Governor calls for budget cuts

Nationwide economic struggles have trickled their way down to Olympia and now to Olympic College. The OC administration, led by President Dr. David Mitchell, is faced with a request from Gov. Chris Gregoire to significantly cut areas of their annual budget. The directive, which was announced in August, has since put pressure on state agencies and the dollar amount continues to grow with the school year only in its second week. As a result of Gregoire's request, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges established targets set at 0.9 percent of each college's respective annual state appropriation. For OC, that goal was to the tune of $203,000. One month later, the governor's office is requesting an additional $200 million be saved for the current fiscal year. Although OC's share of the burden has not been disclosed, the amount is expected to triple to nearly $700,000, forcing the college to find new ways to save money. When the supplemental budget is reviewed and approved during the next legislative session, the SBCTC will pass on the reduced appropriations to the colleges. According to Vice President of Administration Barbara Martin, the reduced budget will have virtually no impact on ongoing construction on the Bremerton campus and will not raise student tuition or fees. In her Aug. 4 memo, Gregoire asked state agencies to save money by imposing a freeze on hiring for new jobs, including student positions. At press time, there are 15 positions frozen at OC. Although non-operating budget positions at the bookstore and childcare are unaffected, most campus jobs are funded out of the operating budget. The departments could see a decrease in personnel this year. After Bridgid Brunson, former chief financial officer, left the college before fall quarter, the CFO spot is also on hold. According to Martin, this could mean longer lines and unusual hours for student services and the potential for delays in response to student needs. She said apart from this, students shouldn't feel impacted. The option of cutting existing jobs is also on the table, however Martin said it would be a last resort. "We would look long and hard before it came to that," she said. Gregoire's office also listed out-of-state travel, the purchase of new equipment and the signing of non-emergency personal services contracts as other avenues of reduced expenditures, all of which OC is currently considering. In an effort to assess where the college could afford to make cuts, Mitchell enlisted the help of the college's budget committee. To come up with a draft of cost reduction guidelines, the committee organized a specialized task force which includes faculty and staff from varying departments. The budget committee, alongside the administration, said it is committed to continuing the college's strategic initiatives and that student success and access to services remains a top priority, even through financially straining times. "As we make our cuts, we don't want to lose sight of our mission," said faculty Tina Prentiss. With economic forecasts pointing to tougher times ahead, neither the state nor the OC administration are predicting how long the freeze could last and for how much may be reduced annually in the state appropriations. "Maintaining classroom instruction is absolutely core to what we do," said Martin who said she is optimistic about the college's effort to save money. "We have this issue and we will manage it."