LHE7014 NCU Financial Challenges Faced by Community College Essay For this assignment, begin by exploring several current articles from the literature avai

LHE7014 NCU Financial Challenges Faced by Community College Essay For this assignment, begin by exploring several current articles from the literature available in the NCU library related to the sources of funding for community colleges.Write a paper in which you detail the financial pressures faced by community college leaders as they balance the need for a responsive educational program delivered at an affordable price.Length: 5-7 pages not including title and reference pagesReferences: Minimum of 3-5 scholarly resources. Feature
GOING
ImaGe soURCe/Glow ImaGes
BY ALAN JOCH
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COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOURNAL
June/July 2011
Impending money woes force
tough choices, forecast fundamental
shift in community college funding
?LEAN?
The numbers were already bad,
and they keep getting worse,
for the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD). Given the weak
economy, administrators planned for a 5 percent reduction in state funding in the
2010–11 academic year. The actual reduction ballooned to more than 7.5 percent,
an additional $13 million that DCCCD would be forced to do without. The cutbacks
scuttled some planned investments. But educators took solace in knowing they
would avoid layoffs—for now.
Leaders reportedly are bracing for an additional $18.2 million cut this fall, leaving critics to
wonder just how much more the district can take.
“At some point, you can’t throw another cup of water in the gumbo and expect to feed everyone at the table,” says Ed DesPlas, executive vice chancellor of business affairs.
It’s a harsh reality—one U.S. community colleges are realizing at an alarming rate. The nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that nearly half of all states have enacted
or are considering major cuts to their higher education budgets in the coming academic year.
And the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.
>>
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COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOURNAL
33
Feature
$1M
Other states are even worse off.
In Arizona, a paltry 10 percent of community college funding is derived from
the state—and administrators project
that number might shrink even further
this year.
“It looks like we will be down to
about 1 percent of our total budget,”
says Clint Ewell, vice president for
finance and administrative services at
Yavapai College (YC).
By all accounts, this is more than just
some post-recession hangover. Experts
say the changes mark a seismic shift in
community college funding, one that
will profoundly alter how these institutions apply for, receive, and use public
and private dollars for years to come.
Survival will require a number of
tough choices.
“Whatever hand you’re dealt, you
don’t go into a fetal position and complain,” says Robert Breuder, president
of the College of DuPage (COD), outside
of Chicago. “You deal with it.”
Contingency Plans
On the surface, coping strategies are
simple: Cut expenses while sparing
anything that might compromise
educational integrity. But it’s more
complicated than that. Most colleges
know there is no silver-bullet solution.
Rather, the best approach is to strike a
balance between cutting nonessential
or underperforming programs and tapping untested revenue streams. Many
have even contemplated enrollment
caps, a strategy some say goes against
34
COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOURNAL
?
Amount of money saved by
College of DuPage in Illinois
by eliminating faculty release
time for special assignments and
increasing individual workloads.
the very nature of community colleges
as open-door institutions.
Spending cuts and a stronger-thanexpected economy have helped shrink
California’s looming budget deficit
from $25 billion to an estimated $10
billion in recent weeks. But school
officials are still unsure exactly how
the remaining gap will ultimately
impact educational programs.
Coast Community College District
(CCCD) in Southern California’s Orange
County outlined three contingencies—
best-, middle- and worst-case—depending
on how deep the budget axe goes.
June/July 2011
“We’ve made a strategic decision to
frame our tentative budget on this
middle-case scenario, while at the
same time recognize that if the worst
case comes to pass, we need to be in a
position to respond to that,” says Andy
Dunn, vice chancellor of administrative
services.
The middle scenario anticipates a
drop in state allocations of about 10
percent. That means the district might
serve 10 percent fewer students as
classes fill up. It also would reduce some
faculty, administrative, and support
staff.
Photoalto/Glow Images
State coffers, once relied on for a
third of community college budgets
nationwide, are hemorrhaging. In
Texas, state funds once accounted for 32
percent of DCCCD’s operational budget.
Chancellor Wright Lassiter says that
figure now hovers at 25 percent.
At COD in Illinois, Breuder has outlined a three-pronged plan for solvency:
cut expenses, increase tuition, and grow
enrollment. COD accomplished the first
by furloughing some full-time faculty
and replacing those employees with parttime instructors for general-ed courses,
such as math and English. “Some people
argue that attenuates the quality of your
instruction,” says Breuder of the choice.
“I don’t happen to believe it does so long
as you pick quality people, whether they
are full time or part time.”
The college also reportedly saved
more than $1 million by eliminating faculty release time for special assignments
and increasing individual workloads.
Breuder is currently bracing for tough
negotiations with employee unions
regarding how to offset the pain of rising
health insurance expenses. “These are
difficult decisions that have to be made,”
he says.
