Covid-driven deficit forces layoffs
Mid Michigan College laid off nine employees — most of them high-level administrators — this week to finish balancing out a $2 million Covid-19-driven budget deficit.
The layoffs are expected to save the college approximately $1 million, said MMC President Tim Hood. It is the second part of a two-phased approach to the deficit, which was a combination of reductions in state support and a drop in tuition due to COVID-19.
Hood informed the MMC community of the job losses in an email earlier this week, and took responsibility for making the decisions which jobs to cut himself. The job losses leave MMC with a full/part-time workforce of 253, plus another 180 adjunct faculty the college contracts for through an education service.
The first phase of the deficit reduction started in August, when Hood said they realized they would have a $2 million deficit.
Over the summer, the state informed higher education institutions of an anticipated 11 percent drop in state appropriations for this year. For MMC, Hood said, that meant approximately $500,000.
In August, college officials determined that they’d see a reduction of between 12 and 13 percent in enrollment this year, he said. They were able to pretty quickly determine that between the two, they were looking at a $2 million deficit in a FY 2021 budget of $24.8 million.
The college community was notified of the deficit and asked to share ideas about howthe college could operate more efficiently. For six to seven weeks, Hood said they looked for ways to save by streamlining college operations. They also dipped into the college’s rainy day fund.
“These are some of the rainiest days colleges and universities have had,” he said.
What started as a $2 million deficit was whittled to $1million, leaving staffing.
Personnel account for approx
imately 80 percent of the college’s expenses, Hood said, which meant that they’d have to look at people expenses. While streamlining operations was a campus-wide evolution, Hood said cutting jobs was a oneman job.
“I took that upon myself,” he said, calling it the darkest, most difficult part of his job.
“Please join me in appreciating our loyal colleagues who were included in the reduction in force layoff, while offering the many support possible as they transition to new chapters in their lives/careers,” he concluded his email to the mmc community. “With sadness and optimism for better days ahead, Tim.”
For three-to-four weeks, he said he conducted an objective review of the college’s workforce to determine which job responsibilities could be most easily spread out without disrupting direct services to students.
Aside from consulting with presidents at other colleges, he said he did the work alone so that employees whose jobs were eliminated wouldn’t hear about it first from co-workers. Hemet with the nine earlier this week and then announced the layoffs in his email.
Mid is asking voters in the Gratiot-isabella Regional Education Services District to join the community college’s district on the November ballot.
The primary reason is to provide a more stable source of revenue from the college.
Community colleges are financed by what is referred to as a three-legged stool: direct state appropriations, tuition and property taxes from district residents.
Over the years, the amount the state has appropriated for higher education has gotten cut, leaving institutions more reliant on tuition dollars. Expanding their geography into Isabella County, which provides the college the highest percentage of students by county, and Gratiot, which provides the third highest percentage of students by county, would provide the college with more stable funding.