ECC could lose $5.6 million due to state budget crisis

Elgin Community College could lose $5.6 million in state funding due to the state's budget impasse, officials said this week.

College administrators say they are taking precautionary measures to lessen the impact of the state budget crisis on students.

"There will be no disruption or interruption to anything we are doing for the spring semester," said Sharon Konny, ECC vice president of business and finance.

The $5.6 million owed by the state makes up a small percentage of the college's $88 million operating budget.

"There are some community colleges throughout the central and southern part of the state where the revenue that they receive from the state is 30, 40 or even 50 percent of their revenue," Konny said. "This is the first time we've had to deal with something like this. We've had cuts from the state these past years, but we've never been faced with them cutting off 100 percent of their funding."

Meanwhile, the college has instituted a hiring freeze on nonessential positions, including administrative and support staff members.

"It really affects all positions," Konny said. "We've made exceptions for really two classes of positions: faculty and anything that would involve campus safety and security. If we have a full-time faculty member leave for whatever reason, we are committed to replacing that faculty member."

Some retirements are anticipated from the college's police force comprising 18 sworn officers policing 14 buildings on the 217-acre campus. Yet, those positions will be filled, Konny said.

For all other vacancies, the administration will consider whether they need to be filled right away, but most likely replacements won't be hired for the remainder of this fiscal year ending June 30.

Travel also will be restricted to arrangements and contractual obligations made before Dec. 9. Officials are continuing to look at other areas in the budget for ways to save money.

"Right now the college is fronting the money for certain grant-funded programs that have not received their state or federal funding," Konny said. "If these particular grants are not funded, it could cost the college up to $1.4 million and there is no guarantee that ECC will be reimbursed by the state."

A large chunk of that - roughly $800,000 - funds ECC's adult education program, which includes English as a Second Language and high school equivalency exam preparation classes.

"The state has released to us the federal money for the adult education grant, but there has been no state money released," Konny said. "The plan is for fiscal year 2016 the $800,000 that we will not receive from the state will be absorbed by the college."

For the fall 2015 semester, the college paid $402,500 to cover the state's Monetary Award Program, or MAP, which provides financial aid to Illinois students. It will cost an additional $400,000 to fund the program for the spring 2016 semester.

"Our students depend on these funds to continue their education," ECC President David Sam said. "And we do not want a lack of state funding to hinder their ability to earn their credentials."

Konny said students won't directly feel the impact of any cuts.

"Anything that touches the students, our goal is to maintain the status quo for them through the spring semester," Konny said. "There are other institutions that are facing a much more serious issue."