Gov. Mark Gordon

An initial round of state budget cuts that Gov. Mark Gordon announced on Aug. 26 included a $25.7 million cut to the Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) general fund. In July, Gordon warned state agencies to expect a 10% reduction in state funding in order to close up a projected $1.5 billion shortfall over the next two years.

The $25 million cut to the WCCC will amount to a 10% reduction in state funding to each of the state’s seven community colleges. 

The WCCC must rerun the funding formula allocations and redistribute the projected shortfall. For the fiscal year 2021 budget, NWC officials are projecting a $2 million shortfall in the college’s unrestricted budget.

Stefani Hicswa, NWC president, said the “severe budget cuts are devastating for all of Wyoming’s community colleges,” adding that the college will need to find a sustainable funding model to “maintain the workforce training and transfer opportunities” that it offers.

The president said specifics won’t be known until the college board of trustees can meet and make those decisions, but it’s likely that NWC will need to reduce programs, services and events.

“Unfortunately, everything is on the table at this point. It’s now time to focus on the work we need to do to transform the college to face future challenges,” Hicswa said.

Lisa Waston, NWC vice president for administrative services and finance, said the college was expecting the cut and had been planning to absorb it in the coming years’ budget.

“Because we were able to use the prior year’s budget leftovers to shore up this year’s budget, we will have this invaluable time to be thoughtful and strategic about what next year’s cuts will ultimately be,” Watson said.

There are still a lot of unknowns regarding other sources of funding, Watson said, so the complete picture of the college’s budget for the coming year remains uncertain. Statewide property tax valuations, as well as enrollment numbers, will impact the college’s revenues.

“The picture is becoming clearer every day, but it is not calculable yet,” Watson said.

The college is seeing some positive numbers with its enrollment this fall. The average fall headcount for all Wyoming community colleges is down 10% from the same time last year, according to unofficial numbers, but NWC’s headcount is only down 3%. Nationally, colleges projected 20% drops in enrollment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused campus closures and restricted face-to-face instruction. Northwest College closed its campus in March and reopened in August. Instruction is being delivered in a hybrid format that includes online and in-person classes.

The enrollment figures look “really encouraging considering all the obstacles we’ve been facing with reopening this semester,” said Carey Miller, NWC communications and marketing director.

Earlier this year, the college contracted with consultant CampusWorks to explore “transformation opportunities,” Miller said, and the company has been surveying faculty, students, and community members in order to develop a planning tool called a SWOT analysis, which pinpoints an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

“We’ve never asked for community participation on this scale before, and we’re looking forward to constructive conversations about what Park County needs its community college to be,” Miller said.

Those include an ongoing series of “Future of NWC” focus group discussions that will culminate in a Future Summit on Thursday, Sept. 10, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Yellowstone Building Conference Center. A town hall meeting on NWC’s Residence Life Master Plan is also set for 7 p.m. today (Tuesday) at the Yellowstone building.

Gov. Gordon allocated $32.5 million in CARES Act funding to the Wyoming Community College Commission, but the money is restricted for COVID-related expenses and cannot be used to close up budget-related shortfalls. The federal government allocated $366,000 directly to NWC, but the stipulations of the funding — which requires another $366,000 to go to students for demonstrable COVID-related financial losses before NWC can begin to use its portion — will likely make it impossible for the college to utilize it.