SBCC gives tentative 04-05 budget approval

For Release: IMMEDIATE	Contact: Public Affairs
Date: February 12, 2004	(919) 807-6963

STATE BOARD ON CURRENT COMMUNITY COLLEGE BUDGET: "UNACCEPTABLE FISCAL SITUATION!"

Research Triangle Park: Citing a need to drastically change the present budget situation for the North Carolina Community College System, the State Board of Community Colleges gave its unanimous and enthusiastic preliminary support to a list of budget items that will eventually be sent to Governor Easley and the General Assembly. The list includes funding areas of most serious concern.

In discussing the proposed list of requests, the members agreed that the fiscal situation the North Carolina Community College System now has is "unacceptable" and has to improve.

"It’s critical that we [community colleges] get our fair share of the [budget] pie, especially in equipment funding," said Board member Anne-Marie Knighton. She also addressed faculty and professional salaries adding, "It’s unconscionable that the salaries for some of the hardest working people I know rank last in our region."

Kennon Briggs, NCCCS Vice President for Budget and Finance, reported the System served 29,700 new full time equivalent students (FTE) over a four-year period with a net budget reduction of $33.5 million. Over the past four fiscal years, per-student funding has declined from $3,931 to $3,417, a decrease of 13 percent per student. This is a trend that greatly troubled Board Chair James Woody.

Woody acknowledged that the System is known for doing a lot with very little. "The question is," he said, "What is it that we didn’t do for our students that we could have done if there were funds?"

The budget items the Board tentatively approved include:

$ 58.7 million for enrollment growth, faculty and professional staff salaries and summer term funding
This item includes a plan that would move faculty and professional staff to 85% of their respective national average and restoring the proposed elimination of summer term funding.

$223.5 million to meet the equipment needs that will modernize community colleges
Present equipment funding totals about $16 million, far below the level required to meet the backlog of equipment modernization needs and to equip the new facilities built with the 2000 Higher Education Bond Funds.

$17.1 million for valuable business and industry training resources
This line item includes funds for Customized, Industrial, and New and Expanding Industry Training, a vital part of attracting and retaining businesses in North Carolina. It also includes money for the 58 Small Business Centers across the state, which will also operate Business Licensing Information Offices, transferred to the NCCCS by the General Assembly.

$10.9 million in additional funding for community colleges with multiple campuses and/or off-campus centers.
The $102,600 now provided per multi-campus location is insufficient to meet student needs. This forces the 13 multi-campus colleges to spend anywhere from several hundred thousand to more than a million dollars from their budgets to support those stand-alone campuses. Off-campus centers provide convenience locations for many displaced workers and need funding.

Final approval of the budget request items is expected at the March meeting.

In other action the Board:

Approved the appointment of Dr. Hartwell Fuller as Interim President of Edgecombe Community College. Fuller has served as ECC president since 1994 and retires on February 29. He will serve as interim until August 31, while the college seeks his successor. Fuller's association with ECC began more than 35 years ago, when the institution first opened its doors to students in 1968. He was named Director of Adult Education that year, and went on to serve as Dean of Instruction from 1971 to 1987 and as Executive Vice President from 1987 until 1993.

Approved the New and Expanding Industry Training 2003-2004 Semi Annual Report which now goes to the General Assembly.

Approved the start of a process that will require each community college to set specific policy regarding personnel practices, including dual employment by presidents and others.

The State Board met at University of North Carolina Television in Research Triangle Park. Part of the meeting included a presentation of digital technology that offers cooperative opportunities.

-NCCCS-

Back to previous page.

RETURN TO TOP OF CURRENT PAGE

Last modified: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 10:30:45 AM

This page maintained by Public Affairs.

	$ 58.7 million for enrollment growth, faculty and professional staff salaries and summer term funding This item includes a plan that would move faculty and professional staff to 85% of their respective national average and restoring the proposed elimination of summer term funding.
	$223.5 million to meet the equipment needs that will modernize community colleges Present equipment funding totals about $16 million, far below the level required to meet the backlog of equipment modernization needs and to equip the new facilities built with the 2000 Higher Education Bond Funds.
	$17.1 million for valuable business and industry training resources This line item includes funds for Customized, Industrial, and New and Expanding Industry Training, a vital part of attracting and retaining businesses in North Carolina. It also includes money for the 58 Small Business Centers across the state, which will also operate Business Licensing Information Offices, transferred to the NCCCS by the General Assembly.
	$10.9 million in additional funding for community colleges with multiple campuses and/or off-campus centers. The $102,600 now provided per multi-campus location is insufficient to meet student needs. This forces the 13 multi-campus colleges to spend anywhere from several hundred thousand to more than a million dollars from their budgets to support those stand-alone campuses. Off-campus centers provide convenience locations for many displaced workers and need funding.