Budget cuts hit Texas colleges

By Jonathan Pechon
Editor

DCCCD loses $7.4 million; North Lake College slashes $606,600

The threat and consequences of operating the budget at a multi-billion-dollar deficit has been hanging over Texas for some time. On Jan. 23, the results struck Dallas County Community College District.

On that day, the district was informed of a seven percent budget cut for the semester. This is part of a $700 million package of cuts in spending being implemented by Gov. Rick Perry, $343.8 million of which is being cut from institutions of higher learning.

The cuts will affect all state-funded institutions, including four-year universities, community colleges and medical and nursing schools. The University of Texas campuses at Austin and Arlington will respectively face $19 million and $6.1 million in cuts. The University of North Texas will trim approximately $8 million, while DCCCD will pare more than $7.4 million from its expenditures.

North Lake College’s portion of these cuts comes to $606,600. The original amount was $850,000 but cuts at the district level reduced the amount.

“If you want to create a stronger Texas economy, you can’t cut education,” said Dr. Herlinda Coronado, president of NLC.

A Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC) study shows that for every dollar the state invests in community colleges it gets back about $18. According to TACC, the reductions in budget add up to a net loss over time of $1.157 billion.

Students at NLC will feel the impact of the cuts almost immediately. Maymester for this year has been cancelled. Summer II was initially cancelled but will proceed with a limited offering of classes. Tuition will also be increased by $4 a credit hour from $26 to $30. Discounts on tuition for afternoon classes will be discontinued at the end of this semester.

Summer offerings will be cut on other DCCCD campuses as well. Richland will cut Maymester and Summer I, while Brookhaven will cut only Maymester. Mountain View and Cedar Valley will have their summer offerings reduced, but will still hold all three sections. El Centro’s summer classes will be unaffected.

“It’s not fair to students how fast this is happening,” said Jane Ingles, vice-president of NLC’s Student Government Association. “People aren’t going to be able to graduate when they want to.”

While there will be no reduction of full-time faculty, hiring has been frozen for other positions, including many administrative positions normally held by students. Travel has been severely curtailed for faculty, but shouldn’t affect student travel such as the Rome trip. Funding for staff development and functions has been reduced. Finally, technology purchases have been cut from $200,000 to $100,000.

The cuts will undergo heavy scrutiny by the governor and his office. Included with the governor’s order to cut was a list of recommendations on how to accomplish these cuts. The list includes eliminating foreign travel and reduced capital improvements. The cuts were also to be implemented in such a way to minimize the impact on services.

TACC responded to the cuts on Jan. 29 in a letter to the governor’s office. The hand-delivered letter outlined that the cuts would be implemented on a school-to-school basis, but could not be accomplished without affecting services to the students.

“They will result in a reduction in the ability of public community colleges to educate the citizens,” the letter states.

The governor’s office has responded to TACC’s decisions with disappointment. Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for the governor, said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News, “By taking the approach community colleges have, by saying flat out ‘We can’t do it,’ the governor and Legislature will have to dictate cuts to them.”

The dictated cuts could include a sharp cut in the state’s funding of insurance benefits for community college staff, a possibility hinted at in Gov. Perry’s State of the State Address.

At a meeting to discuss the cuts, Coronado described how community colleges expend most of their funds on salaries and operating expenses, and very little on the areas where the governor recommends the cuts be made. “Our governor didn’t understand how community colleges work,” Coronado said.

These cuts come as a precursor to even greater cuts that will be necessary in the coming year. An estimated additional 12.5 percent in cuts will be necessary to help overcome the deficit. In a student forum, Cornado said that projects such as the Student Life Center and upcoming faculty raises may be delayed or put off indefinitely as a result.

“I do know it’s going to be a challenge,” said Coronado. “We need to hold the line and concentrate on quality.”