FY 2012 budget passed by board of trustees

The MCC budget for fiscal year 2012, which begins on July 1, 2011, was ratified last week by the MCC board of trustees.

The budget book, which outlines and explains the budget in detail, is now posted on InfoExchange. To access it, click here. (After you log in, click on Financial Reports tab and then click on the FY 2012 link under Budget Books - pdf. If you have trouble opening the file, you may need to update your Adobe Reader. Do so by clicking here.)

To read the highlights of the budget presented to the board of trustees by Vice Chancellor Tuesday Stanley, visit MCC Budget Source.

Update on Missouri State Appropriations for MCC

On Friday, June 10, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon announced that he is withholding an additional $57.1 million in general revenue from next year’s state budget (FY2012 beginning on July 1, 2011). Nixon signed the state’s $23 billion budget into law on Friday but withheld the $57.1 million to allow the State of Missouri to provide further disaster assistance to both tornado ravaged Joplin and areas devastated by flooding along the Mississippi River.

MCC budgeted a 4.81% reduction in state funding for the coming fiscal year. After Nixon’s action on Friday, MCC’s budget will see a total reduction in state funds of 7%. This means that MCC will lose an additional $650,000 from its state appropriation bringing the total state aid to $30.7 million.

In the short term, MCC will utilize its emergency contingency fund to offset the 7% cut. However the additional state budget cut will deplete MCC’s emergency fund. We will continue to identify cost savings or revenue opportunities to replenish the emergency fund.

Students now print 30% less

In an effort to curb costs while holding tuition last year, MCC implemented a printing limitations policy - limiting students’ free printing access to 200 black and white, single-sided pages. Additional pages can be printed above the 200 for 10 cents per page.

While the suggestion originated from MCC’s Budget Response Team, the implementation served a dual purpose. The process encourages students to print less, using less paper and ink, therefore contributing to a greener environment.

Since the implementation began in fall 2010, MCC has realized a decrease in student printing of 30%.

Message from the Chancellor - Budget Website Launched

Dear MCC Colleagues,

As you know, MCC’s current budget outlook is challenging. While the officers, with the input of individuals and teams from across the district, are working to find solutions to our sizable budget deficit, I want to be sure all of you are informed about the various factors related to budgetary decisions.

We have created a website called MCC Budget Source where you can access all of this information. If you have questions about changes related to the MCC budget, take a few minutes to look through this site, which includes an FAQ section. If you have additional questions, email them to budget.source@mcckc.edu . While we cannot respond to each question individually, you can watch for responses to frequently asked questions to appear on MCC Budget Source. Also, please continue to direct feedback and questions to your Budget Response Team representatives, who are listed by name on the MCC Budget Source site.

As additional budget information becomes available, we will continue to update the site, so feel free to check back often for additional information.

Please use MCC Budget Source to stay informed and provide input into these important decisions. I believe that we can meet the challenges we now face and continue our mission of preparing students, serving communities and creating opportunities.

Mark James

Chancellor

Employees - Who is my Budget Response Team representative?

The Budget Response Team (BRT) was created during Jackie Snyder’s Chancellorship, as a vehicle for staff, faculty and administrators to have a voice regarding impending budget changes due to the recession and continued state budget cuts.

As concerns and questions arise regarding budgets, employees are encouraged to contact their representative, listed below:

Staff: Beverly Jennings (MW), Sherry Skinner (BTC) and Melissa Marr (AC)
Faculty: Cheryl Winter (BR), Elliott Schimmel (LV), Lynn Canaday (BR) and Craig Bartholomaus (PV)
Administrators: Beth Lindquist (LV), Jon Burke (BR) and Reinhard Weglarz (AC)
Officers: Tuesday Stanley, Merna Saliman and Tom Vansaghi

MCC-Maple Woods partners with Community America Credit Union for budgeting lessons

For its second year of A+ orientation, MCC-Maple Woods partnered with Community America Credit Union to provide more than just basic college info - much of the presentation focused on money matters and how to budget for life after high school.

KMBC's Donna Pitman was on site, finding out how students were using the information to make smart decisions regarding lifestyle choices, loan obligations and even preparations for the unforseen circumstances life can throw in. Among the surprising finds, a couple girls who had everything figured out but no leftover cash at the end of the month, and a guy with a decent sum leftover, but only $5 budgeted for clothes and personal grooming.

