Lane Community College Education Association

LCC Faculty Colleagues,

I’m writing regarding the College budget after tonight’s Board and Budget Committee meeting. I’m linking here and attaching to this message a statement I sent to the Board and Budget Committee shortly before their meeting and also provided by public comment. I encourage you to read it in full. 

Many of you have been tracking developments throughout this year’s budget process, which has starkly contrasted the regular annual process at LCC.

The Administration has presented wildly different figures each week over the past three weeks, sometimes vastly different figures on the same day at the same public meeting. The changing estimates have primarily been estimates of the amount of funding that will remain in the general fund (i.e., Fund I) at the end of this June, a mere five weeks away – with estimates ranging from $2.5M to $7.8M. The final figure presented today was $3.6M. 

These figures, if accurate, demonstrate that the reserves that had been restored at the beginning of this fiscal year (i.e., July 1, 2022) are now substantially depleted. For example, one document provided by the Administration indicates that managers in charge of M & S (Materials & Services) budgets, which include travel, have overspent the allocations for M & S in the general fund by $2.3M this year. Meanwhile, total personnel expenditures, which include faculty salaries, have come in slightly under budget this year.

In addition, the Administration has discovered and announced errors in their budget figures in the amounts of $2.1 Million and $1.7 Million respectively at each meeting in the past two weeks. Please see table below.

Given these basic facts, I find it difficult to have confidence in the budget figures presented or in the administration’s management of expenditures within the confines of the approved budget – authority provided to them by the Board.

The Administration published their proposed amendments to the budget around 4 p.m. – one hour before the public hearing began. 

The amendments include:

• $1.5M in personnel reductions in Instruction* 
• $237,000 in personnel reductions in Instructional Support
• $312,000 in personnel reductions in Student Services
• $604,000 in personnel reductions in College Support Services
• $148,000 in personnel reductions in Plant Ops & Maintenance

For a total of $2.8M in personnel reductions for next year.

No information has been presented publicly about what the reductions may be, whether there is a plan for reductions, or whether they will be mitigated by current vacancies or swirl** which is projected to amount to $1.3 – $1.4M in savings next year.

Given that the FY24 budget has $4.2 – 5.2 Million is vacancies built in (for 44 positions of all types from all employee groups), there is sufficient funding available to allow the College to have a balanced budget without introducing $2.8 Million in personnel cuts next year. 

In the case of faculty positions, it is frequently impossible to realize savings from budget cuts, especially savings of any significant amount through contracted faculty layoffs. What often happens is that faculty will transfer to another discipline for which they are qualified, displacing part-time faculty whose salaries are substantially lower, thereby increasing the cost-per-FTE of the program where they transfer. At the same time the original program that was reduced no longer has enrollment, resulting in lost tuition revenue and state funding. It’s a lose-lose scenario. 

Please also note that the deadlines for any faculty retrenchments to take place for Fall term have long passed, so it is not possible for any layoff to occur this coming Fall.

Even though the proposed budget amendments were not published until one hour before the public hearing, the Board and Budget Committee, nevertheless, passed a formal motion to recommend the amendments. The amendments will next be incorporated into a final budget document. The Board will be asked to approve the final budget at their June 7 meeting, which you may wish to consider attending.

Your Association leaders will continue to advocate for transparency, reasonableness, and accountability regarding the budget, centering the instructional and student services mission of our beloved community college.

There are better options and better choices for our campus and our community.

My best,

Adrienne

* Please note that “Instruction” includes all employees in instructional departments (i.e., faculty, classified, managers).

** “Swirl” is savings resulting from salaries for positions that are budgeted but not filled for all 12 months of the year such as when an employee resigns, and the position is not refilled for a number of months.

—

LCC Faculty Colleagues,

Your LCCEA Bargaining Team participated in mediation with Administration all day yesterday and all morning today.

The parties reached an agreement regarding workload and compensation for the impacts of Common Course Numbering. Please see agreement below.

