ECC faculty union says surgical program might be cut
The union representing Elgin Community College faculty members is concerned the college might discontinue a 26-year-old surgical technology program citing budget constraints.
College officials have blamed the state budget crisis for forcing them to consider cutting expenses in several areas, primarily to plug a projected $2.7 million deficit next fiscal year.
There have been closed-door discussions that threaten the surgical program's future, said Susan Ford, a retired ECC adjunct faculty member and among the vice presidents of the Elgin Community College Faculty Association, which represents more than 500 full-time and part-time faculty members.
"It wasn't part of their budget-cutting strategy, initially," Ford said. "It's been brewing for about a month. We believe it stems from a faculty issue."
The college already has curbed unnecessary expenses, such as imposing a travel freeze in December, and is not filling vacancies unless the positions affect safety, security and student success. Additional cost-saving measures are being considered for the $85.3 million 2017 operating budget, which the college board is expected to approve at its June 14 meeting.
"The administration is currently in discussions with members of the Elgin Community College Faculty Association regarding the future of the surgical technology program," Wendy Miller, ECC's dean of health professions, said in a written statement. "As is the case with many of our programs, the college will look into establishing a joint agreement with neighboring colleges, if necessary, to ensure that our students and community will continue to be served. No decisions about the program have been made at this time."
The two-year program, started in 1989, had its biggest graduating class of 21 students this spring. There are a maximum of 24 students in each graduating class.
"It's a very intense program," Ford said. "Surgical technologists are the people in the operating room who set up all the tools, set up the sterile environment, getting everything ready for the surgeons. This is a very high technical position and in great demand. It will be a great loss to the community and to the students."
ECC's surgical technology students complete their clinical rotations in the operating rooms of Fox Valley area hospitals, and some graduates are now operating room directors, Ford said.
"More than half of this year's class already has a job," she added.
Ford said the program, though small, has been growing. It is run by two full-time and five adjunct faculty members.
Full-time faculty are tenured and could make anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 yearly, while adjuncts could earn between $800 and $1,000 per credit hour taught. Neither can be fired per the union contract, which expires Dec. 31, she added.
The surgical technology program operates out of ECC's Health and Life Sciences building - funded through a 2009 bond referendum and completed in 2012 - which has 29 classrooms, state-of-the-art laboratories, and teaching spaces.
"They have a full surgical suite with a scrub room, operating room, a sterilization room ... somebody could come and do surgery at ECC," said Ford, adding none of the other health professions use those facilities.
Union leaders plan to up the pressure on the administration and ECC board.
"We're getting the doctors, hospitals and former students to write letters to the administration," Ford said. "The health community is upset. There is need for these people in the community. It's a vital program."