SH – Cost cutting has community colleges worried
The “tough decisions” Gov. Haley Barbour recommends in his proposed budget for fiscal-year 2011 would put community colleges at a disadvantage providing educational opportunities to students locally, an administrator said.
“Because our role is to be responsive to our community, we don’t believe we would be able to be as responsive” to students’ needs, said Anna Faye Kelley-Winders, vice president of Community Campus and Institutional Relations at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
In his proposed budget released Monday, Barbour suggested educational communities achieve a targeted savings of nearly 12 percent through “shared services” such as payroll, insurance and purchasing.
He also hinted at elimination of campuses, particularly satellite campuses, and did not rule out reducing the number of community colleges in the state from its current 15.
Sun Herald
11/17/9
Magnolia Tribune
