Tri-C plans to deal with coronavirus impact

Projected shortfall of $25M expected in fiscal year 2021

Cuyahoga Community College has announced plans to offset the financial impact of the novel coronavirus on its fiscal year 2021 budget.

Tri-C projects a $25 million shortfall over the next year due to the pandemic, according to a news release. This includes decreases in state funding, enrollment and other revenues, as well as approximately $1 million in additional operational expenses resulting from the coronavirus crisis.

In response, the college is taking steps to preserve its long-term financial stability while maintaining its low cost of attendance and providing student services that remove barriers and drive student success, the release stated.

“These are difficult times that call for difficult decisions,” Tri-C President Alex Johnson said in the release. “We are operating in a vastly different environment than we were before the pandemic, and we must adjust to that new reality.”

Cost-saving measures for fiscal year 2021, which begins July 1, include:

• Reductions to the base salaries of the following non-bargaining employees, from 10 percent for

Johnson all the way down to 3 percent for employees with salaries of $100,000 to $149,999.

• Deferring FY21 costof-living and performancebased increases for nonbargaining employees

• Offering voluntary separation packages to employees with one year or more of service

• Implementing strategic staff reductions and consolidations to align with current student and operational needs

These actions are in addition to operational efficiency measures already in place, including a hiring freeze; no discretionary spending for college-sponsored travel and business meetings; and delaying campus or facility projects financed through the general operating budget.

Details were shared with employees last week during a virtual town hall meeting led by Johnson and David Kuntz, Tri-C’s executive vice president of finance and administration.