| RELEASE: Immediate | CONTACT: Public Affairs |
| DATE: August 3, 2004 | PHONE: (919) 807-6962, (919) 807-6963 |
Enrollment growth, pay raises, new equipment money top $891 million budget approved by State Board of Community Colleges
RALEIGH: The State Board of Community Colleges today (Tuesday, August 3) approved policies for the distribution of an operating budget of $891 million for the current fiscal year (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005).
The budget includes more than $88.2 million in new funds appropriated by the General Assembly, which adjourned in July.
Members of the State Board praised the General Assembly for providing expansion funds in difficult economic days, attributing the new money to recognition of the importance of community colleges in rebuilding the economy.
"Now we can do a better job hiring and keeping great teachers, plus providing the space and equipment they need," according to H. Martin Lancaster, president of the N. C. Community College System. "Economic troubles of the past few years have meant tens of thousands of new students in our colleges, and we have to be able to offer them the workforce skills they must have to get new and better jobs."
Most of the new funds come through the systemwide Formula Allocation, which distributes money for instruction based on the number of students enrolled. This year’s allocation is $78.5 million more than last year’s, an increase of 10.5%. The formula includes $23.4 million to help cover the tremendous enrollment growth of recent years. Budgeted enrollment growth increased overall by 8,047 full-time equivalent (FTE) students, an increase of 4.5% over 2003-04. Enrollment grew in curriculum (4.7%), occupational continuing education (4.4%), and basic skills (2.6%).
The statewide formula allocation also includes salary increases for community college staff and faculty. In addition to raises for all state employees, the General Assembly appropriated additional funds for faculty and professional staff in the community colleges and wrote into the law a commitment to move salaries toward national averages over the next five years.
At today’s called meeting, the State Board approved salary rules that:
- provide a minimum salary increase of 4.5% for all full-time faculty and professional staff,
- allocate $1.2 million to boost the pay of the most poorly paid full-time faculty to an established minimum;
- tie budget flexibility to improving average curriculum salaries; and
- require adjunct faculty salaries to be increased comparably to full-time faculty and to reflect class preparation time and other work outside the classroom.
For the first time in many years, the General Assembly increased the recurring appropriation for instructional equipment. T otal recurring funding grew by $6 million, from $15.3 to $21.3 million, an increase of 39%.
"Equipment money is most welcome as we open the new buildings and renovated spaces made possible by the Higher Education Bonds passed in 2000," according to President Lancaster. "This new funding makes at least a dent in about $225 million worth of equipment needs."
Colleges with multiple campuses received full funding for their request for $6.9 million in new dollars, while off-campus centers received their first state funding ever, $1.4 million. These State Board-approved entities guarantee convenient access to working adults, while avoiding the cost of building additional colleges. The State Board directed staff to collect detailed expenditures for each multi-campus college and off-campus center.
The budget also includes $6.1 million in new money for training for new, expanding and existing industries.
In other actions, the State Board:
- allocated $600,000 to the Hosiery Technology Center at Catawba Valley Community College.
- allocated a contingency reserve between enrollment growth and grants to colleges experiencing high unemployment due to manufacturing job losses
- directed that required studies on the Center for Applied Textile Technology and Funding Formula Study proceed as quickly as possible.
The State Board of Community College will hold its regular monthly meeting on August 19 and 20 at the Caswell Building in downtown Raleigh.
The North Carolina Community College System is the state’s primary provider of workforce training, adult education and literacy programs. The System’s 59 institutions enroll more than 800,000 adults. For details about this release and the overall work of the system, contact the Public Affairs Office in Raleigh, 919-807-7100.
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