Legislature Approves NCC Tuition Hike, Faculty Cuts

Nassau County's legislature this week voted 15-4 in favor of Nassau Community College's (NCC) $202.9 million 2011-12 fiscal budget, which calls for a $258 annual tuition hike and a reduction in temporary full-time faculty positions.

Democrats Joseph Scannell, Judi Bosworth, Wayne Wink and David Denenberg were the four nay votes.

NCC president Donald Astrab said that though savings were realized as a result of "difficult, painful, and, yes, unpopular decisions," he believes this "no tax increase/no spending increase budget" is one of "continuity and change."

"For the second year in a row the budget adopted by the college’s board of trustees calls for spending less than did the college budget adopted for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 in spite of the fact that the baseline growth in spending in the budget each year is approximately $10 million," Astrab said. "No other college or university in the SUNY system has adopted a budget that for a second year in a row does not increase overall spending ... Trust me, accomplishing this has not been easy."

Student tuition would generate $83.3 million or 41.1 percent of all budget revenues, according to college officials, and Astrab said for some students, the $129 per semester increase could be absorbed by financial aid. The increase brings the annual student tuition to $3,990. Approximately 45 percent of students currently receive some amount of financial aid.

A total of 40 temporary full-time faculty positions were also cut.

Nassau Community College Federation of Teachers (NCCFT) vice president Frank Frisenda, who represents more than 700 full-time classroom faculty, librarians, counselors and professional staff at NCC, addressed the county's finance committee June 20: "The budget before you is inadequate. Knowing that sufficient funds from the state and the county were not forthcoming, the college did turn to the students – its only other significant revenue stream – for a tuition increase.

"The NCCFT, recognizing the proposed tuition increase was too low to make up for the loss of state and county revenue, approached the college’s administration and offered to help. We believe that we could have identified cost savings which – in combination with this tuition increase – would have prevented layoffs that threaten the quality of education that our students are paying dearly for."

Frisenda added, "Let me be clear: This is not a plea for job protection. This is about maintaining the quality of our students’ education ... We want our students, if they must pay more, to get all the services they need."

The union asked committee members to demand the college add an additional $150 in tuition per year so that full-time faculty could "continue to provide Nassau County with the excellent, accessible higher education it needs."

Astrab said the tuition increase "strikes a reasonable balance between the college’s need for revenues in the face of the budgetary constraints that our partners in government are experiencing and the college’s need to fulfill the 'affordability' element of its mission."

Increasing health insurance premiums, state retirement payouts, energy costs and cuts in state aid to community colleges made for a challenging process. NCC saw a cut of $2.75 million, which was on top of the cut of more than $8 million in state aid to NCC since December of 2009, according to college officials, and increases in health insurance rates and state pension costs required other parts of the budget to be cut in order to keep spending in line with the previous year.

Support the college receives from the county is projected to be $52.2 million for the third straight year; the budget does not assume any increase in county taxes, college officials said.

In addition, the college relies on $1 million from its fund balance.  College officials note that since 2010, that fund balance has declined by 75 percent.