By Stephen Cook
President Joe Sopcich announced earlier today the changes that will take place at the college in an effort to reduce the budget. A number of vacant positions have been eliminated, with a savings of almost $3.1 million. Changes in college programming and services will amount to a savings of $772,503.
A number of teaching positions will not be filled, as well as administrative. Vice President and Executive Director are two functions that have been eliminated from the President’s Branch.
Additionally, the King’s Cove location will be closed and programs such as JCCC to the MAX and Performing Arts will undergo change. The museum store in the Nerman will be closed and the the general fund support of athletics will be reduced by $157,838.
In his email to faculty and staff, Sopcich explained that there are three levels to the budget actions for the upcoming fiscal year. Level one is reducing staffing, level two is assessing and making changes to programs and areas around campus and level three will continue to review areas throughout the spring semester. As of now, “there are no immediate budget savings accounted for in Level Three.”
The total reductions from level one and two amount to a total of $3,856,121. The college’s FY 2013-14 budget is $137,701,764.
“Originally, our goal was to cut at least $3 million in salaries and benefits from the college’s budget next year. However, as we gave our five-year budget projections another look, we felt our original projections were too optimistic,” Sopcich said in his email message. “For example, revenues this year will be down as a result of the decline in enrollment, and we are no longer assured that we will be able to see an increase in state aid next year. Our projections calling for annual increases in enrollment and state aid were overly optimistic and unrealistic. Therefore, to keep the college sustainable for the future, it is in our best interest to eliminate a little more than $3 million this year and continue to review our programs and processes each year to make sure we are functioning as efficiently as possible.”
Be sure to pick up issue 9 on Jan. 30 and visit CampusLedger.com for more updates over the coming weeks.
Contact Stephen Cook, editor-in-chief, at scook35@jccc.edu.