Broward College makes right decision with budget changes

For 60 years, Broward College has been a special institution within the community, offering post-secondary and workforce training opportunities to residents across South Florida and beyond. Broward College is nationally recognized, receiving numerous accolades for its academic programs and student outcomes. In fact, Broward College was recently named in Aspen Institute’s top 10 national ranking for the fourth time. These accomplishments have contributed to profound improvements in the community, providing a pipeline to a skilled workforce for local businesses and academic opportunities that lead to professional careers and increased earnings for many residents.

Still, the college has had to alter its fiscal management due to numerous financial challenges — challenges I know personally from serving on its board of trustees for eight years, four as chair. For example, the state’s contribution to the college’s funding for each full-time student is similar to what it was in 2009. When we factor in inflation, day-to-day maintenance, the cost of technology, facility upgrades and so on, the current state allocations by themselves are simply not enough without the support of additional funds from donations. Today, all at once, the college is managing rising expenses, declining enrollment trends, tuition caps of about $83 per credit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite these realities, Broward College remains true to its mission to transform lives. For the last two years, under the leadership of College President Gregory Haile, the college has focused its efforts on a priority-based funding model that drives fiscal accountability and student success. It emphasizes investment in areas that will yield the most significant impact on students, the institution and, of course, our community.

Among the investments, first, the college wants to hire additional academic advisors to improve the student-to-advisor ratio. Unfortunately, the college has long had a student to advisor ratio upwards of 700:1, well above ideal according to national experts, including the Aspen Institute. Advisors have a major impact on whether students drop out of college. The college’s own data shows that students who met with advisors from last fall to spring stayed in school at a rate of 78% as opposed to 58% for those who did not meet with an advisor. This would benefit all of its 63,000 students.

Second, the college wants to make an investment to increase tutors in courses with high failure rates. Sometimes, a single course is the barrier to success. This enhancement would serve more than 9,500 students.

Third, for too long, the data has told us that achievement gaps persist based on race, poverty level and age. The college seeks to invest in bridging those gaps impacting more than 30,000 students.

Fourth, the college has students with food insecurity, some even homeless. Thus, the college seeks to invest in oncampus food pantries to support about 2,700 hungry students.

These recommendations, which include 36 total full-time hires (30 academic advisors and six faculty), will be presented to the board on June 30, 2020. They are critical components of moving students, especially the most challenged, through college and into careers that will transform their lives.

Although these proposals seem straightforward, Broward College has some difficult decisions to make. To invest in these priorities, it must reallocate funding from other non-academic operations. With no additional source of income projected, this would mean discontinuing its athletics program, which serves 147 students (cost per athlete: $11,009); closing the Early Childhood Laboratory School that serves the children of 36 students (cost per child: $855); suspending operations at its performing arts venues, and undertaking the reduction in force of faculty counselors (approved by the board in April 2020). As a result, 37 full-time employees would be subject to a reduction in force, and 95 part-time employees would be subject to termination. I know the leadership team at Broward College, and I know these decisions were not taken lightly.

The long term economic fallout of the pandemic is not yet fully known, however, the need to maximize the impact of limited resources is already apparent. Unemployment in Broward County is at 14 percent and students who were already struggling face greater challenges. Now is the time to lead and make the difficult but necessary decisions. We should all support these recommendations, as they represent the best approach to serving our students and our community.