Hocking College poised to make drastic personnel cuts this week
By Nick Claussen
June 26, 2008
The Hocking College Board of Trustees approved a budget Tuesday evening that calls for reducing funding for personnel by $550,000.
Hocking College President John Light said the college is attempting to not lay any employees off, but said some contracts may not be renewed, and some employees could see their hours and salaries reduced.
A press release from the college explains how some of the cuts may be made.
“Summer contracts will be greatly reduced, expiring contracts may not be renewed, all quarterly and casual/temporary contracts will be challenged for need, all non-bargaining unit/non-extended contracts will be analyzed for possible reduction, and task reassignments from part time/casual time to fulltime employees will be reviewed,” the release states.
The Trustees approved the budget at the meeting, but Light said he didn’t know when the meeting ended how all of the cuts will be made. He said no determinations have been made about which contracts will not be renewed and how other cuts can be effected. He had no information yet on how many people will be affected by the $550,000 cut.
He is also hoping to save money by not filling vacant positions after employees resign or retire, Light said.
The cuts have to be made by the time the new budget year starts on July 1, though, so the decisions must be made this week, and the employees who are being affected will find out by the end of the week, Light said.
Employees whose contracts are expiring did not know at Tuesday night’s meeting if their contracts would be renewed or not, but they will find out by the end of the week, according to the president.
Light said after the meeting that seven or eight administrative contracts are among those expiring, but he said he did not know how many would be renewed.
HC Trustee Steve Swart asked during the meeting about the decision-making process for the cuts, and about the kind of notice employees are being given about their jobs and salaries possibly changing next week.
“People’s lives are going to be impacted a week from now,” Swart said. He added that he does not object to the budget plan, but questioned how it’s being communicated to employees.
Light responded that he has been open about the need for possible budget cuts ever since the beginning of the year, and that the cuts have been discussed in Trustee meetings and in meetings on campus.
He said he also sent out memos to staff explaining the possible cuts, and has asked employees to share their concerns with him.
“Nobody came to me and said, ‘What about me?’ There shouldn’t be any surprises,” Light said. “We tried our best on this.”
The college is also reducing its budget in other areas in order to respond to what Light explained is a “perfect storm” for the budget.
Three issues expected to arise in the next few months are negatively impacting the budget now, and that’s why the Trustees voted to approve the “recession budget” that was drawn up, as opposed to the “growth budget” that was also discussed, Light said.
These three issues are the possibility of a reduction in state funding, the possibility that the college won’t meet its enrollment target (and because of that lose more state funding as well as tuition funding), and the fact that the state is asking colleges and universities to make 3 percent efficiency reductions. The 3 percent efficiency reduction equals a $1 million budget cut, according to Light.
The Trustees chose to go with the recession budget and make the cuts early so that the college will be in a better position to deal with these potential problems, Light said.
He added that he believes the college will make its enrollment target and will not be hurt in that area.
If the enrollment does well and if the college does not receive state funding cuts, it will be in a better financial position and could restore funding to some of the areas that are being cut, he said. Some employees who are having their hours reduced could then have them increased again, he added.
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