BUDGET & RESOURCE COMMITTEE
Final Report
BUDGET CUTS
Administrators, faculty and staff in each division were asked:
“What budget cuts has your division faced and how have you dealt with them?”
Staff Vacancies
Respondents unanimously agreed that retirements and attrition have had a severe
impact on the institution. All divisions have felt the impact of leaving key
administrative, faculty, and staff positions vacant. This situation has limited growth
in the departments and ultimately lowered the quality of services provided. At the
time of this report there were over 100 vacancies college-wide with a plan underway
to fill 30+ faculty positions, largely full-time temporary positions. In the physical
plant area, vacancies have been downgraded to lower paying positions and shift
coverage needs have been realigned.
Capital Funding
Purchase of equipment, supplies and software as well as expenditures on building
repairs, infrastructure improvements, and replacements for aging furniture have been
severely limited because funds have not been available. This has directly affected the
science labs, academic computer labs, allied-health equipment, building
supplies/equipment and computer replacement. For example, during her presentation,
VP Morgan reported that, the radiography equipment was so old that students were
dependent on outside clinical settings to provide training on state-of-the-art x-ray
equipment. Other presentations and conversations included similar examples of dire
need.
Professional Development
Funding for travel, conference fees and other professional development initiatives
have been curtailed, and in some departments, eliminated. While trimming these
funds was necessary for cost savings, the result over time has prevented staff from
staying current it their fields and kept them from being exposed to new ideas and
concepts.
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IMPACT OF BUDGET CUTS
Administrators, faculty and staff in each division were asked:
What are the pros and cons of your budget issues as they pertain to delivering the
services for which your division is responsible?
Lack of new initiatives.
Because faculty and staff realize that funding is unlikely, there are fewer new
initiatives being introduced. Innovations are marginalized as they assume that their
efforts are unlikely to be translated into institutional change.
Low salaries affect our ability to attract top-notch faculty and staff.
The institution has lost many highly-qualified candidates for positions in the Science,
Engineering and Business areas because the salaries offered are too low. As a result,
vacancies are difficult to fill, especially in high-impact areas like Nursing, and
program growth is limited.
Lack of cutting-edge equipment
CCRI is using out-of-date equipment in some departments, putting the institution at
an economic disadvantage. Basic office equipment such as fax machines, color
printers, shredders and the replacement of obsolete equipment were left unfunded,
thereby affecting staff ability to do their jobs efficiently.
Lack of staff
Frozen positions resulting in over 100 vacancies have left almost all departments
short-handed. Department responsibilities continue to grow more complex as
technology and increased demands for services change the work requirements. Staff
must be educated to rethink processes to enable greater efficiency with fewer
resources.
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PRIORITIES FOR EXPENDITURE
Administrators, faculty and staff in each division were asked:
“If you were to list the top five priorities in your division, broken up into two
categories, personnel and equipment, what would they be?”
Personnel requests for all areas totaled over $2.7M and equipment requests over
$6.7M. (Appendix III) As expected, equipment requests varied widely from the
modest ($600. for software upgrades) to the expansive ($2.5M for athletic field
renovations). However, at the time of the VP presentations, not all budget requests
were complete, making prioritization impossible. In addition, priorities described in
the VP presentations, were not necessarily reflected in the budget requests. This
situation points out the need to improve the institutional budget request procedure and
establish a link to the BRC process.
POTENTIAL REVENUE/SAVINGS/EFFICIENCIES
Administrators, faculty and staff in each division were asked:
“What efficiencies could be suggested in the form of revenue/savings proposals?”
Listed below are some general observations as well as some very specific
recommendations for change gathered from the sub-committees through their individual
interviews with departments.

Monitor low-enrolled programs in an effort to eliminate the high cost: student
ratio. Under-enrolled programs and courses can be eliminated.

Conduct a room utilization study to identify more efficient ways to schedule
classes and increase enrollment. Special attention should be given to the summer
schedule and to the Newport County campus.

Expand grant writing opportunities to affect the top line of the budget, to enhance
academic programs and support institutional initiatives.

Explore distance learning as a cost-effective delivery of coursework.
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
Support retention efforts by assisting our currently-enrolled students and
providing opportunities and incentives for students to stay at CCRI until they have
reached their academic goal at CCRI.

Consider consolidation of departments, including academic departments, in order
to improve efficiency and better utilize human resources.

Investigate course redesign, as defined by the National Center for Academic
Transformation (http://www.thencat.org/PCR.htm), both for cost reduction and
improvements in learning.

Expand summer course offerings for revenue enhancement with careful
consideration of student needs and better alignment with schedules of URI and
RIC. Consider a tri-semester schedule as a replacement for our present summer
program.

Utilize more student workers, where appropriate, both as a cost efficiency and a
student retention initiative.

Examine the cost of overtime payout vs. allowing compensatory time for overtime
work. The excessive amount of compensatory time can create inefficiencies that
result in poor performance. Poor performance leads to reduced enrollment and
reduced retention.

Reorganize student services to provide clear roles and responsibilities.

Evaluate department processes for duplication and streamline procedures
accordingly. In addition, cross training and sharing of staff would help ease
transition times and educate staff about other college functions thereby improving
the quality of service.

Develop a call center to direct student inquiries efficiently and quickly.

Improve customer service training to enhance the staff members’ ability to handle
difficult situations, leading to improved student satisfaction and improved staff
morale.

Increase retention and revenue by improving procedures and data collection,
including, student’s interests, past degrees, and other pertinent information.

Evaluate evening and weekend staffing levels across campuses to assure sound
expenditures.

Evaluate ways to grow revenue through a more attractive and student-friendly
food court. Innovative payment options, including use of credit/debit cards,
prepayments, etc., should also be explored.
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
Research new areas of academic interest. Create an on-going initiative to review
new programs in both the credit and non-credit areas that will increase enrollment
and revenues.

Target course offerings to specific audiences, i.e. quick one-day non credit
computer classes geared for seniors, for example, or other shorter duration
courses.

Expand marketing of the Newport campus, especially during the summer
semester. Promote additional Lifelong Learning offerings. Consider allowing the
use of the Newport facility to be used for non-academic purposes.

Evaluate the current inventory control system, including consideration of a
computerized system and the re-structure of the department.
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