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C-GCC officials discuss possible budget cuts, enrollment
By Paul Crossman
The county Education Committee met on Tuesday to hear a report on Columbia-Greene Community College from the college’s president, James Campion, and Vice President and Dean of Students Joseph Watson, which included how the school would be affected by Gov. David Paterson’s proposal to cut school aid by 4.5 percent.
According to Senate Conference Leader John Sampson, the closed-door leader’s meeting in the Senate has not resulted in a deal to address New York’s $3.2 billion dollar deficit, but rather a commitment to continue talking about the issue for perhaps as long as several more days.
Regardless of this, Watson says that C-GCC could take about a $200,000 hit if the proposal goes through, both in base aid and categorical aid, and that it would be an especially hard blow for the school because its budget year is from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, which means the cuts would effect the budget already in place.
“The cuts would hit us in the year we’re already in,” he told the committee. “... which is not a good position to be in.”
Watson and Campion did go on to say though that the school was not in as bad of a position as it could be, since there has been a large increase in enrollment which could help offset some of the money lost if the proposal should pass.
According to Watson, enrollment is up 12 percent overall in the college, with large spikes in several areas including transfer and returning students, and veterans.
“We’ve got people coming back after four or five years,” said Campion.
On top of this, C-GCC has formed a committee of veterans affairs to help make the entire enrollment and education process easier for vets who want to join, and has applied to be a military-friendly campus. If the application is accepted, veterans can log on and see C-GCC on a list of military-friendly schools, which would probably increase enrollment in that area even more.
Watson followed this with the fact that the school has also excelled in the disabilities area, with more than 110 students with either physical or mental disabilities registered for fall classes this year.
The committee also heard from Campion on the topic of the upcoming Middle States re-accreditation visit, which the school has been preparing for and which will occur in 2011.
Middle States focuses their re-accreditation decision on 14 standards, but according to Campion, in the coming visit they are looking primarily at outcome assessment and institutional effectiveness.
The president also went on to inform the committee that C-GCC was luckier than some colleges in this regard, because many members of the staff were already performing outcome assessment — proving students are different at the end of the curriculum than at the start — and were happy to start incorporating the issue further into their teaching styles.
Though it is possible that if the school loses is accreditation or is put onto a probationary status that the school could lose its federal funding and therefore its financial aid, according to Campion, this very rarely happens, and since the school has been and still is working very hard to excel at all the requirements, they don’t expect any problems.
“I think we’ll be OK,” said Campion. “You have to demonstrate competency and the ability to meet educational objectives. Most people are doing it anyway, they just don’t know what to call it.”
One of the final topics discussed was the college’s intent to possibly put student housing either on campus or in close vicinity, an idea which many community colleges have already implemented, and one which C-GCC already has the land for.
“There’s a need for student housing,” said Campion. “It’s just something we can’t deny anymore.”
Though no dates were set, both Campion and Watson agreed that more and more students are looking for the living-away-from-home experience in a community college, and that it would probably help increase both enrollment and diversity in the student body.
“It’s on the radar,” Campion continued, “it’s just a matter of where, when, and how.”
The meeting finished with a comment from Livingston Supervisor Phil Williams, the chair of the committee, who will be stepping down in the coming year.
“I’ve had a long history with Columbia-Greene Community College,” he told the group. “And I’ve been quite proud and have had an excellent experience. I want to thank you again and wish you and the committee the very best.”
To reach reporter Paul Crossman call 518-828-1616, ext. 2266, or e-mail pcrossman@registerstar.com.
According to Senate Conference Leader John Sampson, the closed-door leader’s meeting in the Senate has not resulted in a deal to address New York’s $3.2 billion dollar deficit, but rather a commitment to continue talking about the issue for perhaps as long as several more days.
Regardless of this, Watson says that C-GCC could take about a $200,000 hit if the proposal goes through, both in base aid and categorical aid, and that it would be an especially hard blow for the school because its budget year is from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, which means the cuts would effect the budget already in place.
“The cuts would hit us in the year we’re already in,” he told the committee. “... which is not a good position to be in.”
Watson and Campion did go on to say though that the school was not in as bad of a position as it could be, since there has been a large increase in enrollment which could help offset some of the money lost if the proposal should pass.
According to Watson, enrollment is up 12 percent overall in the college, with large spikes in several areas including transfer and returning students, and veterans.
“We’ve got people coming back after four or five years,” said Campion.
On top of this, C-GCC has formed a committee of veterans affairs to help make the entire enrollment and education process easier for vets who want to join, and has applied to be a military-friendly campus. If the application is accepted, veterans can log on and see C-GCC on a list of military-friendly schools, which would probably increase enrollment in that area even more.
Watson followed this with the fact that the school has also excelled in the disabilities area, with more than 110 students with either physical or mental disabilities registered for fall classes this year.
The committee also heard from Campion on the topic of the upcoming Middle States re-accreditation visit, which the school has been preparing for and which will occur in 2011.
Middle States focuses their re-accreditation decision on 14 standards, but according to Campion, in the coming visit they are looking primarily at outcome assessment and institutional effectiveness.
The president also went on to inform the committee that C-GCC was luckier than some colleges in this regard, because many members of the staff were already performing outcome assessment — proving students are different at the end of the curriculum than at the start — and were happy to start incorporating the issue further into their teaching styles.
Though it is possible that if the school loses is accreditation or is put onto a probationary status that the school could lose its federal funding and therefore its financial aid, according to Campion, this very rarely happens, and since the school has been and still is working very hard to excel at all the requirements, they don’t expect any problems.
“I think we’ll be OK,” said Campion. “You have to demonstrate competency and the ability to meet educational objectives. Most people are doing it anyway, they just don’t know what to call it.”
One of the final topics discussed was the college’s intent to possibly put student housing either on campus or in close vicinity, an idea which many community colleges have already implemented, and one which C-GCC already has the land for.
“There’s a need for student housing,” said Campion. “It’s just something we can’t deny anymore.”
Though no dates were set, both Campion and Watson agreed that more and more students are looking for the living-away-from-home experience in a community college, and that it would probably help increase both enrollment and diversity in the student body.
“It’s on the radar,” Campion continued, “it’s just a matter of where, when, and how.”
The meeting finished with a comment from Livingston Supervisor Phil Williams, the chair of the committee, who will be stepping down in the coming year.
“I’ve had a long history with Columbia-Greene Community College,” he told the group. “And I’ve been quite proud and have had an excellent experience. I want to thank you again and wish you and the committee the very best.”
To reach reporter Paul Crossman call 518-828-1616, ext. 2266, or e-mail pcrossman@registerstar.com.
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