NSCC facing cash crunch

LYNN – North Shore Community College will face over $1.4 million in fourth-quarter budget cuts as a result of a widespread mid-year reduction detailed by Gov. Deval Patrick Wednesday.Patrick laid out some spec-ifics of his long-anticipated 9C cuts at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, slashing the budgets of most state-funded agencies and programs in an effort to fill a $1.1 billion deficit in the fiscal year 2009 budget.In addition to the $300 million in budget cuts, Patrick announced heavy withdrawals from state reserve funds and said he anticipates state assistance from a developing federal stimulus package.According to numbers released by the Patrick administration, North Shore Community College will lose $1,147,584 from its fiscal year 2009 budget, and will face an additional $1-2 million in cuts in the fiscal year 2010 budget.NSCC President Wayne Burton said Wednesday that the reductions will hit the school hard this year and next, but insisted that the quality of programs at both the Lynn and Danvers campuses would remain high.”We certainly saw this coming. In fact, I was called personally last night by (Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Freeland) to discuss the cuts,” said Burton. “The world is in an economic freefall, and this is a result of that.”In anticipation of the long-awaited cuts, NSCC has already taken steps to conserve the fiscal year 2009 budget, re-negotiating contracts with outside services such as information technology support and cutting down on hours of operation at both campus locations.As for faculty and staff layoffs, the school has cut back on part-time and temporary employees, but Burton said he does not anticipate laying off full-time faculty members.NSCC also has a reputation for being an environmentally conscious school, and Burton said efforts to reduce energy consumption have intensified with the cuts as well.”We are going to be lean and green by year’s end,” Burton said, “We are taking every step we can think of to conserve the current fiscal year budget.”While school administration struggles to stay afloat this year, it is also preparing for another potentially multi-million dollar reduction in 2010, frequently meeting to revamp the school’s strategic plans.Burton says a large part of the 2010 budget will depend on federal stimulus money that could trickle down to community colleges, but the proposed cuts will almost definitely increase student fees next year.One positive is that federal PELL grants, for low-income undergraduate students, could actually see an increase in funding, allowing NSCC to assist “cusp” students who may not qualify for PELL money but still need assistance.”It looks like right now we will have enough funds for those cusp students, who are not considered low income but still need money,” said Burton. “We will try and make sure they are covered.”Although the cuts are tough for the school to take, Burton recognizes that the problem is not exclusive to NSCC, as every state school has taken a hit this week, including Salem State College, where over $2 million was taken away by Patrick.Burton stressed that all programs will remain at the school this year and next despite economic woes, and students can expect the same quality of education throughout.”This is not an easy time for anyone right now,” Burton said. “But clearly we believe that higher education that puts more people in today’s workforce is very, very important. The quality of our programs will remain high no matter what.”