Tulsa Community College to eliminate 30 staff positions

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Tulsa Community College is planning to eliminate 15 full-time and 15 part-time staff positions because of state funding cuts.

President Leigh Goodson announced the reductions in an email to faculty and staff Tuesday, the Tulsa World (http://bit.ly/1YlVxUM ) reported. The eliminated jobs are in addition to more than 180 pared through attrition over the past two years.

"State budget failures this year and further reductions expected for next year will reduce TCC's state funding by a possible $7 million compared to the budget we started FY16 with in July," Goodson said in her email. "The financial implications are significant for TCC."

Goodson said the college will save more than $1 million by eliminating the 30 positions. Officials said the layoffs don't include faculty.

The college's payroll has dropped from $87 million to $80.7 million over the past two years, which Goodson called "a significant decrease."

The school is mostly funded through state appropriations, local property taxes, and student tuition and fees. Goodson said the drop in state appropriations is likely to trigger tuition and fee increases of as much as 5 percent.

"We can't increase tuition at the same rate as the cuts," she said.

Goodson said that the money saved can't be redirected toward new or expanded programs intended to hike graduation rates and retention.

"The same thing is happening at every level of education," she said. "Pick your institution and what it should be doing for students. We can't invest. We can't pivot to meet student trends."

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Information from: Tulsa World, http://www.tulsaworld.com

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The Gayly - 5/11/2016 @ 2:21 p.m. CDT