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Sailing with MCCC’s Nabers
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Maltese doubles work load
Monroe County Community College
August 27, 2009
Vol. 53, Issue 1
pg. 4
Tuition changed to contact hours Switch hit some students hard
By Asia Rapai Staff
Jaimie Downes, a student in MCCC’s nursing program, found that the 13 credit hours she budgeted for this semester will now cost her $603 more than she planned. “That doesn’t include books, scrubs, tools, health insurance, and the price to join the Michigan Student Nurses’ Association,” Downes said. Downes, along with thousands of other MCCC students, is affected by the college’s decision to charge tuition by billable contact hour instead of by credit hour. The change was made to help balance the $25 million budget for the 20092010 school year. “Instead of slamming one group of the student population, why not have every student just pay a little more per credit hour for tuition?” Downes asked.
MCCC leads list for low cost tuition Seventeen other Michigan community colleges have switched to the billable contact hour system. Of those 17, MCCC has the lowest rate per contact hour. Michigan Community Colleges ranked by lowest to highest rate per contact hour: 1. MCCC: $67 2. Muskegon: $69 3. Glen Oaks: $70 4. West Shore: $72 5. Lake Michigan: $72.50
6. Lansing: $73 7. Montcalm: $74 8. Mid-Michigan: $76.50 9. Bay de Noc: $77 10. Northwestern: $77.40 11. Kirtland: $77.50 12. Mott: $79.50 13. Grand Rapids: $82.50 14. Southwestern: $82.50 15. Alpena: $84 16. Jackson: $86.50 17. St. Clair: $86.50 Source: MCCC’s Board of Trustees
With the switch to billable contact hour, students are paying $67 per contact hour, not credit hour. Although the cost per hour has not changed since last year, the number of hours will be counted differently, depending on the type of class. A science class with a lab is considered a four-credit hour class, but the lab adds three hours of contact every week, on top
of the normal 3 hours of class time. This means a student spends six hours with the instructor and that the student has to pay $67 for each of the six contact hours, instead of the four credits. The cost of most three-credit courses will not change. The student is in contact with the instructor for 3 hours a week, so that student only has to pay for those
three contact hours. MCCC President David Nixon said most students in transfer programs will not be heavily affected by the change, because these programs focus more on three-credit hour courses. However, students in career programs such as nursing will be affected because of the lab time and longer amount of contact needed. MCCC’s Board of Trustees collected data based on the number of students who had registered for classes by June. According to their information, 54 percent of the 2,562 students who were registered would not see an increase in the cost of tuition. Of the others, 85 percent would see an increase that was no higher than $300. Three percent of those students would see an increase between $301 and $600, and two percent would see the highest increase of $1,500. “Those are pretty good numbers, but we still have students in those extreme groups of increase,” Nixon said. Students who registered before June received letters as soon as the switch to
contact hours was made, explaining why their cost of tuition was raised, Nixon said. “Students affected by the change were told to speak with financial aid for help, if needed,” he said. Nixon explained that a scholarship initiative has been started called Monroe Responds. It is expected to help students in financial hardship based on their individual financial aid assessment. People can donate money to Monroe
See TUITION, Page 2
How to convert
A list of every course and its credit-hour-to-contact-hour conversion is listed on the college website. 1. Go to www.monroeccc.edu 2. Click on “Tuition/Fees” 3. Follow the link “New - Billable Contact Hour Conversion Chart - pdf file”
Employees pitch in to save money By Asia Rapai Staff
Agora photo by Symone Thomas
MCCC faculty and staff kicked off their 2009-2010 school year Wednesday with a “Welcome Back Breakfast.” The guest speaker was University of Michigan-Dearborn Chancellor Dr. Daniel Little, who talked about his university’s strategic vision, which focuses on serving its Metro Detroit communities.
