Bond would aid college enrollment demand (Printed Nov. 2, 2007)
By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
If Question 3 passes, Maine’s public universities and community colleges are poised to receive $43.5 million, funds that could help the schools manage fluctuations in student demand.
“I’m feeling good about public opinion on the bond issue,” said University of Maine System (UMS) Chancellor and former University of Southern Maine (USM) President Richard Pattenaude. “Every campus will be able to renovate or expand buildings. Much of this is focused on having modern, up to date facilities as well as expanding capacity.”
The total estimated cost of the bond is roughly $56.7 million, which includes nearly $14.2 million in interest, assuming the interest rate stays at 5.5 percent over 10 years.
UMS is slated to receive $23 million for renovations and improvements, while the community college system (MCCS) will receive $15.5 million and the Maine Maritime Academy will receive $1.5 million. The bond will also include $1.5 million for the Department of Education’s School Revolving Fund and $2 million for the Maine State Cultural Affairs Council’s New Century Community Program, which provides funds to preserve and strengthen historic and cultural assets, expand access to digital and educational resources and revitalize downtown areas.
Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) officials are faced with the challenge of providing resources as essential as faculty and classroom space for a growing student body. Out of the seven colleges in the community college system, SMCC has seen the most rapid growth - a 140 percent increase since 2002, according to a system report. Central Maine Community College in Auburn has grown 43 percent during the same period, Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor has grown by 37 percent and Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield has seen a 36 percent increase in enrollment.
SMCC President James Ortiz expects a new-320 bed residence hall to be complete in December, but he said the new hall will not increase capacity, but rather meet the need for students currently renting or living in off-site housing. Roughly 160 SMCC students live at the Maine College of Art and the University of Southern Maine’s Portland Hall.
USM intends to sell the 290-bed Portland Hall because it is no longer an efficient, effective or safe hall, said USM Interim President Joseph Wood. The school opened a 287-bed residence hall last month on the Gorham campus, increasing the housing capacity across campus to 1,837 students, said USM Executive Director of Public Affairs Bob Caswell. There are currently 145 vacant beds across campus, which Caswell said is a reflection of declining enrollment.
Despite SMCC’s rising enrollment, state funding has decreased, said Ortiz. State appropriations make up 34 percent of the current operating budget of $35 million. Tuition and fees currently make up 32 percent of the budget and the remainder comes from federal grants and student room and board fees.
Five years ago, SMCC’s budget was roughly $25 million, with 55 percent appropriated by the state and 20 percent coming from tuition and fees.
This year the legislature appropriated roughly $193.6 million to UMS and about $46.1 million to MCCS.
Ortiz said the school is “maxed out.” He recalled sitting around a table with the other six community college presidents prior to the creation of the new system and discussing how they would spread the message about what community colleges have to offer.
“People just found us and said, ‘This is where we want to go,’” Ortiz said.
This year, SMCC enrolled the largest student body in its history – 5,100 students – at its main campus and satellite locations. The college currently operates a campus in Bath, seven satellite locations and offers online and interactive TV courses. There are 1,700 students enrolled in online courses.
Ortiz projected much of the future growth to take place north of Portland. SMCC currently offers manufacturing courses at its Brunswick Advanced Technology Center and has plans to open a campus at the Brunswick Naval Air Station, part of the former base’s redevelopment project. Ortiz projected 2,000 students would be enrolled at the Brunswick campus by its scheduled opening in 2011. By 2014, that number may reach 10,000 credit students, he said.
Last fall, SMCC had to deny roughly 1,400 students from enrolling in their first choice programs due to capacity issues, said Ortiz. He said many students enroll in the liberal studies program and fulfill their general education requirements while they wait for an opening.
Programs in which demand exceeds capacity include nursing, radiography, plumbing, automotive, heating/air conditioning/refrigeration and communications and new media.
Ortiz said classes in programs like heating and plumbing are restricted to 18 students because they require more equipment and more space. The nursing program accreditation body mandates low faculty to student ratios resulting in small classes, but Ortiz said there is also limited space in hospitals, where students are required to do internships. Ortiz said the school is working with hospitals to change that.
Three years ago, there were 60 students in the nursing program, Ortiz said. Today that number has risen to 90 and there are 300 students on a waiting list. According to MCCS reports, more than a quarter of Maine’s registered nurse graduates in 2005 earned their degree from a community college.
