On Wednesday, March 18, Lyndon State College President Joe Bertolino announced details of a plan developed to “right size” the College’s budget in response to projected deficits in the coming years. The College entered the 2014-15 academic year with an unexpectedly large decline in new students — resulting in a $1.5 million gap that was closed with a combination of one-time initiatives including budget cuts, increased efficiencies, a hiring freeze, and monies from reserves. The plan also includes the layoff of five staff memebers and the cutting of some adjunct positions.
The administration anticipated that flat state funding and declining enrollment due to long-term demographic changes would result in larger shortfalls in years ahead, an estimated $3.1 million in 2015–16. Since October 2014, the president’s leadership team’s budget committee, with input from members of the campus community and representatives from faculty and staff bargaining units, has been working to build a budget sized to fit projected enrollment moving forward.
President Bertolino on the Lyndonville campus. File photo.
A mix of cost savings and revenue enhancements have and will be taken to produce a stable, sustainable budget. Academic and administrative departments have worked diligently to continue reducing expenses, locate and eliminate areas of duplication, and increase efficiency. A number of faculty and staff vacancies will be left unfilled, some employees have taken advantage of early retirement incentives, and other positions have been restructured. These moves impact staffing at every level, including the provost and a dean.
On the revenue side, five new initiatives are being implemented that will offer the Lyndon experience to more learners. The Lyndon Learning Collaborative with Lyndon Institute is designed to make attending college easier for current high school seniors, a program the College hopes to expand to include other area schools. A partnership with Northern Essex Community College (NECC) is in the works that will bring three Lyndon bachelor degree programs to NECC’s Lawrence, Mass., campus. An agreement with Education First will bring the first cohort of international students to LSC in fall 2015. Also in fall 2015, the College will launch LyndonFLEX, a program to attract and better serve nontraditional learners in our region. Finally, the College plans to make strategic investments to attract more student athletes in several new sports.
While these efforts will go most of the way toward creating a sustainable budget, they will not be enough to secure the College’s position in the years ahead. On Wednesday, President Bertolino announced the painful decision to lay off five staff members, effective July 1, 2015. The positions are assistant director of athletics/sports information director, associate registrar, director of first-year experience, grants officer, and senior desktop support technician. Bertolino met personally with each of these employees the morning of the 18th. Bertolino said, “they will receive full salary and benefits through June 30, the end of the College’s fiscal year, hopefully allowing them the time and support they need for their job search.”
The College also announced a substantial reduction in courses taught by part-time faculty, resulting in the nonreappointment of some adjunct faculty, and a reduction in overloads paid to full-time faculty.
In a message to the entire campus community, Bertolino said, “This is heartbreaking news and something we’d hoped to avoid. These are people’s livelihoods. Their professions. On behalf of the entire campus community, I extend my gratitude to these staff and part-time faculty members for their years of service to the College.”
Bertolino added, “While this is painful, it is vitally important for us to tackle this head on. Ultimately these decisions will strengthen Lyndon State College and its mission in the years to come.”
He went on to “thank the entire community for their support through this difficult process, for the sacrifices that have been and will be made, and for your ongoing commitment to providing the best possible experience for our students.”