large selection of qualified candidates because so many people have decided to pursue their education in fashion. We are making sure that our fashion design graduates are well-versed in both design and the business side of fashion, and our fashion marketing & management students understand thoroughly the changes in the industry regarding the lifecycle of a product.”

Scholarship partnerships with companies such as Oakley and Hurley are also helping at AI.

The apparel industry will weather this crisis, said Fereshteh Mobasheri, chair of the fashion department at Santa Monica College. But the professor warned of the future impact on creativity.

“I don’t believe this will continue for too long,” she said. “The apparel industry needs to keep going, and as long as there is interest in clothing and fashion among people, they need to keep their production and offerings for their targeted customers. What could change is the creativity level of what will sell. They need to come up with [fresh] ideas to make the consumer feel the need [to buy].”

Ironically, state education administrators have targeted fashion—along with technology and culinary artsshy;—as a key vehicle for future job growth for up-and-coming generations of students, said Ilse Metchek, president of the California Fashion Association, who just returned from a Sacramento career-education symposium.