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SJRCC Press Release
March 2009
SJRCC scrutinizes budget issues, generates hope
Facing a deficit during his first year in office at St. Johns River Community College, President Joe Pickens recently held strategic and candid meetings with faculty and staff to discuss the challenges facing the upcoming budget. While the new president reiterated that he had inherited a financially sound institution thanks to the fiscally prudent decisions made by the District Board of Trustees and his predecessor Robert McLendon, he warned the College was approaching turbulent waters. “We cannot face an unprecedented budget reduction and operate the College without making changes,” Pickens said. “While we have a sound fund balance, we can’t operate the College on a fund balance. Recurring expenditures will have to be reduced.”
Pickens said the College needed to approach the budget collectively and requested input from each department. “It’s our budget, not mine,” Pickens said. “I want to hear from those with intimate knowledge of the campus’s day-to-day operations on ways to cut costs, run more efficiently and do more with less.”
After calculating next year’s operating expenses, a 10-15% cut in state appropriations and a tuition increase, the College will most likely face an estimated $1.5 – 2 million reduction in revenue.
One area Pickens is considering to develop on the Palatka Campus is student housing for athletes and the 150 Florida School of the Arts students who are recruited throughout the Southeast. “It’s difficult for a college to recruit students when housing becomes an obstacle instead of a benefit,” Pickens said. “If we want FloArts to progress and be what the founding legislators intended it to be, and if we consider offering a bachelor’s degree in the arts, we should look into student housing.”
Colleges that currently have housing include Daytona State College, Central Florida Community College and Indian River State College.
Pickens added that as bad as the state’s current economic situation seems, SJRCC’s three-county district is excited about the College and the direction in which it’s going. “We have the ability to generate hope and optimism in a time where other places can not,” Pickens said. “We’re serving more students now than ever and are in the process of exploring ways to serve our communities at an even greater level, including the possibility of pursuing bachelor’s degree authority.”
Pickens said the College would know more regarding its budget and its bachelor’s degree offerings in May after the legislative session ends. He also indicated he would not recommend eliminating or reducing the College’s four athletic programs, high school student dual enrollment opportunities or programs at the Thrasher-Horne Center for the Arts located on the Orange Park Campus.
Return to SJRCC home page.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Susan Kessler
SJRCC Director of Public Relations and Publications
5001 St. Johns Avenue
Palatka, FL 32177
(386) 312-4020
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