Briefly, the provisions include:

• $2000 annual stipends for chairs of statewide committees
• $1500 annual stipends for committee members on statewide committees
• Curriculum development funding up to 70 hours per course shared among faculty responsible for revisions required by Common Course Numbering

These provisions will extend through 2030 or until they are incorporated into a new contract. 

Your representatives thoroughly considered Administration proposals on public health working conditions in light of faculty survey results. We made numerous proposals attempting to meet College interests. However, the Administration made clear that they were unwilling to reach an agreement without provisions that would add new requirements for faculty teaching work that are not consistent with the current contract and which are unrelated to public health. For this reason, we ultimately did not reach an agreement. Faculty retain the rights to negotiate should another public health emergency arise in the future as well as to negotiate over this topic in the main contract bargaining in 2024.

More details will be provided at the LCCEA Spring meeting tomorrow (Wednesday).

Your LCCEA Bargaining Team

Cynthia Campos, OEA

Sarah Erickson

Adrienne Mitchell

April Myler

Peggy Oberstaller

Contract Facts, brought to you by your Association 

Personal Safety in the Classroom

What are faculty rights when a student is disruptive, threatening, or otherwise inappropriate?

Faculty members have the right to remove a student from their class for that class session.

What additional rights do faculty members have in serious, repeated cases of disruption?

Faculty members may request permanent removal of a disruptive or threatening student. In this situation, faculty members must submit a report on Maxient within 24 hours of removing the student.

How are students’ rights protected?

Academic Affairs and Student Services must conduct an investigation or hearing. The Administration will decide whether the student is permitted to return to class.

What other options do faculty have?

Faculty members may appeal to a committee that is composed of equal numbers of administrators, faculty, and students. If the student is returned to class as a result of the appeal, the faculty member will be offered a reasonable alternative instructional assignment.

Academic Freedom

Faculty members have a contractual right and a responsibility to protect freedom in the classroom in discussion and presentation of the subject matter. In addition, the US Constitution protects academic freedom as “a special concern of the First Amendment.”

For more details, see:

Articles 25.14 of the Main Agreement and the Student Code of Conduct.

Contract Facts is a periodic announcement about faculty rights and benefits. If you have contract questions or suggestions for topics, please email lccea@lanecc.edu

LCC faculty colleagues,

Please below a memo from LCCEF, LCCEA, and Student Government leaders regarding concerns about the proposed 2023-2024 budget.

To: Board of Education Members and Budget Committee Members

From: LCCEA, LCCEF and ASLCC

Re: Open Letter to the Lane Community: FY24 Proposed Budget Drains Ending Fund Balance

CC: Stephanie Bulger

Esteemed Members of the Board of Education and Budget Committee,

We are writing and speaking on a matter of public concern. We urge you to not approve the proposed 2023-2024 budget and to ask the Administration to present a new, fiscally responsible plan instead. 

Unless there is an unanticipated, dramatic increase in student enrollment, the proposed budget will propel LCC into a serious fiscal crisis next year and necessitate major program and service eliminations.

The proposed budget document balances the budget by using $4,398,890 of the General Fund Ending Fund balance – well over half of the General Fund Ending Fund Balance. (See p. 38 of printed budget document/ p. 44 of electronic proposed budget document. )  According to the proposed budget, the General Fund Ending Fund balance will only have $3,435,560 at the end of FY24. 

This plan is not consistent with Board Policy 245*, which requires a 10% reserve in the General Fund (i.e., Fund I). While on rare occasions, some of the ending fund balance has been used to balance the budget, the amounts have been considerably more conservative and only used when there are also sufficient reserves across all funds.

LCC just restored the General Fund Ending fund balance through careful, responsible budget planning over a three year period in accordance with BP 245. The proposed budget would not only wipe away the majority of the ending fund balance in Fund I, it would also take total reserves across all funds (not including Bond funds restricted for construction projects) down to a total of $9.6M – an amount lower than any year since 2007.

