Board Report – July 2006

Report from Lane Community College President Mary Spilde
To the Lane Community College Board of Education
July 19, 2006

With respect to the budget, we are closing out the books for 2005-06, while preparing for the new year. We continue to work to implement the budget reductions. I will have a final report on the outcomes in September. As you can imagine, this is a very complex process, and there are still some issues to be ironed out.

I would like to welcome some of our classified staff here this evening. Knowing about the content of some of the e-mails they have received, I want to state—as I did today in an e-mail to all classified staff—that while there is a potential disagreement on the interpretation of the contract, no decisions have been made. The so-called threat to all classified members jobs is an empty threat that was not created by us. As far as I am concerned, we are still in a collaborative, problem-solving mode.

College Council has been discussing the budget development process for 2006-07 and, as requested by the board, we will share recommendations on principles, criteria, strategies, priorities, assumptions and projections at the board retreat in September.

At the state level, the Governor is still talking about increasing the community college support fund to $480 million. This will certainly help, but it will not solve our revenue problems. The State Board of Education, however, has requested that the Governor include $529 million for support of community colleges. Obviously, we prefer that number! The governor will also include a capital construction package. We are number five on the list, so we should be funded for the Health and Wellness building.

Also, the governor is endorsing a new Opportunity Grant model. Community college presidents were involved in its development.

Tonight, you will vote on the ballot measure for the local option. If all of these efforts come to fruition, they will help our budget deficit. However, I think it is fair to say that the short- and long-term financial sustainability of the college is on the line. We must radically change how we are conducting our work if we are going to survive.

I am happy to report that our efforts to increase enrollment are paying off. Preliminary figures for 2005-06 indicate an increase of about 5.5 percent. Most of the increase was in non-credit instruction. That should help us three years from now as the figures are incorporated into the funding formula.

The Dental Assisting class of 2006 had a 100 percent pass rate on the general chairside exam, and all of the students are now Nationally Certified Dental Assistants. 50 percent of those students were employed at the time of graduation with many others having scheduled interviews for employment.

The Respiratory Care Program had a graduating class of fifteen students, eleven of which are already employed or had job offers at the time of graduation.

The first year class of nursing students started with 72 students and ended with 70 students - we won't know the board exam results until Fall. The second year nursing class started with 70 students and ended with 66 students - we will have their board results in Fall term as well. However, the graduating nursing students have excellent job opportunities, and many students already have received multiple job offers.

Two weeks ago, I joined four other presidents and community college board members to talk with Congressman David Wu from Portland. He is co-chair of the Community College caucus in Congress. Over 110 members have joined, including Congressman DeFazio.

Last night I met with about thirty people and Governor Kulongoski to discuss his ideas for the education enterprise.

I’ve been out on the speaking circuit quite a bit lately. I spoke recently to the Delta Rotary group, was the keynote speaker for Catholic Community Services, presented at the American Association of Community Colleges Future Leaders Institute and also at the Oregon Institute for Leadership Development.

Art instructors Lee Imonen and Andy Salzman, Division Chair Rick Williams, Board member Susie Johnson and I traveled recently to Ophir, Oregon, to see the work of sculptor Douglas Purdy. A patron of Mr. Purdy’s would like to donate some of his sculptures to higher education, and Lane will be receiving three of them. We are very grateful to receive this beautiful artwork for our campus.

Finally, I would like to thank Roger Hall for his leadership this last year. His experience in leading the board and his style in working with staff is very much appreciated.