The College Budget Committee met on Thursday, May 01, 2014. The body discussed the CBC/IPC merger, which was approved officially by the College Governance Council. After reviewing the charges of both committees and making suggestions, the body requested the chairs to draft the final charge and make it available to the committee for review.
Executive Vice Chancellor Kathy Blackwood presented on the state of the budget and shared that the state should be expecting more funding for SSSP and new funding for student equity soon, although the allocation process and spending guidelines for these funds are not available at this time. Kathy then distributed a draft of the new resource allocation model to get feedback on the proposed model which has been in progress since last year. The current resource allocation is FTES driven which conforms with state funding when the district was receiving state apportionment. Now that SMCCCD is community supported and the Board of Trustees decided that the district does not have to stay close to the state-funded FTES cap, the resource allocation needs to be revised to reflect this methodology.
The proposed allocation calculates funding for the three colleges with 80% based on minimum staffing and the remaining 20% on FTES. Kathy informed the committee that the scenario contains the elements and calculations that were used in building the model and that the amounts and numbers are subject to change. In this scenario, Skyline will receive a significant cut, more than CSM’s, while Cañada’s allocation would be increased significantly. A lively discussion ensued and Skyline faculty and staff brought forward several concerns and questions, primarily focused on the need and importance of allocating funds where the students are. Kathy will take CBC’s concerns and suggestions into consideration as the model is revised. A debriefing of the points raised will be held at the next College Budget Committee meeting scheduled for May 8.
