\n<\/p>\n
The Lane Community College Board of Education voted to approve college leaders\u2019 plans for a budget reduction on Jan. 7, despite fierce pushback from the faculty union. The latest controversy comes amid a dramatic year for the Oregon community college, marked by long, fractious board meetings and an ongoing battle between administrators and faculty over stalled labor negotiations and course cuts.<\/p>\n
College administrators argue the approved proposal\u2014cutting spending by $8\u00a0million over the next three years\u2014is a financial necessity. They say the college regularly falls short of a board requirement to maintain 10\u00a0percent of its balance in reserves. Administrators also conducted a new multiyear forecast that predicted expenses are going to grow.<\/p>\n
The college is expected to be \u201cin a deficit every year\u00a0\u2026 if we continue on the same trends that we have been in the last two or three years,\u201d said Kara Flath, Lane\u2019s vice president of finance and operations. The plan also proposes using some of the freed-up money for deferred maintenance and other projects.<\/p>\n
But faculty union leaders disagree with the administration\u2019s view of the college\u2019s financial present and future. Adrienne Mitchell, president of the faculty union, the Lane Community College Education Association, believes leadership\u2019s projections are pessimistic and that a roughly 8\u00a0percent cut to the $104\u00a0million operating budget is excessive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t believe any of those cuts are necessary,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cCurrently, all of our funding sources\u2014state funding, property taxes and student tuition revenue\u2014are up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The union came out with an independent report last week suggesting that the college is in a sound financial position and should invest more, not less, in faculty and the campus over all. But faculty and administrators fundamentally disagree on how much spending will rise and what tranches of money the college has at its disposal. <\/p>\n
The union\u2019s perspective that the college can spend less \u201cmakes the numbers look better,\u201d Flath said. \u201cBut as finance people, we have decades of finance experience\u201d and such cost estimates are \u201cnot fiscally viable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell also argued that Oregon Local Budget Law requires the board to follow a legal process that includes forming a committee of board and nonboard members, presenting the budget and hosting a public hearing, before formally adopting a budget. The union put out a legal memo on the matter in September.<\/p>\n
But administrators say their overarching plan isn\u2019t the final budget\u2014it doesn\u2019t specify where exactly cuts will be made\u2014so it doesn\u2019t need to go through such a process yet. They said they plan to review programs, solicit community feedback and draw up a list of recommended cuts in the spring. <\/p>\n
Board members, initially skeptical of the plan\u2019s lack of specificity, held multiple ad hoc budget committee meetings last week to discuss it ahead of the meeting on Wednesday, which lasted almost five hours.<\/p>\n
Board member Zach Mulholland said at the Wednesday meeting that he still sees \u201cred flags and concerns with regards to unspecified cuts\u201d but concluded, \u201cat this moment in time, this appears to be a balanced proposal.\u201d Mulholland and other board members on the ad hoc committee recommended the board move forward with the plan, as long as it includes annual updates and regular progress reports from administrators.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow maybe as a college we can work together,\u201d Flath said.<\/p>\n
But the college is also mired in other controversies. The faculty union, which represents about 525 full- and part-time professors, has been without a contract since June as administrators and faculty clash over the details.<\/p>\n
Discussions have soured over disagreements about workloads, class-size limits, cost-of-living adjustments, the timing of layoff notices and the college\u2019s efforts to strike some provisions, which Mitchell says amounts to a \u201cnet divestment\u201d of over a million dollars in spending on faculty. The administration argued some of the issues in the proposed contract aren\u2019t directly connected to faculty benefits, including proposals to add immigration status to the college\u2019s nondiscrimination policy and ramp up campus safety measures.<\/p>\n
Grant Matthews, vice president of academic affairs, said significant progress has been made since the summer, but \u201creally, we\u2019re stuck on economics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to really have a fiscally sustainable institution, and the proposals that we\u2019re receiving at the table are not fiscally responsible,\u201d he said. He estimated that the current contract proposal could cost the college up to $61\u00a0million.<\/p>\n
Professors aren\u2019t pleased with how the process is going. In a December survey of 271 faculty members, 87\u00a0percent reported low morale, 90\u00a0percent said they didn\u2019t trust the college\u2019s president and 69\u00a0percent reported that they fear retaliation for expressing their views. The union has also raised concerns that faculty of color are leaving the college. On Wednesday, about 75 union members and supporters picketed outside ahead of the board meeting.<\/p>\n
Two more bargaining sessions are planned for this month, and mediation is scheduled after.<\/p>\n
Recent course cuts have also frayed relations between faculty and college leaders. Lane cut about 100 course sections for the winter and spring terms after introducing a new system that allows students to sign up in the fall for courses for the entire year.<\/p>\n
Administrators said this is a typical number of course cuts for the college, on par with past years, to optimize their academic offerings, and advisers are ensuring students still get the classes they need. But Mitchell described the move as a blow to part-time faculty, who lost classes that might have filled up later in the year. The union filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the Oregon Employment Relations Board, arguing the eliminated courses should have been a part of bargaining. Mitchell also worries the cuts are a roadblock for students who need to take certain courses, noting that a popular biology class\u2014a prerequisite for many health professions courses\u2014has a wait list of 168 students.<\/p>\n
The board, meanwhile, has had its own share of drama over the past year.<\/p>\n
The faculty union has accused administrators of encroaching on board responsibilities and criticized the board for failing to exercise its authority.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of controversy surrounding the administration essentially taking over the role of the Board of Education,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in August, a third-party report concluded that Mulholland, formerly the board chair, and other board members discriminated against President Stephanie Bulger, a Black woman, on the basis of race and sex. The report described Mulholland and some other board members as displaying a dismissive or hostile attitude toward Bulger, cutting her off in conversations, and deferring questions to male staff. The report also found that Mulholland had intimidated a student. In September, the board censured the former board chair, who apologized, and the full board then came out with a joint apology.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are deeply sorry for the negative impact our behavior has had on you and the college community at large,\u201d said Austin F\u00f6lnagy, the current board chair, who was also accused of adopting a dismissive tone toward the president. \u201cPresident Bulger, please accept the board\u2019s apology for treating you badly.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mitchell said the union is \u201cvery concerned about any type of discrimination, and we think it\u2019s really important for everyone on the campus to feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The college\u2019s accreditor, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, also deemed the college \u201csubstantially in compliance\u201d with accreditation standards but \u201cin need of improvement\u201d in a notice last March. The accreditor recommended the college evaluate its internal communication and ensure decision-making processes are \u201cinclusive of all constituents,\u201d among other suggestions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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