The Lane Community College board cut about $4.2 million when it approved its annual budget Wednesday. This comes after months of tense deliberations during which the college’s administration outlined programs and positions that could be cut.
The cuts will primarily come from eliminating 20.5 positions and two degree programs.
The college will also make cuts to some tutoring and support services. Lane Community College Education Association President Adrienne Mitchell said she worries the reductions will impact not only the people losing their jobs, but also remaining workers and students.
"That's going to make it more difficult for students to be able to get the assistance that they need with a course embedded tutor who is right there available to help them when they need it,” Mitchell said.
Higher education facing fiscal challenges
LCC spokesperson Jenna McCulley said tutoring will still be available in other ways. She said one of the college’s goals has been to keep cuts away from the classroom as much as possible.
“It is challenging, whenever you have a situation like many of the public entities in our area and our state, where we’re faced with the reality where our expenditures are outpacing our revenue,” McCulley said. “We have to do a little bit of adjustment, reflection and refinement of how we allocate that resource.”
According to LCC’s budget, support from the state hasn’t kept pace with inflation. The college had considered higher tuition hikes, but restricted its increase to 1.2% to limit impacts on already financially struggling students. Enrollment, while trending upward, is still below prepandemic levels.
Mitchell, faculty union president, said she believes the reductions may end up costing the college more in the long run. She worries the two cut programs, criminal justice and health information management, could discourage prospective students from attending LCC. She also fears cutting those programs could lead current students considering those degrees to transfer to other schools, which could mean the loss of more tuition dollars.
Communication concerns
Alison Morris, a health information management student who called into the meeting during public comment, said she felt like she’d been left in the dark after the college decided to eliminate her program. She said she was looking at other schools to continue her education.
“I understand that institutions face difficult decisions and I recognize that program closures are sometimes necessary,” Morris said. “However, students invest significant time, financial resources and sacrifices into their education with the expectation they will be supported throughout their academic journey.”
The college has previously shared transition plans for those programs. Health information management students will graduate with their degrees this school year. All other students will partner with Klamath Community College to continue their degrees.
Current criminal justice students will be able to finish their courses through a transition period. Future courses will be provided as part of the Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer Degree.
Many employees, during Wednesday’s meeting and at previous meetings, have said they also felt communication with the college’s administration was lacking. Some said they found out their job would be cut, or reassigned, from a colleague instead of a formal notification from their manager.
LCC Board Member Steve Mital asked employees to give the administration time to talk to affected employees first. He also asked the college community to be collaborative and respectful as job cuts, or reassignments, roll out.
Mital also asked LCC’s president to look for ways to improve communication moving forward.
Plan to stabilize the budget will take years
Kara Flath, vice president of finance and operations, said this year was the first in a three-year process to put LCC on a path toward financial stability. She said this fiscal year’s budget did include a public process with feedback from affected groups.
The college has had to make significant budget cuts for the last several years and implemented a temporary spending freeze last month.
LCC is now starting year two of the plan to stabilize the college’s finances and is creating work groups with both students and staff. The goal of the mitigation plan is to reduce spending by $8 million over three years.
Lane Community College holds the license for KLCC but has no part in KLCC’s editorial process and does not review news content before publication. This story was edited by an outside editor from the Northwest News Network.
