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MSCTC forecasts layoffs
Published Saturday, November 22, 2008
Dr. Ann Valentine
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system’s decision to reduce its request for state funding could mean layoffs for the Fergus Falls campus.
MnSCU originally planned to approach the state with a 9.3 percent increase request, which would have brought in $126.7 million for the 2010-11 school year. After reevaluating the request with the current economic crisis in mind, the board now plans to seek $55 million less — the lowest request made by the system in the last 13 years.
“We have to be realistic here,” said MSCTC President Ann Valentine. “There is a very real possibility of layoffs.”
With no way around the cuts, Valentine said the MnSCU board and officials on the Fergus Falls campus are having to trim the budget without significantly raising tuition — which could deter future students from enrolling.
“We’re trying to keep them (students) at the center of planning and decision making,” Valentine said.
But that doesn’t mean students won’t see an increase. The original funding request was made with a two percent technical college tuition increase in mind. With the updated request, MnSCU Board Trustee Thomas Renier said it’s difficult to commit to a set tuition increase.
With fewer dollars than anticipated, MSCTC - Fergus Falls will have to put to rest — at least for now — the idea of applying for MnSCU funds relating to additional programs on the campus, which in years past included a $2 million center for college readiness.
The college is also looking for small ways to save money around the campus, like buying materials in bulk and taking a second look at how efficient current cleaning methods are.
“We want to be efficient and effective,” Valentine said.
While the economy is facing troubled times, Valentine said it is important to keep the focus on investing in two-year colleges which will eventually turn out students able to fill positions which require two-year degrees or certificates.
The MnSCU system is made up of 32 universities and community colleges throughout the state. All together, 242,000 students attend MnSCU campuses for credit-based courses, with 140,000 enrolled in non-credit courses.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by duke12 (anonymous) on November 22, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dr Ann Valentine IS a disaster! She should be fired. If not, there is a real danger there will not be a Fergus Falls campus.
Posted by Mr_Lincoln (anonymous) on November 22, 2008 at 1:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
While the price of a college education has skyrocketed far faster than inflation, many careers for which colleges prepare their graduates are disappearing. U.S. News’ Best Careers guide concludes that “college grads might want to consider blue-collar careers” because bachelor’s degree holders “are having trouble finding jobs that require college-graduate skills.”
Posted by Mr_Lincoln (anonymous) on November 22, 2008 at 3:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The question is…if we are all humans why do racial based scholarships exist?The fact of the matter is that to segrigate people by race is detrimental to human equality. This includes ‘white’ based scholarships
Posted by olson736 (anonymous) on November 22, 2008 at 7:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Only in state budgets can you request 127 million and then reduce $55 million less does it become a budget cut.
They are still requesting $72 million dollar increase in their budget.
The Fergus Falls Campus needs to operate in their annual budget without increases just like any other business. Ann Valentine is setting up Fergus for further cuts but letting smaller less effective schools like Wadena remain unaffected. Of course Fergus is a difficult community to work with because they really care about the campus and want it to remain a center of excellence. This of course is foreign to Ms. Valentine as she feels all four schools should remain equal thus watering down the curriculum. Look at the web site and see that Fergus has been short changed on the number of courses offered. The writing is on the wall which school will suffer the most cuts.
Fergus Falls needs to go back to its roots and become a center of excellence. Not influence by somebody who feels this campus should not exist.
Posted by lookitup (anonymous) on November 24, 2008 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Is it just coincidence that MSCTC has had nothing but problems since the day that Ann Valentine showed up?
Posted by sametoyou (anonymous) on November 24, 2008 at 9:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Moorhead is the favored jewel campus! They get everything they want! They have taken over! If they want a class that's already on the Fergus campus, they get it! Now they want to take over our business classes! People in this town better start figuring this out, or this campus will no longer exist! Now cutting back maintenance. You know what happened to the high school when they cut back on the maintenance. The beginning of the end!
Posted by FergusFamily (anonymous) on November 24, 2008 at 12:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why would you at least not ASK for what you need from the state? You can still have realistic expectations about what you'd get. But this defeatest attitude and "let's not even bother" is ridiculous. This is not the kind of leadership Fergus Falls needs.
Posted by watermelon (anonymous) on November 24, 2008 at 2 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr Lincoln, you are a grade A idiot. Everything you write isn't your own. All you do is steal your "thoughts" verbatim from other news and blog sites without giving sources. Do us all a favor and get lost. You can't even so much as think for yourself.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/articl...
http://www.jwharrison.com/blog/2006/11/3...
Posted by JAnderson (anonymous) on November 25, 2008 at 8:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
olson736...couldn't agree with you more.
Posted by I_escaped (anonymous) on November 26, 2008 at 1:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/news/2...
Check out the opinion at this link. It's almost a year old....
Posted by IDCanymore (anonymous) on November 30, 2008 at 4:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If the college wants to continue to cut instead of trying to figure out how to bring in more revenue - this community can expect more of this same message coming out. Why is it when there are budget issues that this college is so quick to have layoffs or cancel programs? Why aren't they being more proactive in bringing in more revenue instead of cutting? And if cutting is the decision - wouldn't it be good to know how much the top administrators are making? How much revenue do they bring in? Do students attend college because of the "great" administration? They choose to go to a college for its programs and the quality of instruction. How many administrators does this college actually need?
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