The governor and legislature have reached a budget agreement that will increase funding to the state’s public two-year colleges by nearly 20% for each institution. You work at one of the public community colleges in the state and have been selected to serve on the institution’s newly appointed budgeting task force which was created to help the institution’s leaders develop a new budgeting plan for the upcoming fiscal year. As a member of the task force, you and the other members have been asked to discuss the various ways that the institution may be affected by the state funding increase. You have also been asked to brainstorm the best ways to use the additional funding and the best ways to appropriate funding among divisions at the institution. The community college is a typical two-year college with a diverse student body and a multitude of technical programs and a general education program. While the institution is not doing poorly, there is much room for improvement. For years, stakeholders have discussed possibly increasing online program availability, performing physical infrastructure repairs, increasing parking accommodations for the college’s commuter students, creating more institutional scholarships, investing in more auxiliary services that might bring in more revenue to the institution, hiring more faculty, and expanding student support services. However, there was never been enough funding to embark on all these desires/goals, and officials could not reach a decision on which plans were the most beneficial in the present.
What additional information about the state funding increase might you need to make an informed suggestion(s) about how best to use the additional funding ? What additional information about the institution might you need to make an informed suggestion(s)? Based on what we know about the most common challenges facing community college students, faculty, effective instruction, and effectively serving students, how would you propose the additional funding be used? In what areas? Why? Which of the aforementioned proposals or desires for the college might you advocate for the most? Why?
You will need to use the information discussed in class as well as find other resources to support the effectiveness and feasibility of your suggestions—using references to justify your reasoning for making those suggestions. Your response should consist of a 1-2-page, APA style paper. It is expected that you cite at least 2 references. See rubric for details.
