Thank you all for everything you do in pursuit of “Keeping Learning at the Center.”
Activities of Note: Faculty and Staff
This section recognizes the good work being done and linkages to the Strategic Agenda, Strategic Directions and Goals are provided where possible. (more…)
The fiscal year 2015 budget was approved by the Board of Trustees at their regular meeting on June 23, 2014. I thank everyone for their work during the budgeting process and appreciate those who attended Employee Conversation meetings last spring. Because of your hard work and input, the approved FY15 budget was balanced using a combination of expenditure reductions, modest tuition increases, and additional sources of revenue. The budget does not rely on reserves and will assist us in achieving a long-term sustainable business model.
The final FY15 budget included tuition rate changes of 5.3% for all in-state tuition and 7.2% change for out-of-state tuition. The Dental Assistant program will now be included in Tier I differential tuition rates and an International rate for fiscal year 2016 was approved by the Board of Trustees. Additional revenue from the Foundation of $68,000 and from Marine Technology portfolio B projects of $135,000 is included.
Changes in expenses included reductions in the capital outlay (COAT) allocation of $50,000, professional development of $40,000, general E&G of $187,000, and personnel of $420,000. These adjustments came as a result of the Planning and Budget Council asking for additional reductions based on the analysis of personnel and other expenses. Also included in the budget is a placeholder for changes in employee compensation. As you are aware, the recommendation from Planning and Budget Council was to align the date of compensation changes to January 1 in conjunction with employee health benefits. This alignment will provide a more complete picture of fall tuition revenue and allow time for the Compensation Study and its implementation to be reviewed by the Board of Trustees at their September meeting. We acknowledge that there are still questions regarding the implementation of any compensation changes and we will keep you informed as recommendations are finalized. I expect implementation will be a multi-year activity. Please refer to my memo of June 11, 2014 for more on this issue.
As always, I will keep you informed of any changes to the situation. I ask everyone to continue the good work you are doing in recruiting students and helping them on their completion pathway.
Thank you.
Timothy J. Nelson, President
The Board of Trustees and I are thankful for the outstanding contributions everyone at NMC made this past academic year that helped us to successfully meet the learning needs of our students and region. Here are a number of important accomplishments you helped to achieve this past year. Many will have a lasting impact on NMC and our future.
I am grateful that everyone at NMC works to ensure that learning is at the center of everything we do.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the NMC Foundation’s 24-Hour Donor Challenge on Thursday and Friday. The outpouring of support from our community and especially our campus community helped make the event a success that exceeded expectations.
In just 24 hours, more than 120 donations, exceeding $20,000 were received. That money will go into the Foundation’s Annual Fund and support scholarships, programs, facilities and services here at NMC. I’m proud to have pledged $24 for each of the first 100 donations, and very happy that the great outpouring of support means that my full pledge will be honored. (more…)
Below, you will find a Budget Update from Planning and Budget Council that summarizes the progress we have made, since the beginning of the year, towards providing a balanced budget recommendation to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
As part of providing greater stability in future budgets, starting in the next fiscal year, we will recommend in the budget that is presented to the Board of Trustees for approval to award total compensation increases starting on January 1. Shifting to a January 1 annual compensation change will enable shared governance committees to have a more complete picture of the largest drivers in our budget, fall tuition revenue and healthcare costs. This allows us to align all total compensation increases together. The timing of the salary increase determination will be aligned with health benefits enrollment in October. The attached memo explains the rationale for this change. (more…)
Last week NMC President Timothy J. Nelson sent the campus community an e-mail in regard to an issue that would be addressed at last night’s Board of Trustees meeting. As promised here is an update from the president.
Last night the regular April meeting of our Board of Trustees was held at our Parsons-Stulen building, and it was the first meeting to be video recorded. I want to thank Kyle Morrison and Dennis Schultz of our Educational Media Technologies department for their work in creating a very professional and unobtrusive process for recording the meetings. The meeting will soon be posted on the NMC website and that process will be the same for all future regular board meetings.
