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LCC Considers Cuts As It Grapples With $10-million Shortfall

Lane Community College

Lane Community College faces a more than $10-million shortfall for the next school year. The administration presented budget-balancing recommendations to the Board of Education at its Wednesday meeting.

Lane has been losing students since it experienced a big enrollment boost during the great recession. LCC president Mary Spilde says enrollment is down about 40 percent since 2011-2012. She says now that the economy is better…
“People are choosing to go to work rather than come to school or to only come to school part time because they have jobs in the community.” Spilde says,  “It’s also, of course, to do with reductions from the state and the increases in tuition that occur when the state dis-invests. I mean our tuition increases are directly related to decreases from the state.”
Spilde says the board of education has told the college to live within its means and align staffing and programs with its enrollment level. That means investing in programs where there’s high student demand and good job prospects. Spilde says the recommendations include reducing staff, travel and material costs and increasing efficiencies. The most difficult cuts include reductions in…
“Early childhood education, geographic information systems, respiratory therapy, and our watershed science technician.” Spilde says, “Those are career and technical programs. Other programs proposed for reduction or elimination are our honors program, religion and philosophy classes, the successful aging institute and our workforce development services.”
Spilde says this will result in 8 faculty, 4 classified staff and one manager being laid off. She says the program reductions come to about 1.6 million dollars. The other proposal is to increase student tuition by 5 dollars. KLCC will not be held harmless in this process. The proposal is to suspend the collge’s $200 thousand contribution to the radio station for one year. Spilde says when LCC was doing well during the recession they helped out KLCC, now, since KLCC is able to support itself, the tables are turned.
 “The way I see it is we’re all part of the same family.” Spilde says, “We’re part of the lane family. And if one part of the family is doing a little better they help out the rest of the family and that’s part of the thinking behind not making this transfer.”
Spilde says there’s a public hearing next week on the proposed tuition increase. The board of education has until June to finalize next year’s budget. Mary Spilde is retiring from her post as LCC president at the end of the school year. She hopes to leave a balanced budget for her successor, Margaret Hamilton.
Lane Community College holds the license for KLCC. Rachael McDonald and other staff are employed by LCC.

 

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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