By Ann K. Williams
Lookout Staff

March 30, 2011 -- As the state legislature grapples with Governor Jerry Brown's proposals to offset a $26.4 billion dollar deficit, budget cuts threaten to throw Santa Monica College into a supply/demand tailspin.

More students than ever want to enroll, even though last week's round of legislation hiked next fall's tuition. At the same time, dwindling state revenues dictate the college undergoes an across-the-board downsize – of student body, staff and course offerings.

“Because SMC relies on state funding for about 85 per cent of its operating budget, we will be forced to make deep cuts of our own,” President Chui Tsang told members of the college community in a memo last month.

“In short, we are being forced by the state to downsize – that is, reduce our class offerings and make other reductions,” Tsang wrote.

Since the recession, the number of students seeking to take classes at Santa Monica College has gone up, SMC Public Information Officer Bruce Smith told the Lookout Tuesday.

People who've been laid off need training, Smith said. Also, competition for spots at University of California and California State University campuses is tight, and tuition at those institutions is out of reach of many.

Though the evidence is anecdotal, Smith heard that during the first week of the semester there was a class for 30 students that had 80 students on its waiting list. And in another class, one woman was literally unable to physically get into the classroom, he said.

It's only going to get worse, if projections are accurate. The governor's proposed budget calls for $400 million slashed from community college coffers. That means that less money per student will go to Santa Monica College.

The headcount would drop 7,174 according to worst-case estimates, out of a student body that averages 30,000. Even if voters approve tax extensions that would make up for some of the lost revenue, the college would still lose 2,585 students, Smith said.

And those students will have to pay more. Last week, the legislature passed a bill raising residents' tuition from $26 to $36 per unit. And Smith said the Legislative Analyst's Office says that rates may need to go up higher to balance the budget – possibly as high as $66 per unit.

The students who do enroll will have fewer courses to choose from.

SMC has already had to cut its winter quarter in half, Smith said. In a Town Hall held last week, Tsang said that although a number of different actions are being considered, the winter quarter may have to be eliminated altogether, and cuts to summer school may have to go deeper.

The college's reserve is “rapidly shrinking,” Tsang wrote in last month's memo. College officials are committed to maintaining a 7.5 percent reserve, enough to pay for one month's salaries and benefits.

“With a potential deficit of $20 million plus (the state reductions plus the operating deficit), the college could be bankrupted in less than a year if we don't make drastic changes,” Tsang wrote.

“The state is forcing us to downsize, meaning we will have to eliminate many course sections in 2011-12,” wrote Tsang.

“And we have to make our own very painful cuts – and we have no choice but to make many of those cuts in the area of salaries and benefits,” he wrote.

Salaries and benefits make up 88 per cent of SMC's budget, with benefits alone accounting for 20 per cent, according to figures shared at the Town Hall meeting.

Full-time teachers have tenure, Smith said, so part-time teachers will feel the ax first. As part-time teachers are cut, their classes will either be eliminated or shifted over to the schedules of full-time teachers.

A hiring freeze took effect in February, and attrition will account for some savings, as a number of teachers are expected to retire this year, Smith said.

The college was considering hiring 20 new full-time, tenure-track teachers in the fall, but that's not guaranteed now, said Smith.

Classified personnel who leave or retire aren't going to be replaced unless they are considered essential, he added.

College employees get a full package of health benefits – vision, dental and health insurance, Smith said.

Last year, a handful of managers who have a very expensive plan were given the choice of keeping that plan by paying into it, said Smith. The college saved $250,000 by that one action, and a similar plan is under negotiation with the union.

In the meantime, college officials will have to keep a close eye on Sacramento, as legislators fight over the array of bills that make up Brown's budget.

“The next few weeks will be crucial as we watch what happens at the state level and as we begin to prepare for what will be the most difficult fiscal year since the passage of Prop. 13 in 1978,” Tsang wrote. “Any route we take will call for certain sacrifices from all of us, but I am confident that we will rally as a community to get through these challenging times.”