With unemployment levels continuing to rise across the nation and workers looking for avenues to improve their career paths, the San Bernardino Community College District (SBCCD) is poised to help. The Board of Trustees has been proactive in budget planning in order to preserve instructional programs and student services at San Bernardino Valley College and Crafton Hills College while incurring budget cuts and deferral of state funding.
With enrollment growing over 12 percent at both colleges, the Chancellor and Trustees began planning for budget impacts six months ago. Core underlying principles were established to guide budget reductions:
* Keep the cuts as far away as possible from direct student instruction and services,
* Avoid layoffs of permanent full-time employees, and
* Ensure all expenditures are mission-critical.
"Our employees were part of the solution," said Dr. Noelia Vela, Chancellor. "They submitted over 1000 suggestions encompassing centralization of services, elimination of positions, and efficiencies in various areas including energy savings."
With the support of our Board of Trustees, the District is making reductions of approximately $2 million for the remainder of 2008-09. The cuts include:
- Eliminating 3 vacant positions
- A hiring freeze on all but critical positions including the resulting vacancies from participants of the Supplemental Early Retirement Plans
- Reducing travel expenses
- Reducing short-term hourly positions
- Restricting purchasing of supplies and non-critical equipment
In addition, the District offered a Supplemental Early Retirement Plan (SERP) for faculty at the end of 2008 and for managers and confidential employees this spring. Eighteen faculty members and 15 managers elected to participate in the SERP. While some of the resulting vacancies will be filled, many will remain unfilled, leading to budget savings for several years.
"These reductions allow us to honor our guiding principles," said Dr. Vela. "We think it's important that we meet the needs of our students and the critical employment needs in our state while still being a responsible employer," said Dr. Vela.
Board President James Ramos commented, "The Board is pleased that in this slow economy the San Bernardino Community College District continues to play a vital role in the economic development of our communities. With the great teamwork between the Board and district employees, we have honored our guiding principles in making budget reductions and can continue to meet the needs of our students, communities and employees."
The District is also continuing extensive construction projects at both colleges with funding from Measure P and Measure M, general obligation bond funds totaling almost $700 million. More than 75 percent of the construction monies spent to-date has been reinvested in our communities by contracting with local vendors.
The San Bernardino Community College District is composed of San Bernardino Valley College, Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, KVCR-TV/FM and the Professional Development Center.
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