Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC recommends $7.6 million in cuts, increases in tuition

Photos and Story by James Hill

PORTLAND, Ore. – The board of directors of Portland Community College will hear proposals Thursday, March 20, for dealing with shrinking revenues prompted by the state budget shortfall. Without additional revenues from the state or increases in tuition, PCC faces a $20 million shortfall for the 2003-05 biennium. The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. at PCC’s Southeast Center, room 155, 2850 S.E. 82nd Avenue. To balance the budget, PCC President Jesus "Jess"Carreon proposes a combination of budget cuts and tuition and other revenue increases. The president will propose $7.6 million in cut – $5.2 million in personnel and $2.4 million in equipment, supplies and services. Personnel reductions total 44.6 full-time-equivalent positions. All but 15 of the positions are currently vacant or will be come vacant through retirements. Of the total reductions, approximately $3.5 million will come from non-academic and college support areas.To generate revenue, the president will recommend a tuition increase of between 27 and 33 percent. Tuition, currently set at $45 per credit hour, would increase to a range of $57 to $60, beginning summer term. This means a full-time student would pay between $2,565 and $2,700 per year. A tuition hike again in 2004 is likely. Also under consideration is a proposal to set aside $1 of the tuition increase for a financial aid fund for students. Carreon said, "These recommendations have not been made lightly. The reductions will result in reduced access and service to our students and to the community."The budget realities that all public bodies are facing these days are grim. There is also little hope that the Legislature will develop a revenue enhancement package to reverse these numbers in the near future,"he added.The proposal calls for half of the shortfall to be made up through tuition increases, fees, and contributions from grants and other activities; the other half of the shortfall will be generated from cuts to personnel and programs. The administration has developed guiding principles for building the budget, which include giving priority for funding programs that provide students with degrees or certificates, or pathways to degree and certificate programs. In addition, the college will not make broad, across-the-board cuts that weaken all programs. The proposed cuts follow on the tail of a $5.6 million shortfall for the 2002-03 fiscal year, which left PCC with a general-fund operating budget of $109 million. Thirty-two academic programs will either be eliminated or reduced. Targeted for elimination at the three comprehensive campuses and the college’s open campus are: Emergency Dispatch Operator (Cascade).Building Futures in Industry and Trades, Biotechnology, first-year French, Technical Writing, Theater, Graphic Design (Rock Creek).Calligraphy, Forensics (Sylvania).Community Education offices in Newberg, St. Helens. Classes will continue to be offered at other sites in Newberg and St. Helens, although minimum enrollments will be required. (Open Campus).The college also plans to discontinue mailing the schedule of classes to all households in the district. Several academic programs and college services will be reduced. These programs include: Central services will reduce staff, travel, materials and supplies in these college support offices: public relations, curriculum, research, technology, human resources, enrollment services and physical plant. Skill Center (Cascade Campus).Aviation Maintenance, Auto Collision Repair, Welding, Landscape Technology, the Student Learning Center, New Directions (for displaced homemakers), English as a non-native language (Rock Creek).Business, Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, Computer Software Engineering, Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Cooperative Education-Job Placement, Dance, Developmental English, French, Industrial Drafting, Photography, Social Science (Sylvania Campus). Community Education, Professional Skills, Apprenticeship, Institute for Management and Professional Development, Small Business Development Center and Computer Education. (Open Campus).Reorganization of adult basic education and pre-college classes, and continuing education and services to business into one entity will achieve budget savings. Distance Education will offer fewer courses and a reduction of library hours at Sylvania is proposed.