DSC facing more ‘serious’ cuts

Published 11:22 pm Thursday, February 25, 2010

An additional $2.4 million in unanticipated cuts from the state for the 2011 fiscal year may force Dalton State College to take “dramatic and extremely painful actions,” according to college president John Schwenn

Schwenn declined to say what some of those possible cuts could be. In an e-mail to the “DSC community” obtained by The Daily Citizen he wrote that eliminating or drastically reducing entire programs is “very likely” and could “clear the way for termination of tenured faculty as well as untenured faculty and staff positions.” He described the college’s situation as a “crisis” but wrote that he did not want to “induce panic.”

“Services, programs, things are going to have to be cut that we would normally be doing and never even consider (cutting),” Schwenn said. “It will have a serious effect on students.”

The original cuts recommended by Gov. Sonny Perdue and the additional reduction comes out to be $385 million for the University System of Georgia. DSC’s share is now $4.2 million. Schwenn said state funding has been reduced from $15.4 million in fiscal year 2009 to $14.3 million in fiscal year 2010, which began July 1. Out of that $14.3 million, the college will have to cut $4.2 million total. The total instructional budget for the current year is nearly $24 million.

The college has other funding sources, including tuition, fees and grants.

On Wednesday University Chancellor Erroll Davis spoke to the state Legislature about more reductions for the system. The presidents of the state’s colleges and universities had a conference call Thursday morning. By noon Saturday, the presidents must submit to the Board of Regents their proposed cuts. The Board of Regents will review the proposals over the weekend then release them to the Legislature on Monday, when they will become public record.

“What we have to come up with is if we get the most draconian cuts, that would be our fair share of anything we would have to do,” Schwenn said.

Schwenn spent Thursday afternoon meeting with his senior administrative staff, chairs of the faculty advisory assembly and staff council, deans and president of the Student Government Association. He asked that all staff and faculty attend a meeting in the Goodroe Auditorium this morning.

“From there, we’ll make sure we have appropriate things on the list to send in,” Schwenn said. “We’re just in the process of developing. It’s not done.”

Done already are several cost-cutting moves.

Last year, DSC closed its continuing education department housed in the James E. Brown saving to save about $100,000 a year. DSC also shuttered its Catoosa County campus in 2009, which saved $75,000. The college is also expected to save $200,000 by furloughing its 300 full-time employees for six days from September 2009 through May.

College officials also eliminated most travel except to University System of Georgia-sponsored events and required accreditation meetings, increased class sizes where room capacity allowed and canceled the 2009 fall employee dinner sponsored by the DSC Foundation.