Part of the proposed $15.5 million bond appropriation for the community colleges has been slated for repairs to SMCC’s Health Science Building, according to MCCS reports.
One-time funds for USM construction won’t lessen the blow of a declining enrollment, which has led to another year of million dollar deficits, said Joseph Wood, USM interim president.
Wood shared the budget figures with colleagues during a series of town meetings late last month. USM had a deficit of $3.1 million in the 2005-2006 fiscal year, which increased to $4.5 million in the last fiscal year. The school is projecting a $3.6 million deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends in June 2008.
In 2002, USM was the largest school in the state, as it prepared to welcome 11,382 students, said Caswell. Since then part-time enrollment has decreased, reducing enrollment to 10,478 students in 2006 and 10,543 this year.
With a target of cutting $5.5 million from an operating budget of roughly $110 million each year, USM has implemented a three-year hiring freeze, which began last year and resulted in the elimination of 30 positions and a savings of $1.6 million. The short-term list of fixes also includes eliminating another 90 positions, which Caswell said they prefer to do by attrition, and reducing spending on equipment and travel.
“Even as we freeze hiring and scale back the number of employees through attrition, we also need to think about what things we do and what things we don’t do,” said Wood. USM needs to evaluate degree programs to determine if spending out paces student interest.
Caswell said there are a number of proposals school officials hope will be “firm proposals” by early next year. Those proposals include consolidating the business school with the applied science school and expanding or downsizing the Muskie School of Public Service.
“We’ve got some hard work we need to do over the next several years,” Caswell said. “We really need to grapple with our organizational structure.”
Last week, Wood announced plans to step up student retention, recruitment and marketing initiatives. The school has formed an Enrollment Council and a Tuition and Pricing Ad Hoc Committee to recommend enrollment and tuition goals and building stronger relationships with employers, high schools and the community colleges.
Wood stressed USM’s full-time enrollment continues to stay strong. The overall undergraduate headcount is down from 8,287 in 2006 to 8,133; but the number of full-time students is 5,996, up from 5,972 last year.
“In terms of that core full-time student cohort, we’re doing fine,” Wood said. “We’re holding our own. The students who are departing are the students who should be going to community colleges.”
Before the community college system was created, Wood said USM was a community college for southern Maine and while the two-year degrees may have been eliminated, the school still has a lot of developmental programs and is still organized like a community college.
Pattenaude, who served as USM president for 16 years, also said the school played the role of community college for several years and it is feeling the loss of part-time and non degree students.
“We all saw that impact coming, but projected a decline of about 3 percent whereas the decline is closer to 10 percent and this restructuring of enrollment patterns appears to be permanent, hence the need to refocus the instruction closer to 10,000 than 11,000,” he said. “The USM situation is somewhat unique being located so close to three rapidly growing community colleges, but I believe a good recovery plan is in place.”
Pattenaude said other UMS campuses have faced deficits, including the University of Maine at Machias. He said the school is working to redefine itself as an “environmentally oriented college with a broader New England appeal.”
According to March 2007 UMS Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes, the 2007 spring enrollment exceed 32,000 students for the fifth year in a row. Full-time enrollment decreased by 63 students and part-time enrollment increased by 374 students. While financial aid has been increasing roughly 10 percent per year for the last several years, Pattenaude said tuition has also been increasing roughly 8 to 9 percent per year. In the current year, a full-time Maine resident can expect to pay roughly $15,714 per year, which includes housing, books and other fees.
Part of the attraction to the community college system is that it offers the lowest tuition in Maine, roughly $78 per credit hour or $2,340 per year for full-time students. Ortiz said tuition has largely remained constant over a five-year period. The board of trustees did approve a $2 increase per credit hour this year and a $4 increase last year.
From the very beginning, Ortiz said the mission of the community colleges has been to increase access for students who had no plans of going on to college.
Instead of decreasing the pool of degree seeking students, Ortiz said the community colleges are actually increasing the number of students who go to four-year universities in their junior years.
According to a MCCS report, there were 2, 336 community college transfer students enrolled in the UMS system last year, an increase of 40 percent since 2002.
“That’s a great thing,” said Caswell. “That’s how the public higher education system in this state should work. We support the system, but it has impacted our enrollment.”