Watch the clip here!

Chancellor's Cabinet meeting recap

The Chancellor’s Cabinet, which is made up of representatives from MCC’s officers and governance groups, met on Aug. 24.

Several members of the cabinet attended the Governor’s Summit on Higher Education. A short discussion was held by members who attended the summit. Many commented about the state budget projections for the next few years. The Missouri budget will be $400 to $500 million short next fiscal year and the potential for cuts across state government, including higher education, will be substantial.

Chancellor Mark James remarked that even if the economy miraculously recovered overnight; state funding would be limited based on the Hancock Amendment. The amendment puts a cap on a levy increase beyond the level that it was prior to the recession, unless approved by the voters.

MCC-Business & Technology President Debbie Goodall commented on the administrative efficiency items Governor Nixon charged to Missouri educators. A discussion of collaboration among Missouri colleges focused on two main items: developmental math and common course numbering.

The group of attendees agreed the most inspirational take away from the summit was speaker Dewayne Matthews; vice president for strategy at the Lumina Foundation (begins at 1:24:17 of the video). Craig Bartholomaus commented that Matthews’s presentation reminded educators the importance of why we do what we do.

Other items of interest from the meeting:
*The MCC Board of Trustees will meet on Aug. 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Administrative Center
*Tuesday Stanley reported enrollment is up 6% from last fall (unduplicated head count)
*MCC has over 20,000 students enrolled
*The percentage of student loan amount has decreased (per person) from 26 percent last fall to 24 percent this semester.

To see all the speakers of the Governor’s Summit on Higher Education visit: mms://wmvstream.dese.mo.gov\governoreducationsummit

Governor’s Summit on Higher Education - A message from Tom Vansaghi

Higher education leaders from across Missouri were in Jefferson City on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010, for the first governor’s summit on higher education. Gov. Jay Nixon (D) welcomed a crowd of several hundred presidents, chancellors, administrators, board members and faculty by underscoring the importance of higher education.

Presentations focused on the fact that the Missouri budget will be $400 to $500 million short next fiscal year (FY2012) and that the potential for cuts across state government-including higher education-will be substantial. Nixon acknowledged that tuition increases may be necessary beginning in the fall of 2012.

He expressed his appreciation to the higher education community for not raising tuition over the past two years—something no other state in the nation has managed to do. Other presentations focused on techniques and programs to transform teaching and learning in higher education and increasing the percentage of Americans who will earn college degrees by 2025 from 39 to 60 percent.

Nixon outlined four key areas he is charging higher education to focus on: attainment; academic program review; cooperation and collaboration; and funding. The expectation is that every college and university in the state will report their monthly progress on these four areas to the Department of Higher Education and they will report all findings back to Nixon.

• Attainment involves holding institutions accountable for aligning K-12 curriculum with higher education, enrolling more students in higher education classes and programs and insuring that more students graduate with a two or four year degree.

• Academic program review will hold colleges and universities accountable for offering academic programs that increase graduates in fields where there are jobs available. The Department of Higher Education will work closely with academic institutions to conduct a systematic review of all degree programs to insure this is occurring. Increased cooperation and collaboration is about creating more administrative and academic efficiencies.

• Administrative efficiency addresses each institution's ability to find more efficient and less expensive ways to operate, while academic will involve a detailed inventory of cooperation and collaboration around academic programs to determine whether they are meeting the goals that were intended for them. Additional collaboration and cooperation could occur through sharing faculty, libraries, equipment and expansion of dual credit.

• Funding includes asking institutions to develop multi-year, sustainable funding models that strike a balance between public funding, tuition and cost reductions.

“This is the time for bold thinking and bold action," Nixon said in his concluding remarks. "Tonight, I am giving you a bold new charge.”

Click here to see all speeches from last week's Governor’s Summit on Higher Education.

Printing limitations update

This fall, each MCC student will be allowed to print 200 black and white, single-sided pages at no cost. Once the 200-page allocation has been used, students may purchase additional pages for 10 cents per page using a credit card at the computer, through the library (cash only) or other authorized ‘Code Card’ sellers.

MCC’s tuition has remained $82 per credit hour for two years. To curb costs without raising tuition, unlimited student printing was eliminated. This suggestion originated from last year’s Budget Response Committee.

An additional bonus is this encourages students to print less, therefore using less paper and ink, contributing to a greener environment.