2008 Woodie Awards
College budget, goals unveiled by committee
Ehren Fish
Issue date: 2/4/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Concerns were voiced by staff members about certain elements of the planned college budget for the 2005-2006 school year at the Planning and Budget Committee meeting on Thursday, Jan. 27.
A member of the classified staff commented that at times, her fellow classified employees feel like second-class citizens, because when the budget is published the classified staff is consistently overlooked in regards to funding for the replacement of retiring staff members, or the hiring of new people to fill empty positions. She said that it felt like the computer sitting on her desk was more important to the school than she was.
The largest of the concerns voiced at the meeting was that due to imbalances and problems in the current college budget, the estimated budget for next year would be starting $400,876 in the red.
Due to that fact that out of an approximately $4.5-million increase in available funds, $3.98 million is already accounted for in known expenditures appearing in the upcoming year. After accounting for the existing deficit, the different committees and groups around campus are left with a grand total of $122,449 to split among them.
Concerns were also voiced about the current process for a proposal to be submitted to the committee. In response to those concerns, a new simplified electronic form was unveiled for the purpose of integrating strategic planning goals into the budgeting process. Committee members mentioned that currently, due to a lack of standards in methods of evaluation, not all proposals get an equal amount of attention.
Some proposals are passed easily, while others die somewhere in the process with no notification to the original author in regard to their status.
The new electronic form would mean that the information would be stored in an electronic database, where certain pieces of the information could then be pulled out for later analysis.
Also unveiled at the meeting was a new flow chart for the strategic planning process to be used by the committee, and an affirmed list of strategic goals for the coming year. The first of the goals was a communication plan that provides easy access to information to and from all internal and external groups.
The second goal on the list was the effort to develop an annual College-wide Professional Development Program to improve faculty, administrator, and classified staff skills.
Third on the list was to increase access, student success and positive student learning outcomes.
The fourth and final goal listed by the committee was to assess resources to accomplish goals, set income and spending targets, and adjust college budget priorities.
Almost half of the available funds for the 2005-06 budget will potentially be coming from a Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) of 3.93 percent.
The source of the majority of the remaining money for the budget is an estimated three-percent enrollment growth at the college.
A member of the classified staff commented that at times, her fellow classified employees feel like second-class citizens, because when the budget is published the classified staff is consistently overlooked in regards to funding for the replacement of retiring staff members, or the hiring of new people to fill empty positions. She said that it felt like the computer sitting on her desk was more important to the school than she was.
The largest of the concerns voiced at the meeting was that due to imbalances and problems in the current college budget, the estimated budget for next year would be starting $400,876 in the red.
Due to that fact that out of an approximately $4.5-million increase in available funds, $3.98 million is already accounted for in known expenditures appearing in the upcoming year. After accounting for the existing deficit, the different committees and groups around campus are left with a grand total of $122,449 to split among them.
Concerns were also voiced about the current process for a proposal to be submitted to the committee. In response to those concerns, a new simplified electronic form was unveiled for the purpose of integrating strategic planning goals into the budgeting process. Committee members mentioned that currently, due to a lack of standards in methods of evaluation, not all proposals get an equal amount of attention.
Some proposals are passed easily, while others die somewhere in the process with no notification to the original author in regard to their status.
The new electronic form would mean that the information would be stored in an electronic database, where certain pieces of the information could then be pulled out for later analysis.
Also unveiled at the meeting was a new flow chart for the strategic planning process to be used by the committee, and an affirmed list of strategic goals for the coming year. The first of the goals was a communication plan that provides easy access to information to and from all internal and external groups.
The second goal on the list was the effort to develop an annual College-wide Professional Development Program to improve faculty, administrator, and classified staff skills.
Third on the list was to increase access, student success and positive student learning outcomes.
The fourth and final goal listed by the committee was to assess resources to accomplish goals, set income and spending targets, and adjust college budget priorities.
Almost half of the available funds for the 2005-06 budget will potentially be coming from a Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) of 3.93 percent.
The source of the majority of the remaining money for the budget is an estimated three-percent enrollment growth at the college.