News Releases
News from
Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon
Public information officer: Joan Aschim, (541) 463-5591, aschimj@lanecc.edu
for release August 29, 2002
LCC preparing to trim another $2.8 million this year
EUGENE — Lane Community College will cut an additional $2.8 million from its current-year budget following a directive from the governor to state-funded agencies to reduce their budgets in response to the state revenue shortfall forecast of $482 million.
The $2.8 million reduction is in addition to a $5 million reduction made last spring. The current general fund of $69,597,518 is 7 percent smaller than last year's and another $2.8 million reduction will shrink the budget another 4 percent.
"It was my hope that we would have this year to stabilize after the very difficult choices we made last year," President Mary Spilde wrote in an e-mail to staff yesterday. "However, the uncertainties that I talked about in board meeting after board meeting during spring term are now upon us."
Lane's Board of Education considered a local option levy for the November 5 ballot at a work session on Monday. A levy would net about $1 million for the college. However, the board decided not to pursue a levy at this time because it would reduce tax revenues for local K-12 schools, bring in far less than what Lane needs to restore service levels, and is a limited solution for what administrators and board members unanimously agree is a statewide funding crisis for public education. The board may consider a levy in the future.
In the meantime, the board directed administration to develop plans for rebalancing the 2002/03 budget. College executives will focus on this for the next two weeks including consulting employee groups and student leadership. Budget recommendations will be presented at the next board meeting on September 11 to be held at Lane's Florence campus. Final decisions will need to be made in early October to give students as much notice as possible.
"We intend to try to minimize impact on students as much as possible but undoubtedly students will see a difference in services and offerings," says Spilde. Students should prepare for fewer choices, limited hours of operation, and longer timelines for processing applications.
Strong demand for college offerings continues. 2001/02 enrollment reports show mostly-credit FTE (full-time-equivalent) up 8.3 percent over the previous year. Summer mostly-credit FTE is up 13.8 percent over a year ago, as of fourth-week reports. Financial aid applications are up about 23 percent from last year. Annual registration, which allows students to register in advance for a full year, has 2,635 students enrolled for this fall, compared to 1,965 last fall. New student registration begins September 3 and classes begin September 23.
The president is impressed with staff resiliency and their dedication to providing excellent service to students in such challenging times. "I am confident that together we can figure a way through this mess and make the best decisions for the college."
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