(Continued on next page)
Online Education Could Help
Across the country, 69 percent of U.S. community colleges saw winter enrollments
rise this year, according to the 2011 “Community Colleges and the Economy”
survey recently released by The Campus Computing Project with support from
the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). (For the full survey, visit
www.campuscomputing.net/item/community-colleges-and-economy-2011.)
With enrollments up just about everywhere, it’s no wonder administrators are
stressed over impending budget cuts. Community colleges are used to doing more
with less, but even the most imaginative institutions have their limits.
Rather than cap enrollments or compromise class sizes to serve more learners,
some colleges are expanding online offerings, often at the request of students.
The numbers for online education in community colleges continue to rise. Eightytwo percent of 448 community college presidents and chancellors who responded
to the survey reported rising enrollments in online courses; 12 percent reported that
enrollments in online courses at their institutions increased by 15 percent or more
during the past year.
Similarly, 46 percent of presidents reported rising enrollments in online degree
programs, and 39 percent cited enrollment gains in online certificate programs over
the past year, the survey said.
“These new data document the continuing challenges that confront the nation’s
community colleges,” says Walter Bumphus, president and CEO of AACC. “During
the current economic downturn, the nation’s community colleges have been called
upon to serve many more students and to do so with significantly less resources.”
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35
Feature
YC in Arizona is also eyeing cuts to
personnel; salaries and benefits represent nearly 80 percent of the college’s
total budget and administrators have to
cut from somewhere. The college says
it isn’t making any layoffs—yet. But it
is leaving several employment vacancies unfilled. When YC eventually does
make new hires, administrators say
fiscal realities will force them to do
some things differently than in the
past.
“Just because a philosophy professor
leaves doesn’t mean we are going to
hire a new philosophy instructor,”
explains Ewell. “We’ll look at demand,
so maybe that means we hire a new
math faculty member.”
Fourteen nonfaculty positions will
remain open at YC, in addition to the
13 service positions the school eliminated. Funding for part-timers has
also been cut.
Back in Texas, DCCCD is offering
early-retirement incentives to some
$3
Increase in cost
per credit hour at
Yavapai College this
coming school year.
Upcoming Professional
Development from AACC
Network and learn from your peers
700 employees who qualify. The district plans to leave nonfaculty positions
unfilled and replace retired teachers
with younger professionals at lower
salaries. If a third of the eligible staff
accepts the buyout, Lassiter says,
DCCCD could save $5.27 million.
Many community colleges are also
taking a hard look at facilities budgets.
For instance, YC shuttered rented space
used for some classes and closed onsite
health clinics. “They were doing a great
job, but we decided that that was not
core to our mission,” Ewell says. Sports
programs are also increasingly seen as
a luxury. YC is dropping two of its six
sports next year.
Enrollment Strategies
While colleges question if they’ll have
enough funds to provide the instructors and facilities necessary to meet
spiking enrollments, COD’s Breuder
views student recruitment as an integral part of his financial plan. The college is selectively boosting enrollment
Presidents Academy Summer Institute
July 9–12, 2011
Asheville, N.C.
Washington Institute
November 5–7, 2011
Washington, D.C.
Workforce Development Institute
January 25–28, 2012
Miami, Fla.
2012 Annual Convention
April 21–24, 2012
Orlando, Fla.
For more information on these events,
please visit www.aacc.nche.edu and click on
“Events” under the News and Events tab.
American Association of Community Colleges
www.aacc.nche.edu
36
COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOURNAL
June/July 2011
maRtIN PaUl/PhotolIBRaRY
Selective Hiring
“We might not have used the word
‘enrollment caps’ up to this point.
But if this trend continues, we will have
limitations on how many we can serve.”
—Wright Lassiter, chancellor, Dallas County Community College District
with promotions designed to draw
more students to English, math, and
liberal arts courses. “You can go from
30 to 32 to 35 in a classroom, or add a
section, and it doesn’t cost you money,”
he says. “These are your profit centers.”
Not so for more technical programs,
such as health care, which is why COD
isn’t courting more nursing students.
“If you go from 120 to 140 students in
nursing, you bring in a whole plethora
of operating costs to be able to provide
that additional education,” he says.
“We are maxed out, and to augment
that would mean additional costs that
would outdistance the revenue.”
The school also doubled tuition in
selected health care programs, which
amounts to additional revenues of
$500,000, Breuder says.
Budget cuts have hurt YC’s nursing
program. Despite a national need for
health care workers, the college has
announced a plan to cut in half the
number of students in its nursing sector.
Impact on Students
Almost across the board, community
college administrators say their No. 1
priority is to minimize the impact of
funding cuts on students. But even the
best intentions are just that: intentions.
