Growing enrollment helps NEO weather state budget crisis

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February 8, 2010

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Mon Feb 08, 2010, 09:46 PM CST

By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

MIAMI, Okla. — The president of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M; College must hate to open mail from Oklahoma City most days.

Jeffery Hale got word last July of a 5 percent cut in state funding for the junior college with nearly 1,700 students. That first hit came to about $475,000.

Then came an announcement in August that monthly state allocations would be reduced by $42,000 until further notice. That further notice came in December, when the state said it would begin withholding twice as much per month — $84,000 — through June of this year.

In January, Hale was informed through yet another announcement by the state’s treasurer that “continued spending cuts are a certainty.”

The impact, Hale estimates, is a combined $1.2 million cut for the school, relative to the $9.5 million NEO received the year before.

“When you take $1.2 million out of our budget, we notice,” he said.

Yet, despite bad news from Oklahoma City, Hale said he remains optimistic.

“We’re OK this year,” he said.

Breaking even

Some of that damage was offset by an infusion of $727,000 in federal stimulus funds, and by a 20 percent increase in enrollment for both semesters this school year, which provided additional revenue of $190,000, according to Hale.

This spring, NEO climbed to 1,697 students, compared with 1,414 last year. In the fall, enrollment hit a 14-year high for the two-year school.

“We’ve had a banner year in enrollment,” Hale said. He attributes the surge to a combination of factors, including a bounce-back after the devastating flood in 2007, aggressive marketing and the national economic downturn, which Hale said has prompted unemployed people and other workers who are hurting to retrain themselves.

And not all of the news from Oklahoma City has been bad. There was one good day. The university received word just last week that it would get more than $300,000 as part of a statewide supplemental allocation that came from a $600 million “rainy day” fund.

Between them — the increase in enrollment, the stimulus funding and the “rainy day” money — NEO has come close to refilling the $1.2 million hole.

For now.

“When those stimulus dollars go away, we’ve still got to close that gap,” Hale said.

Leaner times

Anticipating leaner times on the horizon, Hale said the college is taking steps to reduce its overhead, including offering early retirement incentives to some faculty members, and consolidating administrative duties among three vice presidents instead of four after a retirement. Administrators also are taking a harder look at which positions can remain vacant if someone quits.

“I think our folks here want to be innovative, want to be progressive, want to be problem-solvers about how we can work our way through this difficult period,” Hale said. “Rather than going, ‘Well, we’re $1.2 million short, let’s shut down P.E.,’ it’s how can we grow the revenue stream.”

NEO didn’t raise tuition for the current school year, but Hale can’t say what to expect this fall.

“All things on the revenue and reduction side are on the table right now,” he said. “We don’t really talk about tuition and fees until we know what our appropriation is going to be. That’s typically in April or May.”

Faculty senate president Pat Creech said Hale has communicated with the faculty about the current and impending budget crisis. For now, she said, the faculty is taking a “wait-and-see” approach.

“I get the impression that furloughs would be a last resort,” said Creech, the chairwoman of the school’s business department. “Faculty probably wouldn’t participate in furloughs as such; we’d probably get an increased load. But I think generally we feel pretty positive about the reorganization efforts.”

Officials with the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges did not return telephone calls last week or this week. The board, based in Oklahoma City, oversees NEO and some other institutions in the state.

The president of NEO’s student body government, Casey Hardison, said he believes that if a tuition increase is imposed, it won’t just be at NEO.

“I feel if tuition is increased at NEO, it’s going to be a statewide thing,” said Hardison, who sits on the president’s council at NEO. “It’s not just going to be NEO that suffers. But I still think it would be affordable.”

Hardison said he pays about $4,000 per semester in tuition and fees, and for meals and boarding. He said he covers the cost of his education with Pell grants, a Cherokee Nation scholarship and student loans.

NEO student Alton Thompson said whatever happens will happen regarding tuition.

“I haven’t even thought about it,” said the horticulture major. “I’ve just been taking out student loans.”

Tuition, fees

Tuition and fees at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M; College in Miami are $87.55 per credit hour for an in-state student. Out-of-state tuition and fees come to $127.35 per credit hour.