RALEIGH: "There aren’t many winners in this report," said System President H. Martin Lancaster. His comments came during the State Board of Community Colleges’ discussion of the MGT of America, Inc. study of the Community College System. Most of the members participated in the discussion by telephone.

Dr. Kent Caruthers prepared the report that was mandated in legislation enacted by the General Assembly in its last session. He focused on three primary areas - consolidation, support funding, and multi-campus colleges and off-campus center funding - and offered suggestions he felt would improve System efficiency and save State funds.

Caruthers suggested consolidation of functional services including human resources, business and financial services, and plant operations as a way to save more than two million dollars. The Board and System Office staff pointed out that existing services already operate efficiently and planned computer systems will improve that efficiency. It was also noted that some activities, such as hiring and day-to-day plant operations, must be handled locally.

Caruthers identified three colleges as possible candidates for consolidation with larger colleges: Pamlico, Montgomery, and Roanoke-Chowan. The identified colleges all have a Full Time Equivalent (FTE) enrollment under 1000 and according to Caruthers are more expensive to operate. However, in his opinion the benefits of consolidation are not sufficient to override the political pain of accomplishing the consolidation. Therefore he did not recommend consolidation, calling the action "not worth the effort."

Caruthers also identified changing the funding formula for instructional and administrative support as a source of savings. At present each college receives a base allotment that is supplemented according to the colleges’ FTE enrollment. Caruthers suggests reducing dramatically the basic allotment, which goes to all colleges regardless of size, and redistributing those dollars to colleges based on the new "blended" formula. This method would also consider both FTE and the headcount of all full and part time students. The Board liked the idea of a blended formula, but expressed concerns about the effect a reduction in the base allotment would have on the smaller colleges.

"This method would take existing funds and divide the pie differently," said Lancaster. "We need to increase the size of the pie. Smaller colleges would have no choice but to consolidate under Caruthers’ proposal because his base allotment would not be sufficient to keep the doors open."

The third area would change the funding policy for multi-campus colleges and off-campus centers. However, the recommendation would result in providing considerably less funding than the colleges have identified as the real need. Also, the proposal only addresses personnel costs, not operations expenses for these remote sites.

Board member Ann Turlington felt assumptions in the report were not valid. "It’s not analytical," she said. "We have to list our specific concerns when we present this to the legislators, " she added.

Board member Peter Hans suggested the Board needed to "make our case carefully." He said it was imperative that there be a clear interpretation of the data by the General Assembly.

The Board voted to accept the consultant’s report and send it to the Education Legislative Oversight Committee, which will not officially convene until after the present session of the General Assembly has adjourned. There will also be a memorandum listing the specific concerns the Board has with the report.

In other business the Board approved Dr. Mary E. Rittling as the new president of Davidson County Community College, effective August 15. Dr. Rittling is presently President and Regional Vice President at Potomac State College, West Virginia University. She began her career in education in 1973 as a nursing instructor at College of Technology at Delhi, which is a two-year college of the State University of New York. She left in 1999 after serving as interim president at the college. She is a native of Buffalo, New York.

-NCCCS-

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