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May 2007 - College Examines Budget Priorities |
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by Lantz Simpson
For the first time within recent memory, the opinions of the faculty are being honestly sought and seriously considered by the administration and Trustees on matters of the College budget. The end result is not yet clear, but the initiation of the process is significant, perhaps even historic. The culture of Santa Monica College is changing for the better, and this is one solid step in that direction. Here's how it's been playing out.
DPAC Budget Committee
The District Planning and Advisory Committee, DPAC, was created as a response to the accreditation committee's well-justified criticisms in 2004 regarding the college's lack of shared governance.
This year Dr. Tsang asked the college's Budget Committee, a subcommittee of DPAC, for recommendations on the college's budget priorities, including cost-cutting measures. On April 18, the Budget Committee approved a series of recommendations and passed them on to Dr.Tsang, who in turn informed the trustees.
The first two recommendations urge both the short and long term greening of the campus, requesting that the college "use non-general funds such as Props U and S to move as quickly as possible to self-sufficient energy systems such as solar, etc." and "to install energy efficient technologies (e.g., motion sensors for lights, flat screens for computers)."
In turn, the May 14 Board of Trustees meeting was a Greenfest, as the trustees approved the go ahead for solar energy on campus.
The other Budget Committee recommendations include:
* That contracting out be minimized.
* That the college advertising budget be cut by 50%.
* That there be a moratorium on short-term substitutes in classes.
* That the college conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the college's fixed assets.
* That the college move towards internal benchmarks for establishing ratios of administrators to FT faculty and managers to classified staff.
* That overtime for classified staff be limited to non-seasonal emergencies.
Academic Senate
Concerned with potential 2007-08 budget reductions/cuts, the Academic Senate recommended that all or any of the budget reductions/cuts adhere to some general guiding principles, starting with the priority that they should not be harmful to student success.
Significantly, the Senate next recommended that the District should develop "benchmarks" for expenditure evaluations - an indication that some accountability is starting to be requested. Further, the Senate urged that the technology necessary to instruction and enrollment not be compromised - a reminder of the Spring 2007 computer enrollment meltdown.
Other highlights included the Senate's endorsement of maintaining existing academic and vocational programs while enforcing the 75/25 FT/PT ratio. Further, it urged implementation of recommendations in the SMC Environmental Audit, and endorsed a "cost/benefit analysis process."
The President and the Trustees
On April 30, in a special meeting, the Board of Trustees met and agreed upon a set of "objectives and guiding principles" to deal with budget issues, starting with the intent to get it into balance by 2009-2010. The principles, presented by Dr. Tsang, included benchmarks, mandated maintaining a 5% reserve, and then listed a number of basic principles that would be followed in creating the future budgets.
These principles included matching courses to student needs, maintaining a cost effective level of learning resource and student support services, and maintaining employment for all permanent personnel (i.e., no layoffs for them.) Further the principles called for making sure growth projections are realistic, particularly when revenue projections and expenditures depend on them. "Where possible and practicable" it suggests using staff attrition (rather than layoffs) to cut costs and it urges that energy saving retrofits, use reductions and consolidations should be expedited.
Other principles advocate the seeking of grant money, so long as the use of it requires few college resources, and prioritization of funding for activities or programs outside of "the core mission of the College," - a term, we suspect, open to considerable interpretation and definition. Further there should be no program elimination or even reduction without careful review, and the establishment of benchmarks, to inform the decision making process.
What's Next?
Two weeks ago, DPAC sent one recommendation back to the Budget Committee (regarding staffing ratios) and rejected another (cutting the advertising budget). Last week the Budget Committee also endorsed the Environmental Audit, discussed the results of a staff survey on cost-cutting, and made plans to devise internal benchmarks, which will include staffing ratios and the cost effectiveness of advertising.
The events since spring break show a significant movement towards a more inclusive budget building process, one that is long overdue at SMC and one in which FA leaders will continue to monitor and to push forward.
For more detailed documentary sources on the SMC budget, please visit our website at www.smcfa.org and click on "Budget Battles '07."
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