District faces crunch from budget shortfall
by Connie Yu, Managing Editor

Funding loss affects classes, staff positions, some printing

   In response to the state funding shortfall, TCC administration continued its hiring freeze on some vacant positions, cut back on printing costs and postponed the installation of the imaging system to make up the $1.7 million budget shortfall this year.
   Class sizes in many popular courses, such as English, history and math, were increased. Some campuses were forced to cut a few class sections that have had low enrollment trends.
   Smaller campuses, such as South and SE, have added sections in the early mornings and early afternoons-traditionally unpopular time slots-hoping to utilize the limited facilities more efficiently.
   Campus administrations also asked faculty members to volunteer to teach an additional class.
   On the other hand, the college's budget for employee salaries and benefits, as well as a building fund reserved for a new campus, have slightly increased.
   Even with a $7.4 million increase in tax revenue and a scheduled $1-per-semester-hour raise in tuition, college officials said budget cuts from the state have been especially challenging in light of an enrollment crunch.
   The college has experienced yet another record enrollment that was up almost 5 percent from last fall, according to its announcement.
   "We have an enrollment crunch," Chancellor Leonardo de la Garza said during the last board meeting. "In my 32 years of experience, I have never imagined using the term enrollment management, but that's what we are facing today."
   TCC officials first enacted the reductions after the state announced this spring to take back 7 percent of the state appropriation the college received for the previous biennium.
   After further evaluations in the summer, de la Garza approved 89 of the vacant faculty and staff positions-leaving 211 positions still frozen.
   Most of the instructional positions from all four campuses are open for hire while some of the secretarial, police officer and janitorial positions remain on hold.
   Under the chancellor's approval list as of Aug. 14, South Campus will be able to fulfill some of its demands in technical support personnel. One of the two registered nurse positions and the division chair of business and social sciences will be opened on NE Campus. Most of the positions filed on NW Campus will be filled. SE Campus will also be able to hire its division chair of humanities.
   Twenty of the 36 approved faculty positions are full-time positions.
   The college has continued to postpone printing catalogs and class schedules for county residents. The savings in printing cost amount to about $560,000. Implementation on an imaging system that will digitally store most of the district-wide records is also delayed-saving the college about $1 million.
   Meanwhile, the college took up about $3 million in additional costs to fund staff and employee benefits that the state stopped paying this spring, Rudy Gonzales, vice chancellor of financial services, said.
   The college granted a 2 percent salary raise for staff and faculty employees because of the increased amount of work they are given during an enrollment crunch, de la Garza said in his presentation to the board members "Our people are going to have to do more from less," he said.
   TCC will also continue to honor its commitment in matching social security for its employees, which amounts to almost $5.8 million. With the social security matching, TCC ranked second in the state in full-time faculty salary last year, according to de la Garza's presentation.
   Because of increase in property values, TCC budgeted $33 million, $4 million up from its last budget, for the purchasing and building of a proposed fifth campus in downtown Fort Worth, Gonzales said. The college is committed to bringing the new campus to light, he said.
   "That's what we told the tax payers last year we were going to spend the money on," he said. "We need to keep that promise to the tax payers."
   More financial hardship may be ahead as the college continues to experience record enrollment increases. The college has reserved funds based on a "modest" 5 percent enrollment increase for next year, and it may not accommodate any additional rise in enrollment.
   College officials say if TCC cannot obtain sufficient funding from the state to accommodate the enrollment crunch, they might be forced to increase tuition rate or property taxes and make further cuts that would impact the students more.
   "This is a monolith that's really bothersome," de la Garza said. "Student tuition will exceed the state funding by the next biennium, and that's a sad statement."
   An example of that trend may be seen at the Dallas Community College District.
   The college has had an enrollment climb of at least 4 percent so far, and it has also cut back on class sections in response to the state funding shortfalls, Ann Hatch, district director of media relations, said.
   But it has also raised its tuition up $4 to $30 per semester hour, $1 less than TCC's tuition rate. The DCCCD Board of Trustees approved recently an increase on property taxes of about $21 a year.
   TCC officials say they will closely follow how other colleges adjust their tuition and tax rates to decide on its rates for the next semester, but some increases may be inevitable.
   "Every college in the state is increasing its taxes and tuitions," de la Garza said.