Staff Writer
If Question 3 passes, Maine’s public universities and community colleges are poised to receive $43.5 million, funds that could help the schools manage fluctuations in student demand.
“I’m feeling good about public opinion on the bond issue,” said University of Maine System (UMS) Chancellor and former University of Southern Maine (USM) President Richard Pattenaude. “Every campus will be able to renovate or expand buildings. Much of this is focused on having modern, up to date facilities as well as expanding capacity.”
The total estimated cost of the bond is roughly $56.7 million, which includes nearly $14.2 million in interest, assuming the interest rate stays at 5.5 percent over 10 years.
UMS is slated to receive $23 million for renovations and improvements, while the community college system (MCCS) will receive $15.5 million and the Maine Maritime Academy will receive $1.5 million. The bond will also include $1.5 million for the Department of Education’s School Revolving Fund and $2 million for the Maine State Cultural Affairs Council’s New Century Community Program, which provides funds to preserve and strengthen historic and cultural assets, expand access to digital and educational resources and revitalize downtown areas.
Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) officials are faced with the challenge of providing resources as essential as faculty and classroom space for a growing student body. Out of the seven colleges in the community college system, SMCC has seen the most rapid growth - a 140 percent increase since 2002, according to a system report. Central Maine Community College in Auburn has grown 43 percent during the same period, Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor has grown by 37 percent and Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield has seen a 36 percent increase in enrollment.
SMCC President James Ortiz expects a new-320 bed residence hall to be complete in December, but he said the new hall will not increase capacity, but rather meet the need for students currently renting or living in off-site housing. Roughly 160 SMCC students live at the Maine College of Art and the University of Southern Maine’s Portland Hall.
USM intends to sell the 290-bed Portland Hall because it is no longer an efficient, effective or safe hall, said USM Interim President Joseph Wood. The school opened a 287-bed residence hall last month on the Gorham campus, increasing the housing capacity across campus to 1,837 students, said USM Executive Director of Public Affairs Bob Caswell. There are currently 145 vacant beds across campus, which Caswell said is a reflection of declining enrollment.
Despite SMCC’s rising enrollment, state funding has decreased, said Ortiz. State appropriations make up 34 percent of the current operating budget of $35 million. Tuition and fees currently make up 32 percent of the budget and the remainder comes from federal grants and student room and board fees.
Five years ago, SMCC’s budget was roughly $25 million, with 55 percent appropriated by the state and 20 percent coming from tuition and fees.
This year the legislature appropriated roughly $193.6 million to UMS and about $46.1 million to MCCS.
Ortiz said the school is “maxed out.” He recalled sitting around a table with the other six community college presidents prior to the creation of the new system and discussing how they would spread the message about what community colleges have to offer.
“People just found us and said, ‘This is where we want to go,’” Ortiz said.
This year, SMCC enrolled the largest student body in its history – 5,100 students – at its main campus and satellite locations. The college currently operates a campus in Bath, seven satellite locations and offers online and interactive TV courses. There are 1,700 students enrolled in online courses.
Ortiz projected much of the future growth to take place north of Portland. SMCC currently offers manufacturing courses at its Brunswick Advanced Technology Center and has plans to open a campus at the Brunswick Naval Air Station, part of the former base’s redevelopment project. Ortiz projected 2,000 students would be enrolled at the Brunswick campus by its scheduled opening in 2011. By 2014, that number may reach 10,000 credit students, he said.
Last fall, SMCC had to deny roughly 1,400 students from enrolling in their first choice programs due to capacity issues, said Ortiz. He said many students enroll in the liberal studies program and fulfill their general education requirements while they wait for an opening.
Programs in which demand exceeds capacity include nursing, radiography, plumbing, automotive, heating/air conditioning/refrigeration and communications and new media.
Ortiz said classes in programs like heating and plumbing are restricted to 18 students because they require more equipment and more space. The nursing program accreditation body mandates low faculty to student ratios resulting in small classes, but Ortiz said there is also limited space in hospitals, where students are required to do internships. Ortiz said the school is working with hospitals to change that.
Three years ago, there were 60 students in the nursing program, Ortiz said. Today that number has risen to 90 and there are 300 students on a waiting list. According to MCCS reports, more than a quarter of Maine’s registered nurse graduates in 2005 earned their degree from a community college.
