Board Report - June 2009

It is really hard to believe that this is the last board meeting of the academic year. It's been an incredibly challenging year given the economy, enrollment growth and trying to develop a sustainable, long term budget. Nevertheless, many positive things have happened. I look forward to sharing more of the accomplishments of the college with you in the coming months.

Later this evening you will be asked to adopt a budget for 2009-10. I am pleased to recommend a balanced budget to you. However, I need to reiterate that this budget is a house of cards: it is built on a best estimate of state funding; it is built on an additional 3% growth on top of over 13% this year - this is not sustainable in the long term; it is built on a number of one-time adjustments - whether it is furlough days, materials and services cuts, use of the ending fund balance - this is not sustainable either; it is built on a compensation package for all groups which includes only half steps and another year where we do not catch up on cost of living adjustments. It is built on increases in tuition and mandatory fees. None of this is sustainable, but in these severe economic times it is as good as it can be. It avoids lay-offs; retaining employees gives us capacity to continue to serve students and accommodate growth; there is pain but to the extent possible, it is shared.

I am very concerned about the long term; two years from now the federal stimulus will disappear, creating a huge hole in the state budget; our enrollment may decline as people go back to work; the economy may not improve sufficiently to fill up the state coffers to fill the gap in enrollment or the federal stimulus. I believe the State of Oregon will be on very shaky ground for the next few years and that we will all have to set our expectations appropriately as we move forward. We should address this starting with the board work session in July so that we can update our strategic plan and have that drive the budget development.

We have been working hard at the legislature regarding the support fund as well as funding for the Downtown Campus. Our budget hearing is tomorrow, and I would invite you to attend. Bob Ackerman and I met with Speaker Hunt's staff as well as Rep. Galizio regarding the DTC. We are on the Speaker's list but need to work with the Senate. We are moving forward with discussions with the City of Eugene.

I am happy to tell you that we reached an agreement with the LCCEF after three days of bargaining. I see this as a very similar settlement to the faculty and look forward to ratification in the near future. I feel very fortunate that we have avoided lay-offs and have done everything we can to minimize the impact of a terrible economy on our staff.

We had a wonderful celebration of the groundbreaking of the Health and Wellness building. Founding president, Dale Parnell, did a wonderful job of reminding us about why we are here, and it was gratifying to see our generous donors. It was great to see many of the people engaged with the project share in turning the dirt!

Two faculty received the Faculty Recognition Awards this term: Lee Imonen, sculpture faculty member, who is responsible for our site specific sculpture class, and Cara Di Marco who teaches in the Women in Transition program. Congratulations to them.

I will be traveling to Amman, Jordan on Sunday for a week to participate in a symposium with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education to share insights about the community college movement. Just as well I became a citizen!

I would like to welcome James Manning, the new ASLCC president, to the board table. I look forward to working with him this year. I would like to thank outgoing president Josh Canaday. We have had a very active student government this year. They have participated in councils and have been actively involved in budget development. This is a result of leadership and so I would like to thank Josh and his exemplary team for their contributions to Lane.

I would like to congratulate Susie on her re-election. Also, it is with great sadness that we say thank you and goodbye to two board members for their service to the college, Pat Riggs-Henson and Paul Holman. We will miss you.