Tuition increases are common. Case
in point: If the “middle-case” budget
scenario materializes for California’s
CCCD, student fees will rise from $26
to $36 per instructional unit. If the
worst-case budget forecast hits, fees
could shoot up to $66 per unit, Dunn
says.
YC plans to bump up its per-credithour rate by $3 in the coming year,
and COD has already started requiring its employees to pay a portion of
tuition, once free, for themselves and
their families.
And that still might not be enough.
The real problem for community
colleges will come when they have to
start walling off students.
“We might not have used the word
‘enrollment caps’ up to this point,”
DCCCD’s Lassiter says. “But if this
trend continues, we will have limitations on how many we can serve.”
ALAN JOCH is a business and education
writer based in Francestown, N.H.
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5
The current economic, social, and political climate
presents such an unprecedented threat to the mission
of community colleges that only radical changes will
ensure a future in which their quality and purpose are
maintained. This chapter offers a framework for how
presidents and boards can meet the urgent need of staying
true to the college’s mission in the face of emerging fiscal
and educational crises.
Increased Enrollment + Student Success –
Funding = ?
James D. Tschechtelin
As the story goes, a frog dropped in a pot of boiling water will immediately
jump out. However, a frog placed in a pot of tepid water will stay there as
the water temperature rises until it is cooked. The coming five to ten years
will drop community colleges into a lot of hot water. The question is this:
Will community colleges sense the danger and jump out, or will they simply try to acclimate and get cooked? The theses of this chapter are that (1)
current trends in the external environment of community colleges constitute such an unprecedented threat that their mission will inevitably be
damaged, and (2) only radical changes by community colleges will secure
a future in which their quality is sustained. Incremental, short-term
responses are futile in the face of this new reality.
Assumptions
Two assumptions are made in this analysis. First, it is assumed that an educated citizenry is essential to a democratic and successful nation. Thomas
Jefferson wrote, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of
civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Education is
important for economic growth and for the human development of our
country. Education promotes economic development through the creative
energy that leads to new ideas as well as to the preparation of men and
women with the ability to participate fully in the knowledge-based economy. The ability of our nation to compete in a global economy depends on
NEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES, no. 156, Winter 2011 © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/cc.466
49
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PRESIDENTS AND ANALYSTS DISCUSS CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES
an educated citizenry. “Our nation’s dominant position in the world order
is at great risk” (College Board, 2008). Education promotes human development by giving each person the opportunity to develop his or her gifts
and talents to the fullest possible degree.
Second, it is assumed that community colleges are the segment of
higher education that bears the greatest responsibility for educating
low-income students and students of color. Community colleges provide
education and training to 43 percent of the college students in the nation
and to even higher proportions of low-income students and students of
color (American Association of Community Colleges, 2011b).
Trends Facing Community Colleges
Three dominant forces in the external environment are shaping the new
reality facing community colleges in the next decade. These forces are
positioned to have a dramatic and lasting impact on community colleges.
They include: growing enrollment, pressure to improve student success,
and sharply declining government support.
Growing Enrollment. Community colleges have a long, proud tradition of opening doors to college for millions of students. From the earliest
days of community colleges in the United States, one of the essential elements of their mission has been student access. Community colleges have
opened the doors to higher education in multiple ways, improving geographic access, financial access, academic access, and disabled access. With
low tuition and open admission policies, community college enrollment
had grown to 6.8 million credit students in 2007 (American Association of
Community Colleges, 2011b). The American Association of Community
Colleges estimates that enrollment in community colleges grew 16.9 percent between 2007 and 2009. Some of this growth can be attributed to the
recession of 2008–2009; enrollment growth in community colleges is often
inversely related to the strength of the economy as men and women turn to
college to prepare for new or upgraded careers. Minority student enrollment in higher education is growing rapidly, and the greatest increases are
in community colleges (Fry, 2010). This growing enrollment in community
colleges brings pressures to hire additional faculty and staff, secure additional facilities, and provide supporting resources.
Pressure to Improve Student Success. While student access has
long been a theme for community colleges, more recent emphasis has been
on student success. Earlier work on the Learning College by O’Banion
(1997) set the stage, and the current accent on student success began in
2004 with a multiyear national initiative, Achieving the Dream (B.
McClenney, personal communication, January 7, 2011). Spurred by data
showing that only 45 percent of entering community college students earn
an associate degree or transfer to a four-year college within six years,
Achieving the Dream (2011) currently includes more than 130 institutions
NEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES • DOI: 10.1002/cc
INCREASED ENROLLMENT + STUDENT SUCCESS ? FUNDING = ?
51
in 24 states and the District of Columbia. The purpose of Achieving the
Dream is to improve the success of community college students and of lowincome students of color in particular. The initiative is based on four principles: committed leadership, the use of evidence/data, broad e…
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