Part of the proposed $15.5 million bond appropriation for the community colleges has been slated for repairs to SMCC’s Health Science Building, according to MCCS reports.
One-time funds for USM construction won’t lessen the blow of a declining enrollment, which has led to another year of million dollar deficits, said Joseph Wood, USM interim president.
Wood shared the budget figures with colleagues during a series of town meetings late last month. USM had a deficit of $3.1 million in the 2005-2006 fiscal year, which increased to $4.5 million in the last fiscal year. The school is projecting a $3.6 million deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends in June 2008.
In 2002, USM was the largest school in the state, as it prepared to welcome 11,382 students, said Caswell. Since then part-time enrollment has decreased, reducing enrollment to 10,478 students in 2006 and 10,543 this year.
With a target of cutting $5.5 million from an operating budget of roughly $110 million each year, USM has implemented a three-year hiring freeze, which began last year and resulted in the elimination of 30 positions and a savings of $1.6 million. The short-term list of fixes also includes eliminating another 90 positions, which Caswell said they prefer to do by attrition, and reducing spending on equipment and travel.
“Even as we freeze hiring and scale back the number of employees through attrition, we also need to think about what things we do and what things we don’t do,” said Wood. USM needs to evaluate degree programs to determine if spending out paces student interest.
Caswell said there are a number of proposals school officials hope will be “firm proposals” by early next year. Those proposals include consolidating the business school with the applied science school and expanding or downsizing the Muskie School of Public Service.
“We’ve got some hard work we need to do over the next several years,” Caswell said. “We really need to grapple with our organizational structure.”
Last week, Wood announced plans to step up student retention, recruitment and marketing initiatives. The school has formed an Enrollment Council and a Tuition and Pricing Ad Hoc Committee to recommend enrollment and tuition goals and building stronger relationships with employers, high schools and the community colleges.
Wood stressed USM’s full-time enrollment continues to stay strong. The overall undergraduate headcount is down from 8,287 in 2006 to 8,133; but the number of full-time students is 5,996, up from 5,972 last year.
“In terms of that core full-time student cohort, we’re doing fine,” Wood said. “We’re holding our own. The students who are departing are the students who should be going to community colleges.”
Before the community college system was created, Wood said USM was a community college for southern Maine and while the two-year degrees may have been eliminated, the school still has a lot of developmental programs and is still organized like a community college.
Pattenaude, who served as USM president for 16 years, also said the school played the role of community college for several years and it is feeling the loss of part-time and non degree students.
“We all saw that impact coming, but projected a decline of about 3 percent whereas the decline is closer to 10 percent and this restructuring of enrollment patterns appears to be permanent, hence the need to refocus the instruction closer to 10,000 than 11,000,” he said. “The USM situation is somewhat unique being located so close to three rapidly growing community colleges, but I believe a good recovery plan is in place.”
Pattenaude said other UMS campuses have faced deficits, including the University of Maine at Machias. He said the school is working to redefine itself as an “environmentally oriented college with a broader New England appeal.”
According to March 2007 UMS Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes, the 2007 spring enrollment exceed 32,000 students for the fifth year in a row. Full-time enrollment decreased by 63 students and part-time enrollment increased by 374 students. While financial aid has been increasing roughly 10 percent per year for the last several years, Pattenaude said tuition has also been increasing roughly 8 to 9 percent per year. In the current year, a full-time Maine resident can expect to pay roughly $15,714 per year, which includes housing, books and other fees.
Part of the attraction to the community college system is that it offers the lowest tuition in Maine, roughly $78 per credit hour or $2,340 per year for full-time students. Ortiz said tuition has largely remained constant over a five-year period. The board of trustees did approve a $2 increase per credit hour this year and a $4 increase last year.
From the very beginning, Ortiz said the mission of the community colleges has been to increase access for students who had no plans of going on to college.
Instead of decreasing the pool of degree seeking students, Ortiz said the community colleges are actually increasing the number of students who go to four-year universities in their junior years.
According to a MCCS report, there were 2, 336 community college transfer students enrolled in the UMS system last year, an increase of 40 percent since 2002.
“That’s a great thing,” said Caswell. “That’s how the public higher education system in this state should work. We support the system, but it has impacted our enrollment.”
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