Budget pinch strikes home
Liz Wardlow
Issue date: 1/28/10 Section: News
Kirkwood Community College students can expect to pay more per credit hour. And some longtime faculty members will be taking advantage of a new retirement incentive.
Those are two of the ways in which Kirkwood is dealing with a budget squeeze, according to President Mick Starcevich.
Starcevich outlined budget concerns in a speech to faculty and staff on Jan. 18.
He said a substantial budget cut will be from the closing of the Lincoln Learning Center in Cedar Rapids in December. The building is quite old and is very costly for Kirkwood to keep intact, Starcevich said. All program services will relocate to Kirkwood buildings on campus, over time. At present, many of the services plan to move to the Kirkwood Resource Center, 1030 Fifth Ave. SE.
Other budget cuts will take place within administrative positions, by downsizing programs and reducing certain accounts. Many people will be retiring after this term and are encouraged to do so with the special 2010 retirement option. "They will receive 25 percent more than what they would have gotten in a normal year," Starcevich said. He estimated 22 faculty members will retire this year.
"The people that have been here a long time, their salary goes up every year," Starcevich said. "Then you hire back at the base and you save approximately $20,000 per position."
Two positions will be cut, an administrator and coordinator, for the fiscal 2011. Among downsized programs, the Floral Department will decrease to one teacher and an adjunct instead of two full-time teachers. Out of all positions being lost, five will not be replaced, according to Starcevich.
Last year Kirkwood cut $1.25 million from the budget and, throughout the fiscal years 2010 and 2011, Kirkwood plans to cut $3 million. "We've been in this budget mess for about three years now," Starcevich said. It takes time to see the effects of budget cuts, he said, and most won't take place until next year.
To increase revenue, credit hours will be raised about $7 or $9 when the fiscal 2011 begins, the president said. Kirkwood enrollment hit a new high this year and, with the increased number of students, "there will be a pretty healthy balance and we won't have to raise tuition as much," Starcevich said.
Fiscal year 2011 begins June 30 of this year.
Those are two of the ways in which Kirkwood is dealing with a budget squeeze, according to President Mick Starcevich.
Starcevich outlined budget concerns in a speech to faculty and staff on Jan. 18.
He said a substantial budget cut will be from the closing of the Lincoln Learning Center in Cedar Rapids in December. The building is quite old and is very costly for Kirkwood to keep intact, Starcevich said. All program services will relocate to Kirkwood buildings on campus, over time. At present, many of the services plan to move to the Kirkwood Resource Center, 1030 Fifth Ave. SE.
Other budget cuts will take place within administrative positions, by downsizing programs and reducing certain accounts. Many people will be retiring after this term and are encouraged to do so with the special 2010 retirement option. "They will receive 25 percent more than what they would have gotten in a normal year," Starcevich said. He estimated 22 faculty members will retire this year.
"The people that have been here a long time, their salary goes up every year," Starcevich said. "Then you hire back at the base and you save approximately $20,000 per position."
Two positions will be cut, an administrator and coordinator, for the fiscal 2011. Among downsized programs, the Floral Department will decrease to one teacher and an adjunct instead of two full-time teachers. Out of all positions being lost, five will not be replaced, according to Starcevich.
Last year Kirkwood cut $1.25 million from the budget and, throughout the fiscal years 2010 and 2011, Kirkwood plans to cut $3 million. "We've been in this budget mess for about three years now," Starcevich said. It takes time to see the effects of budget cuts, he said, and most won't take place until next year.
To increase revenue, credit hours will be raised about $7 or $9 when the fiscal 2011 begins, the president said. Kirkwood enrollment hit a new high this year and, with the increased number of students, "there will be a pretty healthy balance and we won't have to raise tuition as much," Starcevich said.
Fiscal year 2011 begins June 30 of this year.
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