On Jan. 17, Criminal Justice professor and former detective Harlon Hunter spoke up about the growing number of students waitlisted due to unknown individuals registering for classes and taking up the waitlists. Some staff and students have taken to calling these individuals ‘bots’ on account of these individuals never making an appearance in the classroom.

“Some of these students needed these classes to graduate, some of these students were desperate to graduate. This puts lives on hold.” Hunter says, voicing his concerns.

These ‘bots’ however, are the product of a bigger issue at hand, which is fraudulent enrollment. This is a cyber crime that occurs when an individual creates multiple fake accounts as an attempt to claim financial aid disbursements. This affects class availability for hundreds of students. It greatly affects the likelihood of them receiving financial aid as well.

“Staff should always be aware of online safety.” says Brett Redd, Executive Director from the Department of Technology Support Services, as he gives insight on the issue informing us that it is in fact academic disbursements that are the target, not students. Yet, they are unfortunately affected by this crime.

Although we know this, many students are still not fully informed about what exactly this means for them and college funding. There is still some uncertainty circling who is to blame for this crime as there are many occurrences in registration and even more false students.

Administration knows that following the digital age that COVID-19 brought forth, fraudulent enrollment has become a problem for colleges on a statewide scale and the occurrences of this crime are increasing. However, this issue was not taken lightly. Bakersfield College administration and faculty is working closely with both law enforcement and the state to uncover the individuals responsible and ensure the security of attending students’ financial aid.

Associate Vice President of Instruction, Jessica Wojtysiak addressed the concerns students may have, stating, “Our faculty are working diligently to combat fraudulent enrollment at Bakersfield College. I commend their work.”

She met with the Academic Senate on Jan. 24 to meet with faculty concerning this issue. Wojtysiak also added that she will meet with the Academic Senate again the following week, along with Department Chairs Dr. Kimberly Bligh and Professor Jason Dixon.