Administration, trustees work to establish 2014- 15 budget
By Mike Abell
President Dr. Joe Sopcich announced via email three levels of budget actions would be executed in the upcoming fiscal year with the expectance of facilitating college expenditures . Levels one and two have been implemented while level three remains ongoing.
The first two levels are simplistic, primarily focusing on reducing the amount of faculty and staff positions and assessing various programs at the college. Level three is a compilation of ideas which will remain ongoing throughout this year and the next.
The third level assesses the academic and non-academic programs are up for review; enrollment management and position control, which oversee whether vacant positions need be filled, will also be put into effect.
“Level three, when it talks about continuous improvement opportunities, it basically talks about continuing some of the things we talked about at the beginning,” said Sopcich. “It’s not like levels one and two where it was very boom, boom, boom. You’re not going to go through level three and start checking them off like you could with levels one and two.”
The preliminary goal for savings was originally placed at $3 million by the board of trustees. Levels one and two of the budget cuts concluded in saving the college $3,856,121.
Despite the new goal not yet being established, the trustees are still ascertaining certain elements of the budget for next year.
“The budget process historically starts usually Oct. or Nov., and that’s when we start looking at these different types of things,” said Sopcich.
Level three doesn’t have an official end date, and because it is a collection of strategies, the process is “ongoing by nature,” said Sopcich.
Though he noted it’s quite common for most organizations to review all programs, the ultimate strive is for “continuous improvement.”
“It is kind of a good starting point – to sit back and look at the way different things operate and to create some structures around them,” Sopcich said, “and so that’s how it works.”
Contact Mike Abell, photo editor, at mabell@jccc.edu.