Budget Department
BUDGET REDUCTIONS
January 27, 2010
The magnitude of the budget cuts ranging from 8% to 22% has long-term detrimental implications for all areas, including
serving students and the community. The upper range of the budget reduction at 22% is $7 million dollars to be reduced
in 2010-2011 from a $37.9 million state appropriation (which includes ARRA funds). The impact is exacerbated by
following on budget cuts that were made in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.
Staffing
The college will continue what was planned as a temporary reorganization, which included filling management positions
with internal reassignments.
Three of the positions are cabinet level: vice president of student services (filled by combining the vice president of
academic affairs and vice president student services into one position); director of human resources (filled on an interim
basis by an internal person); executive director of the foundation and institutional advancement (filled on an interim basis
by an internal person).
We will not fill open positions. A soft freeze on all open positions has been in place since July 2009. The college will add
another 30 professional and classified positions to the positions not to be filled. In some cases, we have outsourced certain
services in order to keep buildings operational.
These vacancies have an impact throughout the college. Building custodial and maintenance service reductions surface as
dirty floors and snow remaining in areas of the parking lots. Reductions in other areas directly affect students, for
example, in the cashier and student services areas students wait in lines and have longer waits when scheduling advising
and counseling appointments.
There is an impact on both the college and the state. College employees have taken on additional duties. The additional
work load and the furlough days have created many personal hardships. Eliminating positions also adds to the number of
persons in the state that are not employed and thus are not contributing members to our society.
When these staffing actions are fully implemented they represent a budget reduction of $3 million.
Reductions in Section Offerings
TMCC student FTE has grown consistently over the years with a 7% plus growth in fall 2009. To date, we have not reduced
section offerings by dedicating the student excess fee revenue to sections to support the growth. This has been possible by
hiring adjunct faculty for these sections. Hiring adjunct faculty has not affected the quality of our instruction, to date.
Adjunct faculty members are carefully screened; they attend an orientation with training from all support areas of the
college; and many full-time faculty mentor adjunct faculty. It is questionable as to whether the college can continue to
support the student FTE growth experienced to date.
The college has moved to an enrollment management plan to maximize high demand courses and reduce or eliminate low
enrollment classes. Implementing this strategy has supported our continuing student FTE growth.
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Reformatted: 7/14/2010
TMCC is an EEO/AA (equal opportunity/affirmative action) institution and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race, color, religion, disability, national origin or sexual orientation in the programs or activities
which it operates.
Part-time/Full-time Ratio
The inability to hire more full-time faculty and the increased reliance on part-time faculty has reduced the full-time/parttime ratio. The full-time to part-time ratio in fall 2008 was 52% to 48%. The full-time to part-time ratio in fall 2009 was
43% to 57%.
Students Affected
By protecting faculty positions (full time and adjunct), TMCC will be able to offer the same programs and classes in 20102011 as is offered in 2009-2010. Unfortunately, the college cannot expand the programs and class offerings so many
students are not able to enroll in the programs or classes of their choice. For fall 2009 the preliminary number of
applicants that attempted to enroll but failed to get into the classes of their choice was in excess of 10,000. Of this number
1,657 applicants attempted, but were unable, to enroll in programs or classes of their choice and left the college
completely. The students that enrolled may see a delay in time to complete certificates or graduate. This is a form of
capping enrollment.
The college has also capped several high cost programs: nursing, radiological technology, dental hygiene and veterinarian
technology. To maintain these programs the college is looking to the TMCC Foundation and the community organizations
involved in each of the programs to assist with operating resources.
Programs that May be Eliminated or Capped
Several of our high-cost programs listed above are already capped. The college is currently reviewing the TMCC
Educational Master Plan. The results of this review may produce changes or possible deletions in programs.
What Centers/Units May be Reduced
The college is reviewing the educational master plan. This review may affect sites and/or programs. An analysis of site
costs demonstrated minimum savings in dollars but a major impact on students - specifically students in the Workforce
Development and Continuing Education program, students in career and technical programs, nursing and vet tech and all
of our alternative energy classes.
An Addition - Operating Reductions
Many efficiency actions have taken place beginning with the first budget cut in 2007-2008: saving on utilities by lowering
temperatures in the winter and raising temperatures in the summer; renegotiating contracts, including reducing services;
cutting non-personnel operating budgets and travel budgets by 50% or more and by adding restrictions; combining low
enrollment sections; extending the useful life of equipment such as computer laboratory equipment to five years and
employee computers to five years plus (depending upon the needs of a faculty member).
It is anticipated that the budget emergency of the state will not continue forever and TMCC can manage with the above
hardships during this budget emergency.
Page 2 of 2; Budget Reductions
Reformatted: 7/14/2010
TMCC is an EEO/AA (equal opportunity/affirmative action) institution and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race, color, religion, disability, national origin or sexual orientation in the programs or activities
which it operates.