Sussex CC to cut jobs, raise tuition

By Nathan Mayberg
NEWTON — Facing a $1.2 million loss in revenue from an enrollment drop, the Sussex County Community College Board of Trustees voted on Tuesday to raise its tuition and fees while approving a $20 million budget.

Sussex County residents will see tuition and fee increases of $18 per credit hour. For a full-time student taking 15 credits in a semester, that will equate to $270 more per semester. Students enrolled in four-credit lab courses will have to pay $40 more per course with students in three-credit lab courses paying $5 more per course.

The budget will include cuts for an unspecified number of positions.

Vice President of Finance and Operations Frank Nocella, who presented the budget, said there will be cuts, but the administration has not yet decided on which positions to cut and how many.

The tuition and fee hike will still leave more than $700,000 to be cut out of the budget, which he said will come out of personnel costs.

College president Paul Mazur, who will retire June 30, also said there will be cuts to staff that need to be determined.

Nocella said students are taking 7,000 less credit hours this year. That equals about 233 less full-time equivalent students. Actual figures on how many students attend the college were not immediately available.

Nocella said the college’s drop in students this year was similar to recent years.

Since the college topped out at about 88,817 credit hours in the 2009-10 school year, attendance has been declining at the school. According to figures provided by Nocella, students are taking 67,054 credit hours for 2014.

Board President Lorraine Parker said she was “reluctantly” approving the tuition and fee increases because it was necessary for the college’s financial stability.

“It’s not something where we say ‘oh well, maybe we’ll run a little short this year,” she said.

“It’s what we have to do to keep the college viable,” Parker said following Tuesday’s vote.

Parker said the drop in attendance is attributable to changing demographics in the county.

Sussex County Community College’s experience mirrors declining enrollment at school districts throughout the county, she said.

Parker said that the administration has been told to target areas that will least affect college programs.

The board will have to approved any personnel cuts.

In the meantime, Parker established a "2020 committee" of board members to chart a future course for the college and identify new programs.

Parker also named a committee of board members to find a consultant who will be in charge of the search for a new college president and interview candidates.

A committee of community members will later be named to judge the candidates, Parker said.

Reporter Nathan Mayberg can be reached by email at comm.reporter@strausnews.com or by calling 845-469-9000 ext. 359