Western Piedmont copes with budget cuts

College sees a $1.5 million cut in funding from state, county

By: Julie n. Chang | Morganton News Herald
Published: July 24, 2011

MORGANTON --

A familiar occurrence in today’s economy, Western Piedmont Community College is operating with a smaller budget this year.

The college saw a reduction in funding from the state and county of about $1.5 million, a decrease that administrators expected.

“Western Piedmont Community College is committed to ensuring that decreases in its budget do not diminish the quality of education provided for students enrolled at the college,” Libby Barger, director of community relations, wrote in a statement to The News Herald.

WPCC Vice President of Student Development Emily Williamson said, “According to the most recent census data, our community has the lowest educational attainment of any metropolitan statistical area in the state. The college must provide educational opportunities to individuals in our community so they can maintain employment and provide for their families. Decreases in state funding make it more difficult to provide those opportunities.”

The total state and county appropriation for fiscal year 2011-12 is $21,208,292.

Western Piedmont’s enrollment increased 40 percent in the three years leading up to 2009-2010, when it peaked. Enrollment has stabilized since then. Nearly 3,200 students were enrolled at WPCC last fall and 3,143 were enrolled in the spring. About 3,075 students are expected to enroll this fall.

Forty-six percent of students are enrolled in only seated courses, 44 percent in seated and online courses, and 10 percent in online-only courses.

To cope with reduced revenue, WPCC this year will follow the state budget director’s guidelines, Williamson said, which include:

» Limiting new hires to positions that provide direct classroom instruction or are mission critical.

» Only providing state-funded salary increases if an employee is promoted to a higher-level position or if an employee is assigned to higher-level duties because the elimination of another position that results in recurring savings.

» Limiting state-funded travel.

» Limiting purchase orders for goods and services except those required for direct classroom instruction.

WPCC also will work on decreasing energy costs. The college’s energy costs were projected to increase 23 percent for FY 2010-11 compared to the previous year. WPCC will use American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 grants totaling $246,023 to install occupancy sensors in offices and bathrooms, improve the HVAC system, upgrade the central energy plant and replace exterior lighting with more efficient induction lights. The changes will save the college approximately $80,000 within five years of the improvements.

Additionally, WPCC will delay purchasing a vehicle needed for faculty and staff transportation and repairs and replacements of the 13-year-old cooling towers at the central energy plant.