CNC President Outlines Cuts, Blames Funding Formula

By 250 News

CNC President John Bowman delivers the bad news ( photo opinion 250 staff) Click here for video

Prince George, B.C. - Twenty five people are facing unemployment because of the College of New Caledonia’s budget crisis, a crisis,  which CNC President John Bowman says, is largely the result of a  funding formula that doesn’t work  for rural  colleges.

CNC has handed lay off slips to 14 instructors, 7 operational staff and 2 administrative employees.   Two other instructors have announced they will retire, so their colleagues with less seniority can remain employed. There will also be cuts to the part time instructors, but that number has not yet been determined. In addition, the College has cut some programs, including:

• Forest Resource Technology
• Business the Next Generation,
• Hospitality Operations and Administration
• Northern Outdoor Recreation and Eco-Tourism and 
• Adult Special Education (Job Education and Training, Target and Open Doors)

In addition, the College is suspending the intercollegiate athletics program and withdrawing the men’s and women’s volleyball and badminton teams from the BC Colleges Athletics Association.

There will be a reduction in the number of classes offered in the University Transfer program.

Any of the programs which are being cut which are two year programs will allow students to complete the second year however no new students will be enrolled in September.

CNC President John Bowman says the $1.1 million dollar deficit is partly because of the College’s success in landing trades training and medical lab technology program.  Those two programs have received specific funding, but there is no additional money to cover the costs associated with those programs, for example, heating or maintaining the facilities.  "That adds up to a million dollars a year that we’re not receiving."

Bowman says CNC is not  the only rural  college facing funding woes, and he is calling on the Province to review and change it’s funding formula. " We’re  offering programs in smaller communities, we can’t expect to have 37 students in a Univeristy class in some of our smaller communities, Quesnel for example, but we should be able to get 20, and we do, often. So,  when we offer classes at less than 100% capacity that effects our FTE utilization rates, and  it also effects the revenue generated through tuition.  We have multiple facilities, we also  have a different demographic than an urban environment, 13% of our College region population is First Nations and need to provide supports for those students close to home if we are going to help them build the capacity they need in their communities.   We at CNC also see a larger ratio of adult education progams, a larger ratio of trades  and technical training." 

Bowman says Faculty Association  President George Davison was incorrect  in saying the  marketing and recruitment  staff and budget had ballooned over the past few years (see previous story) “There were several people in different departments doing similar work” says Bowman, “So instead  of breaking it down  on the budget, we  put  them all together under one  budget line.”

Bowman says the College Administration and Board of Governors are willing to listen to all alternative options “We  are hearing from students and from staff, that’s why we postponed the Board meeting that was supposed to take place on the 28^th of March”  That meeting will now take place on April 18^th.

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