Edmonds Community College Braces for More Budget Cuts

Earlier this month, the state Senate released a budget proposal to cut funding to community and technical colleges for the 2011-2013 biennium by about 16 percent. The Senate cuts are anticipated to hurt colleges more than the upcoming governor’s proposal or the House budget submitted a week before.

 “It’s not so much that the cuts are worse, “said Kevin McKay, Edmonds Community College (EdCC) Vice President for Finance and Operation. “It is that they are so much more prescriptive.”

In addition to telling the colleges how much of a cut to take, McKay said, the Senate is telling schools how and where to make those cuts. This limits the decision making ability of schools across the state to tailor cuts individually.

“I think it is most effective for the legislation, but we need the flexibility.” McKay said.

An 11 percent tuition increase is expected for community and technical colleges. The House and Senate budget proposals would eliminate the Running Start program and the Worker Retraining and Opportunity Grant, as well as suspend state work study.

EdCC freshman Michael Dixon expressed dismay at the possible tuition increase.

“Tuition is already ridiculous,” Dixon said.

Dixon is trying to get through college as quickly as he can to avoid tuition increases beyond the near horizon.

EdCC won't know anything certain about budget cuts immediately. Gov. Gregoire just called for a special legislative session, beginning today and lasting up to 30 days, to debate and plan the state budget. Even so, EdCC is trying to be proactive in preparation for cuts, and to make changes that will have the least impact on the students.

EdCC President Dr. Jean Hernandez said they've been working with the school's vice presidents. Each of the vice presidents, in turn, has been talking to staff and faculty to see where cuts can be made. EdCC anticipates the cuts to be between $4.2 and $4.6 million.

“They are going up in this range that we have never seen before,” said George Smith, vice president for student services.

Higher education employee salaries are exempt from the 3 percent salary reductions; however, faculty and administration are more concerned about layoffs and decreased benefit coverage. Some positions, once vacated, are not filled or eliminated to prevent layoffs. Smith is looking to retire within a few years and is concerned that his position will be eliminated to the detriment of the students.

“We already took a $1.5 million cut this year,” Hernandez said.

Fortunately, excess enrollment has helped make up the difference so far. Each school is given a target number of students to enroll with the money it is allocated by the state. Excess enrollment is when a school goes over that number. Currently, EdCC is averaging up to 25 percent over that target.

“We serve a lot more students than we are getting the allocation to serve,” McKay said.

EdCC is able to do that by applying for a lot of contracts and grants and recruiting internationally. International students pay up to three times the tuition of local students. For that reason, the University of Washington is considering limiting in-state admissions to allow for greater out-of-state and international students.

“It doesn’t work that way for us,” McKay said. “We’ve done everything we can to keep our doors open to everyone who shows up.”

Smith added: “Edmonds Community has been ahead of the curve for a long time with international students with what they bring into the college. We are not doing that at the expense of Washington residents.”

Who will generate the most revenue is not a decision-making factor in admissions, according to McKay, who has been praised for reminding staff and faculty at meetings of the EdCC decision- making guidelines. These guidelines were sent in a recent e-mail to the EdCC staff and faculty.

“Remember who we are and who we serve, minimize impact on student access and support, minimize impact on employee base, ensure open communication and feedback (transparency), generate additional revenue as a first resort, and look at all funds.”

“That does make me feel better,” said Nicholas Oswald, a budding filmmaker. Attending EdCC for his associate transfer degree, he is concerned about some classes being cut and the degree requirements changed, forcing students to take classes they are not suited for.

“I am not very good at math, not very good at cooking, and not very good at sports,” he said.

EdCC covers a number of disciplines to be able to serve as diverse a student population as it can. It is considered one of the top feeder schools to state four-year universities. It also has a number of technical training programs, like the culinary arts program, for example. There is even a residence hall on campus, a rarity for a community college.

EdCC is bracing for the worst while still trying to serve as an institute of learning. With more cuts coming each year, schools like EdCC can only trim so much fat before they start to cut into the meat.

“At what point are we no longer fulfilling our mission?” McKay asked.

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(PETER SESSUM is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.)