The college and the Board of Trustees value input from the public, and public input was a key factor in the decision to begin recording the meetings. Transparency is an important factor in keeping the public trust, and we are committed to maintaining that trust.
Campus Community,
Here’s an update from NMC President Timothy J. Nelson:
As many of you know, at its March 24th Board meeting NMC Trustees approved a videotaping policy in order to archive and record all special and regular meetings of the NMC Board. Trustees began reviewing the benefits and concerns regarding adopting this policy last fall.
State Budget Update
The Governor released the executive budget on February 7, 2014. The process for getting to an approved budget follows this path. First the Governor establishes and releases the executive budget; next, individual departmental budgets are taken up by the appropriate subcommittees in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. The community college budget starts this year in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Community Colleges. Once they complete a budget through House processes, it moves to the Senate. Assuming the budgets are not the same, they go to a conference committee to resolve the differences. They then return to the House and Senate for votes and finally go to the Governor for his signature. In the past few years, this has been done early enough that we can appropriately plan. Legally, they must have a budget by October 1, 2014, the beginning of the State fiscal year.
From President Nelson
I am requesting your assistance in honoring your faculty and staff colleagues at Northwestern Michigan College.
The trend of enrollment at Northwestern Michigan College in the past five fall and spring semesters mirrors the unemployment rate. When unemployment increases, enrollment at community colleges increases (including NMC) as students seek education to enhance their current skills or pursue different careers. Student enrollment began increasing related to unemployment in SP2009 and then peaked at the height of the recession in 2010-2011. During this time NMC experienced the highest enrollment in our history, with 5,440 students in FA2010 and 5,194 students in SP2011. Since that time enrollment is returning to levels prior to the recession. Current student enrollment is similar to the enrollment during 2007-2008.
For those of you who may have missed it (or for anyone who wants to watch it over and over), a video of the presentations at Mid-Year Conference from Monday, January 6 is now available on the NMC Intranet (login required.)
(more…)
Thank you all for everything you do in pursuit of “Keeping Learning at the Center.”
Thank you all for everything you do in pursuit of “Keeping Learning at the Center.”
Timothy J. Nelson, President, Northwestern Michigan College
A fundamental question for any organization, profit or not, is, “What do we do for whom at what value?” The answers to this ultimately define the business model for the enterprise. This then informs the cost structure, the market, and the pricing and revenue practices for the organization. The current trend of students paying more in absolute and proportionate share of the cost to operate the college has limits and may postpone answering this fundamental question (College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, 2012). In community colleges, tuition alone does not generate enough revenue to create a positive net margin. There is a saying, “No margin, no mission.”
The traditional revenue model for community colleges is different among the 50 states. (Education Commission of the States, 2000) In Michigan, the original bargain was said to be one-third each for local, state, and students. Today, state funding is a combination of legacy and a funding distribution formula adopted in 2007. (Jonasson, 2013)
Timothy J. Nelson, President, Northwestern Michigan College
When systems are in a transformative state, the underlying assumptions that influence their operations and purposes must be examined and questioned. One way to do this is to look at organizations or industries with similar characteristics and determine what we can learn and/or project from their journey. Thus, as higher education—in fact all of education—is faced with changing demands, changing demographics, technological advances and changing expectations we can look for a similar industry. I have long believed it is health care.
Consider that the federal government in 2010 passed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. Looking at the health care reform component of this act and the sister Patient Protection and Affordability Act, is it worth asking, “What if these changes are applied to education and higher education?”
Thank you for everything you do in pursuit of “Keeping Learning at the Center.”
Faculty and Staff Activities of Note:
This section recognizes the good work being done and linkages to the Strategic Agenda,
Strategic Directions and Goals are provided where possible. (more…)
Thank you all for everything you do in pursuit of “Keeping Learning at the Center.”
Activities of Note: Faculty and Staff
This section recognizes the good work being done and linkages to the Strategic Agenda, Strategic Directions and Goals are provided where possible. (more…)