Other options are possible. For example, the Budget Development Subcommittee (BDS) passed budget balancing scenarios that would reduce the budgeted amounts for M & S (Materials & Services) by up to $1.7 Million from the projected FY24 amounts based on a thorough review of actual spending this year. Instead, the proposed budget increases M & S allocations for Funds I & IX by $1.4 Million to a total of more than $19 Million for M & S in these two funds. The BDS also passed budget balancing scenarios that would hold some of the 44 vacant positions from all employee categories open for next year, a typical strategy used to balance the budget.

In addition, LCCEA proposed the postponement of extra faculty positions that are not required by the contract to 2024-2025 to ensure more stability across years. The Administration declined this proposal, stating a preference to maintain management rights to add positions one year in order to make layoffs the next year noting that, “retrenchments allow the College to make structural adjustments in response to student needs.”

Instead of implementing reasonable cost containment measures, it appears that the Administration has created a proposed budget that entirely balances the budget by draining reserves at the alarming rate of more than half of the General Fund Ending Fund balance. While state funding will not reach what we collectively would like for the legislature to allocate, state funding is increasing by approximately 6% for the next biennium; tuition has been increased by 5% by the Board of Education, and property tax revenue will increase as well.

For all of these reasons, we have no confidence in the budget planned for FY24. 

We urge you to not approve the proposed 2023-2024 budget and to ask the Administration to present a new, fiscally responsible plan instead. There is time for a new plan to be developed and approved before the end of June in accordance with Oregon Public Budget Law.

Voting to approve the proposed budget would thrust LCC into a serious fiscal crisis next year unless there is unanticipated, dramatic enrollment growth.

Our campus community and the people of Lane County whom you represent are counting on you to make fiscally responsible decisions. 

Sincerely,

LCCEF Representatives:

Frankie Cocanour, LCCEF President and Classified Professional
Buck Potter,LCCEF Vice President of Labor Relations, Classified Professional & BDS Member
Dawn Rupp, LCCEF Grievance Officer, Classified Professional
Colin Vurek, LCCEF Vice President of Organizing 
Fiora Starchild-Wolf, LCCEF COPE Officer and Classified Professional
Marleena Pearson, LCCEF Communications Officer, Classified Professional
Skye Nguyen, Membership Officer Classified Professional
Mark Jordan, Chief Labor Delegate

LCCEA Representatives:

Adrienne Mitchell, LCCEA President and BDS member
Aryn Bartley, LCCEA Secretary
Marge Helzer, LCCEA Treasurer
Christina Howard, LCCEA Vice President for Career Technical Faculty
Peggy Oberstaller, LCCEA Vice President for Part-time Faculty
Rosa Lopez, LCCEA Vice President At-Large
Wendy Simmons, LCCEA Vice President for Learning Advancement
Kate Sullivan, LCCEA Vice President for Transfer Faculty
Gary Mort, faculty member & BDS Member

ASLCC Representatives: 

Nikhar Ramlakhan, Lane SGA President
Amaya Carricaburu, Lane SGA Vice-President
Shoichiro Kamata, Lane SGA Senator
Hina Tamura, Lane SGA Senator
Ilhan Haniff, Lane SGA Senator
Mussango Moneyang, Lane SGA Senator
Ryuto Susumu, Lane SGA Senator
Sawyer Smith, Lane SGA Senator
Owen Robles, Lane SGA Senator

*Policy Number  BP 245

Policy Category  Budget and Finance

Policy Name  Ending Fund Balance

Lane Community College shall maintain an unrestricted General Fund Ending Fund Balance equal to or greater than 10% of total expenditures and transfers.

The Ending Fund Balance target shall include the Unappropriated Ending Fund Balance (UEFB) as set by board policy BP 295. When the Ending Fund Balance falls to 9% or less, the college shall adopt a plan to replenish the Ending Fund Balance to 10% within three years. When the Ending Fund Balance exceeds 11%, balances in excess may be set aside for reserves or investment in one time expenditures.

If the total Ending Fund Balance (including restricted) falls to levels that require short-term borrowing, the levels set by this policy shall be automatically reviewed and adjusted as necessary.