WATERLOO - Hawkeye Community College's Board of Trustees Tuesday unanimously terminated contracts of three instructors after listening to an hour of faculty and student comments opposing the move.

The instructors - two regular part-time and one full-time - did not request a hearing with the board or file a grievance, as allowed by their contract. The remaining 38 instructors who received layoff notices last month did both.

,That delays board action on their termination recommendations.

Trustees also approved receiving and placing on file the names of all 33 regular part-time and eight full-time faculty members recommended for termination.

Those layoffs plus elimination of two other full-time positions due to a retirement and a resignation are expected to cut $800,000 from next year's budget. It's part of a larger effort to save $1.8 million due to state aid reductions.

Many of the 26 people who spoke suggested the layoffs would have a devastating effect on the college. Some said trustees should spend more time discussing the issues or even table the layoffs for more faculty input. All of them voiced unhappiness with the looming terminations.

"I'm considering going back to (North Iowa Area Community College) or even Des Moines, because I'm upset about what's going on," said Shaun Peterson, one of three students to speak.

"Educational institutions cannot perform their function when their heart is weakened," said Professor Barb Gregersen, who passed out gingerbread cookies with a heart-shaped hole. She urged trustees to ask tough questions about the layoffs.

"People on this campus are frightened, angry, hurt, frustrated," said instructor Josh Pachter. They are also confused, he said, noting all Iowa community colleges face proportionally equal cutbacks but Hawkeye is the only one "with massive layoffs." He questioned "how this college expects to fulfill its mission next fall" after the reductions.

"We've never had the opportunity to present some other cost savings measures, and this is very frustrating," said Associate Professor Bea Gobeski, president of the Hawkeye Professional Educators Association.

"We gave the entire college opportunities to offer suggestions," said Galen Howsare, vice president of finance and administration. Some of the suggestions, which have been coming in since January, have been implemented. Others need more study or couldn't be used in the time frame needed to save money now.

Instructor Michaela Rich, who worked as an adjunct for 10 years before coming to Hawkeye, was skeptical that adjuncts could fill the gap left by the laid-off instructors. "An adjunct that is well qualified cannot commit the time, the care (to the job)," she said, "because an adjunct does not earn a living wage."

Linda Allen, vice president of academic affairs, defended Hawkeye's adjunct pay scale. She said is in between other area institutions - lower than Wartburg College and the University of Northern Iowa and higher than Kaplan and Upper Iowa universities.