Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2009)
t Clackamas Print online at Theclacxamaspvint.com First copy FREE, additional copies ltf C1 a c k a m independent, B student-run newspaper since Print i n A Æ 1 & u u Volume 42, Issue 13 Wednesday, Feb. .18, 2009 as Community College, Oregon City, OR ore cuts create budget canyon is tied to the economy.” The college’s two-year budget is around $88 million and with the $11.3 million dollar loss, this would equal an The current year shortfall fith the budget balancing on a I’s edge, the college is forced to I a delicate harmony between its Ion to students, and how to solve 'stitution’s financial woes. e college is facing an $11.3 mil- hortfall for the 2009-2011 school due to shortfalls on the state During fall term, Clackamas lost 000, which had already been bud- for. The school is anticipating er $1.6 million shortfall in the ¡ng months, and is racing against to close the ever-widening gap. 'e deficit is caused by a decrease Lrftng from the state. With the state 'my in a recession; and unemploy rising, the Oregon government sked to make statewide cuts in bes. This change equaled out to a mount of funding being reduced |e community college level. More [45 percent of revenue into the ■ge’s general fund comes from [appropriations, with another 32 rent from local property taxes. ■he problem is the economy is rap blowing as a recession,” said Vice bent of College Services Courtney n, “and our budget is really tied to ate’s budget and the state’s budget ition reasing . again dia Emily Bashaw Chief amas students are being ■help fill the potential hole in fee's budget, by an emeigen- 5 per credit tuition increase for ■nil. The motion was unani- Btproved last Wednesday at of Education meeting, ecision came shortly after t the Oregon Legislature c for funding on the com- ¡■ollege level to be reduced fflisyear. Clackamas could face pfel.C million shortfall when B makes its announcement Bay. The college has already ■6,000 to the budget deficits, e state lex el earlier this year. Ehe tuition increase is substan- ■K arietta Collette, Board of Mtn member, “and it will affect ■bin it’s only one piece of the de.” ■ase see TUITION, Page 2 approximate 13 percent decrease in financial support. In order to deal with the issue, the college has asked staff and students to brainstorm and sacrifice. The Czar of budget c Photo ill The college administration was noti fied in December that the Oregon budget forecast was dismal. To compensate for the losses, the college instituted across the board cuts that affected Clackamas’ state allocations. The news was that the college had lost $416,000 in funding from the state. The college had counted on that money to cover expenditures. In President Joanne Truesdell’s January budget message sent io fac ulty via e-mail, she set out the plan for the months to come. “CCC is going through an inclusive and transparent pro cess to identify cost-saving nd revenue-generating tactics,” wrote Truesdell. “Again, I need your involvement.” The college quick ly sprung into action. Faculty and - staff positions were held open to save money on the department level. All departments were asked -to • return a percent age of their fee fund balances, equating to $361,473. The state is due to update the budget again this Friday. The college predicts that it will lose more funding for this year, around $1.6 million. At the Wednesday, Feb. 11 Board of Education meeting, a tuition increase of $5 per credit was unanimously passed to help alleviate some of the financial pressures. A future increase of $5 per credit starting summer term was also introduced, and will be voted on at the March 11 meeting. (See story, “Tuition increasing . . . again.”) Discussion has begun on where to make sacrifices and what should remain in order to fulfill the school’s mission without the funding to remain as Clackamas is today. The financial future of Clackamas The governor’s proposed budget for 2009-2011 anticipates a 3 percent cutback in state support for commu nity colleges. Clackamas had originally budgeted on a forecasted increase in funding. However, Clackamas is around 8.3 percent of the community college funding pie. The reduction could equal a loss of $11.3 million for the college over two years, deflating the general fund’s revenue. Please see BUDGET, Page 2 Cultural classes' future being questioned John Hurlburt I News Editor Beheadings are usually a bloody, painfill, nau sea-inducing mess and as the budget situation on campus continues to become dire, some faculty 'and students fear that with more cuts happening, the cultural head will be chopped off the college experience. Downsizing is taking place all around Clackamas, forcing staff and faculty to critically analyze what are the most important aspects and what can be done without. The classes that are essential to obtain degrees will be kept without question, but elective classes will now be put under a microscope. » Bill Briare, dean of arts, humanities and social studies, summarizes the situation well. “Budget cuts require us to look at our elective offerings,” Briare explained. “Sometimes we have to circle the wagons and examine what’s most important in our core offerings.” Elective classes with low enrollments are the first targets being put on the chopping block, a sen sible choice when it comes to numbers, but English Instructor James Bryant-Trerise sees danger in this objective approach. “When we get rid of certain classes, we basi cally become a ticket machine,” Biyant-Trerise pas sionately explained. “The assumption that all we’re here for is to help people make money is being intensified. That’s a problem because our lives are about a hell of a lot more than making money.” Bryant-TrerisecurrentlyteachesShakespearian lit, a class that faces jeopardy in die future due to its low enrollment numbers. “College is about answering the question, ‘what’s the good life?”’ Biyant-Trerise said. “We need to have classes like Shakespearian Literature because they have nothing to do with money.” Speech Instructor Alice Lewis, although sad K B about some of the losses being made, can under stand the other side. “Our department has a budget and that budget is limited/’ Lewis said. ‘It would be nice to offer more (electives), but to some classes, we have an obligation.” Please see CULTURE, Page 3 1 jM Robert Crawford Clackamas Print Instructor Dave Mills leads Clackamas’ Concert Band. The future of some cultural classes, such as arts, literature and music have been brought into question recently due to cuts.
