TO: College Community
FROM: Mildred W. Ollée, President
DATE: May 26 , 2009
SUBJECT: Budget Update
After a long and difficult legislative session, we finally have a signed state budget. Seattle Central must reduce its budget by 10.7 percent. This percentage is consistent with what the State Board has been predicting for the last month. For some time, we have been anticipating a reduction of about $2.7 million. However, we received new numbers from the State Board late last week that have altered that figure. After factoring in the 08-09 tuition dollar increase ($710,412) and five percent of the seven percent tuition increase for 09-10 ($329,130) our net reduction is now approximately $1.7 million.
Seattle Central Budget Development Process
We began our usual budget process in January and it is nearly complete. All deans, directors and vice-presidents submitted a report to the budget subcommittee of the College Council in April. No department was allowed to request additional funding and everyone was asked to demonstrate how they would reduce their budget. Because it was our goal to protect our core mission of instruction, we had no choice but to make greater cuts in administrative services and student services.
Reductions by division:
President’s Unit 7 percent ($91,400)
Instruction 5 percent ($1,195,000)
Administrative Services 20 percent ($660,000)
Student Services 18 percent ($660,000)
With cuts of this magnitude, difficult decisions had to be made. We were forced to shift some positions to self-support or onto grant funding. Most vacant positions on campus will not be filled. While we do not have specifics yet, we do know that some layoffs will occur – on our campus and throughout the District. There is still uncertainty as to the extent of personnel reductions that will be required because the District is still negotiating retirement arrangements with the faculty and classified unions.
The budget subcommittee has been meeting during the month of May to develop recommendations for the College Council. I want to thank this group for its excellent work in the face of one of the most challenging budget situations in Washington state history. I am pleased with the broad representation that we had on the budget subcommittee: There were five faculty representatives, two classified and three administrators. George Gary chaired the committee.
Tuition Appropriation
You heard from Dr. Wakefield that the District has allocated additional tuition funds to be distributed throughout the district. We anticipate a net tuition allocation of $849,008. Most of this money will be used to offset the deep cuts we have taken in administrative services and student services. About $90,000 will be put in reserves to offset any unexpected reductions that could occur once we receive our final numbers from the State Board. Although our enrollment is very high at this time, we did not reach our FTE targets for fall or winter quarters. Hence, our tuition allocation is somewhat lower than it might have been had we met our annual FTE target.
I will hold a budget forum within two weeks where I will provide more information and answer your questions. As we move toward the end of the academic and fiscal year, be assured that Seattle Central will continue to have smaller but comprehensive course offerings, and will remain true to its mission.
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