A Statement by the Faculty Federation of Raritan Valley Community College (AFT Local 2375)
In response to the prospect of a reported $3 million budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year, on Tuesday March 27 the Board of Trustees of Raritan Valley Community College approved an operating budget for FY 2013 that includes a tuition increase of $15 a credit. According to President Casey Crabill, for a full-time student the increase will be $450 per year. The approved budget also reflected a restructuring of administrative functions which resulted in a number of staff layoffs and reclassifications, a reduction in the equivalent of twelve full-time positions.
One of the reasons for the budget shortfall is the substantial reduction in college funding by Somerset and Hunterdon counties. As originally envisioned, New Jersey community colleges were to be supported by an equal balance of state, county, and student tuition sources. This proportion of two-thirds public funding and one-third student tuition clearly reflected the founding vision that New Jersey’s public county colleges be primarily supported with public funds and only supplemented by tuition dollars.
However, the long-term neglect in funding by the state, the recent cut in public funding by the counties, and the simultaneous increase in student tuition under the approved budget now brings the projected funding for RVCC to the following proportions:
Tuition and fees 60.8%
State of New Jersey 11.9%
Somerset and Hunterdon Counties 26.7%
Other (investments, rentals, etc.) .6%
We, the members of the Faculty Federation of Raritan Valley Community College find this gross imbalance in the sources of funding for the college unacceptable and we reject policies which further shift the burden of supporting public education onto the shoulders of our students.
We also express support for our colleagues that are losing their jobs as a result of the college’s budget woes. We call on public officials at both the county and the state level to restore essential public funding for our public institution and we look forward to a return to the originally envisioned balance of funding which recognized that public education is truly a public good.
