GREENFIELD — In an effort to rein in costs amid an anticipated budget shortfall, Greenfield Community College is offering an early retirement incentive program.
Although Jill Buchanan, a spokesperson for GCC, and GCC President Michelle Schutt could not be reached for further information this week regarding how many employees would need to participate in the program to balance the budget, the college’s announcement of the program on Wednesday attributed the shortfall to the “increasingly challenging financial environment” that higher education institutions are facing.
“Like many community colleges across Massachusetts and the nation, GCC is navigating an increasingly challenging financial environment shaped by rising operational costs and broader economic pressures affecting public higher education,” the statement reads. “Participation in the program is voluntary, and the college will assess its financial impact in determining what additional cost-saving measures are necessary.”
The incentive program will be made available to both union and non-union employees, according to the statement.
“This step allows us to address our budget challenges in a responsible and measured way,” Schutt said in the written statement released Wednesday. “Our goal is to protect the core academic mission of the college while being thoughtful and transparent about the financial realities facing higher education today.”
GCC, which has approximately 400 employees, is operating with a $37 million budget this fiscal year, according to state records.
While the college states that its projected shortfall corresponds with regional and national budgeting woes, Trevor Kearns, president of Greenfield Community College’s Professional Association, said other local community colleges have not seen similar budgetary issues.
Kearns argued that the college’s financial challenges are primarily due to an “administrative-heavy” budget and the administration’s poor management of funds, leading to the school’s “corporatization.”
“Neither Springfield Technical Community College nor Holyoke Community College are facing similar budget difficulties, so I think that’s evidence that the problem isn’t with national or state trends — the problem’s with GCC’s administration,” Kearns said Thursday. Elaborating on the “administrative-heavy” operations at GCC, he said, “Once we had our current president come in, we started having budget issues shortly thereafter. … Now we have, I think, five or six vice presidents. There’s clearly more and more money being funded in administrative positions on the top level without any real results.”
Kearns added that the overall sentiment he has heard expressed by faculty at GCC is that administrators would not face any “accountability measures” for “mismanagement.” He said it appears the budget will instead be “balanced on the backs of rank and file.”
On campus Thursday afternoon, Assistant Director of Annual Giving for the GCC Foundation Lisa Middents said that while she has not been employed at the college the 10 years necessary to qualify for the buyout program, in accordance with the union contract, she believes the early retirement incentive program is a responsible cost-saving measure for the college to take.
“I think they’re really making a big effort to take reasonable actions that are fair to everyone. It’s pretty much the same situation in many places nationally,” she said. “The economy in general is in a challenging spot, so I’m not surprised.”