Lane Community College’s Board of Education held its monthly meeting June 1. The first action item of the meeting was the proposal to approve the budget plan for the fiscal year 2022-2023. All six of the board members voted in favor of approving the plan. Here is the link to the document with a detailed list of the budget plan. The board members also approved Resolution 674 to impose and categorize taxes for the fiscal year 2022-2023. Here is the link to the document that discusses the agenda. Additionally, they approved Resolution 675, which was to confer the title of President Emerita to the retiring Dr. Margaret Hamilton.
The meeting then proceeded with Dr. Paul Jarrell, the Provost and Executive Vice President, highlighting some of the achievements of the Specialized Support Services department, otherwise known as S3. S3 supports adults with developmental disabilities who experience barriers to accessing educational and vocational opportunities. The S3 program served 50 students, but with the rise of the pandemic, they had to discontinue it for about six months.
According to Dr. Jarrell, the program is “ramping back up post-pandemic” and “about half of the student population that we had pre-pandemic right now.” He also mentioned that the “current target is to get back to that roughly 50 students per year,” which would allow the program to be maintained and fiscally stable. They are also “looking at ways to reduce expenses without negatively impacting the program” and “ways to increase revenue through grant development and increase student enrollment.”
During the public comment period multiple instructors addressed wage issues. The Lane Community College Education Association has been fighting for fair wages and they gave public comment during the meeting. Kate Sullivan has been at LCC for 21 years. She works in the Arts and Humanities division and shared a statement written by a colleague. “Over the last seven years, total spending at LCC for contracted faculty salaries decreased 6.6%, while it’s increased by 7.7% for managers. And more than 20% of part time faculty have lost their jobs entirely during the pandemic. At the same time, the college budget continues to increase every year. So where exactly is that money going?”
Adrienne Mitchell, LCCEA President, stated, “The union reached a tentative agreement last Thursday with the college, so we have resolved the bargaining issues for faculty.” Details of the agreement can be found here.
The board will meet on June 15 for a work session, the next regular meeting will be held on July 6.
