LCC readies for budget cuts

A siren went off in the state higher education community Wednesday.

Most of the attention went to the proposal in Gov. Pat McCrory’s budget to cut $135 million from the UNC system, possibly forcing the closure of two of the system’s 16 campuses.

But the N.C. Community College System took a hit as well. A total of $40 million could be cut over the biennium for enrollment.

“For Lenoir Community College, it’s alarming,” LCC President Brantley Briley said. “It will be a significant cut in our budget, and our financial team is already trying to work through the repercussions that our students will feel if, in fact, the governor’s budget, or something similar, passes.

“It’s just going to be, I would say, a gloomy day for North Carolinians wanting to enhance their education throughout the community college.”

In his message upon issuing the budget, McCrory said the budget cuts were because of lower enrollment. Megen Hoenk, spokeswoman for the NCCCS, said it amounts to a core reduction of financial support.

“What it ultimately means is that the majority of our colleges would have less recurring state support,” Hoenk said. “What the governor’s budget would essentially do is change our current enrollment funding formula. Right now, our funding formula is based on a three-year average enrollment, and the governor’s budget would change that to a two-year average enrollment.”

Hoenk added community college enrollment typically grows when the economy is poor, and drops when more jobs are available. State community college enrollment peaked at the height of the recession, but dropped in following years.

To partially manage the cut, tuition may rise for full-time, in-state students by $32 and $128 for out-of-state students.

Faculty and staff may have their benefits cut, as well.

“He has also cut community colleges regarding funding for retirement and medical benefits,” Briley said. “He hasn’t wiped it to zero, but for the system, he has decreased it $15 million.”

In areas of increased funding, McCrory wants to emphasize classes that help get people back to work and earning higher-paying jobs.

“The challenge is to fully fund and offer more resource-intensive courses for the jobs, trades and professions that provide a rewarding career for the graduates, and benefits employers and the community,” McCrory said in the statement.

To that end, $16.7 million could go annually for higher-cost programs, $14 million to fund technical equipment and infrastructure, $5 million for performance-based funding and $3 million to continue the N.C. Back-to-Work Program.

“It’s difficult to serve large numbers of students where those programs are in demand,” Hoenk said of the higher-cost classes. “Not only by the students, those programs are also in demand by employers. They’re wanting to hire those students.

“But, when we’re limited by the amount of equipment we have, or the quality, or how updated the equipment might be, obviously that presents challenges to our colleges offering those courses to as many students as they can.”

Briley said he supports the governor’s performance-based initiatives.

“I don’t have a problem with the governor holding college presidents’ feet to the fire to get positive, immediate outcomes,” Briley said. “And, the outcomes would be giving people the training to put them quickly into the workforce. So, I support the performance-based funding.”

He added, “But to do it right, we needed for this coming year a much greater appropriation than what he seems to believe appropriate.”

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.