---

Published on 6/23/2016.

I sent a budget update email out to the campus community this morning. With the summer break, I know several of my CR colleagues may not have a chance to read their emails. So what follows is a shortened version of the email posted on the President’s Blog site as another way to communicate the budget message.

I had an opportunity to meet with the leadership of the CSEA, CRFO, Academic Senate, and Management Council and the Instructional Council recently to talk about our budget situation and communication. I left both meetings encouraged by my colleagues’ mindset and grateful for their revenue generation ideas. Included in the revenue generating options were to work with our local legislators to assist us to get our outstanding mandated claims and increase the stability funding time limits. Other options involved reexamining how we schedule courses, establishing dual enrollment in Del Norte, and increasing our online presence.
Based on the questions and comments I’ve received from some of my colleagues, I want to restate, in different terms, the message that the administration and the Board has been trying to convey to the college community regarding our budget situation. I also want to take the opportunity to address some of the questions I’ve received relative to general fund versus categorical funding.
Snapshot of General Fund Expectations
The District’s principal funding comes from general fund apportionment, auxiliary funding (residential hall, food service, bookstore, etc.), grants (adult education, TRIO, etc.) and categorical funds (Student Success and Support Program (SSSP), Student Equity Program (SEP)). Because of increased personnel and employee health insurance costs and decreased enrollment, we projected a budget deficit of approximately $1 million for 2016-17. I am happy to say that we used a variety of spending control measures to close this gap in the tentative budget the Board adopted at the June Board meeting.
However, based on several current budget assumptions (tepid economic growth, the extreme increase in retirement contribution mandates, the costs associated with the Fair Labor Standard Act requirement (FLSA) and slow enrollment growth), we will see additional budget deficits. It is very important to keep in mind that with so many expense and revenue variables (i.e. fall 2017 enrollment, health insurance rates, energy costs, possible sluggish economy, or late unanticipated budget allocations from the State), it is too soon to know how much of a budget deficit we will need to close beyond 2016-17. However, rather than push the can down the road, we want to develop contingency plans, thoroughly reassess our operations, and continue to implement cost savings measures now that will help us mitigate future budget problems.
Student Success and Support Program and Student Equity Program Funding
We talked about the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012 at the Fall 2014 convocation. If you don’t remember, the Act established the SSSP to improve support for entering students’ transition into college in order to provide a foundation for student achievement and successful completion of students’ educational goals. This was not another unfunded mandate. The Legislature and the Chancellor’s Office allocated $173,727,005 in 2014-15 to make sure all community colleges fully implemented the SSSP core services. The State increased funding for SSSP to $266,983,371 in 2015-16.
CR’s share of the SSSP funding was $619,491in 2014-15 and $994,698 for 2015-16. The college also received $13,275 in noncredit SSSP funds in 2014-15 and $46,223 in 2015-16. These SSSP funds can only be used for core services. We are using the dedicated categorical funds to shore up our services in the counseling, advising, and assessment areas to meet outcomes expected by the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012. You can find a copy of our SSSP plan at: http://inside.redwoods.edu/IPM/documents/FinalSSSPPlan2014-15.pdf.
The College also received significant funding from the State to improve the District’s student success outcomes, particularly for students who have been historically underrepresented and underserved. Our SEP was allocated $314,899 in 2014-15 and $571,643 in 2015-16. CR’s SEP plan addresses disparities and/or disproportionate impact in student success across disaggregated student equity groups including gender, age, ethnicity, disability status, financial need, and foster youth status with specific actions to address disproportionate impact whenever observed in the data. Here’s a link to our SEP plan for your information: http://inside.redwoods.edu/StudentEquity/documents/SEPReport.pdf.
Budget Interests
The administration is committed to openness and transparency. It is in the furtherance of that commitment that I share with you the interests the administration believes are important as we move through our budget planning process:
• Maintain the academic strength of College of the Redwoods.
• Be sensitive to the needs of all members of our community, but particularly of those who may be the most financially at risk in an economically unstable climate.
• Look for efficiencies through greater cooperation and restructuring of our work.
• Understand that if the financial situation worsens, we may have to take an even harder look at cost-cutting and revenue-enhancing opportunities.
• Work diligently to make the most of every position vacancy.
• Be careful and frugal in our expenditures.
• Look for opportunities to improve revenues, as we have with dual enrollment, Pelican Bay, online course expansion, and outreach.
• Work with local legislators and leaders in Sacramento to address mandated cost payments and low funding levels for small, rural community colleges.
• Develop more shared messaging among the small, rural community colleges.

I’ve received several great revenue generation ideas and suggestions on how we can improve our effectiveness on the Budget Forum site. I continue to welcome your creative and constructive ideas to help our budget planning, particularly in areas you know well within your own departments and divisions. Please share your ideas at: http://www.redwoods.edu/budget/.