MCCC gets summer makeover Brandy Werner Staff
MCCC admissions student assistant Courtney Salliotte got a little change of scenery for the past few weeks. Several buildings on campus received a makeover this summer. To improve the services offered to students, the Admissions, Registration, Switchboard and Cashier areas of the A Building were renovated. The Admissions Office was temporarily relocated to the conference rooms down the hall during the construction. “The only thing I miss about working in the conference rooms is the windows; we can’t look outside anymore,” Salliotte said. The new office area was completed toward the end of July. “It looks really nice. There is new furniture in the waiting area, and we don’t have the huge table up front anymore, just a coffee table,” Salliotte said. The Admissions Office wasn’t the only project this summer.
Agora photo by Brandy Werner
The Admissions and Registrar offices after renovations made over the summer.
“By the end of June we were able to complete a project upgrading all of the teaching/learning technology components and support systems for eight classrooms on the second floor of the CLRC,” said Timothy Bennett, MCCC vice president of business affairs and treasurer. The project cost was around $173,000.
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Enriching the students across Southeast Michigan
“Another major project is the repair of the windows and carpet replacement in the WHEB,” Bennett said. “The seals in these windows had severe leaks.”
See MAKEOVER, Page 2
A penny given by employees is a penny earned for MCCC. MCCC’s Board of Trustees approved a 2009-2010 budget of $25 million on June 22, with some creative help by employees. College President David Nixon says that 80 percent of MCCC’s $25 million budget goes to paying expenses that relate to employees. “The employees taking sacrifices helped tremendously,” he said. Nixon accepted a freeze on his wages by turning down a 2 percent raise for this year, saving the college $2,848.52. He also decided to forgo a college-provided vehicle, saving another $9,000. He said the white Jeep Grand Cherokee he used to drive is now being used as a campus security vehicle. Along with Nixon, the three vice presidents – Timothy Bennet, Randy Daniels, and Grace Yackee – also accepted a wage freeze and declined their college-provided vehicles. Nixon added that 28 administrators plus the support staff gave up their raises, saving the college more than $360,000. “With the current economic crisis, we all know how serious this is,” Nixon said. MCCC’s faculty also has saved money for the college, according to Mark Bergmooser, president of the Monroe County Community College Faculty Association (MCCCFA), which is a branch of the Michigan Education Association (MEA). “Basically, the faculty was at the forefront of saving the college money back in 2006 when we agreed to a lower cost insurance plan. We understood the situation and costs surrounding health insurance and were proud to come up with a solution with the district in order to save the college money,” he said. To save even more money, the Board of Trustees requested that all employees accept a pay freeze. Administrators and staff agreed, and the faculty was asked in May to consider a freeze on their wages for the next year. “Upon the district’s request for a wage freeze, MCCCFA initiated a process required by the MEA to determine if there is a legitimate need to open an existing contract,” Bergmooser said. As of now, the faculty contract, which was negotiated between the district and the MCCCFA, provides for a 3 percent raise each year, he said.
Agora photo by Asia Rapai
Security Supervisor Bill Myers poses in President Nixon’s former car.
A decision has not been made yet, but the faculty’s contract is currently in its last year and will be open for negotiation. The maintenance staff has not determined whether or not they will be accepting a wage freeze either, Nixon said. They also are part of a union, which is currently in collective bargaining. “It is time to negotiate their contract. They have had a few meetings, but nothing was decided,” Nixon said. He said the trustees want to keep tuition as low as possible without laying off any employees. Because of the efforts to save money, there were no lay-offs, Nixon said. However, the college was forced to raise more revenue by switching to a billable contact hour system for tuition, he said. Bergmooser noted that the change to charging tuition by contact hour instead of course hour doesn’t have anything to do with how faculty are paid. “At MCCC, faculty are compensated according to degrees earned and years served,” he said, “not solely because of the types of classes they teach.” “A professor of political science with a doctorate who has worked for ten years at the College is paid exactly the same amount as a chemistry professor with a doctorate and ten years of service.” The implication of the change to contact hours, Bergmooser said, is that lab classes, primarily in the health, science, and technology fields, cost more to operate than other types of classes, such as English or history. “This is true,” he said. “However, the reason lab courses cost more is not because of faculty salaries; it’s the expense of lab equipment, machinery, hardware, software, etc.”
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