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Editorial
President deserves praise for bold but risky venture
While the college is facing fiscal troubles that might go beyond the scope of most students and some faculty, MHCC President John Sygielski has authorized spending $225,000 on a new 10-year master plan for the college. But is this really a bad thing?
Sygielski is absolutely right in saying the college needs severe upgrades, and a new look for MHCC should excite instructors, members of the community and potential students. However, amid all the budget cuts, how did the college come up with the $225,000 to pay OH planning+design to create this new master plan?
Sygielski said this week the money came from the facilities fund (which last year faced a 10 percent budget cut on all resources), but later mentioned the college’s emergency reserve fund had dipped to $256,000. Previously, The Advocate had not reported the figure dropping below $900,000, or 1.75 percent of the general fund. For years, the MHCC District board and presidents have put getting the emergency fund to 5 percent of the general fund at or near the top of the priority list. This loss of a reserve fund was, in part, a reason why the college lost its A1 bond rating earlier this academic year.
While paying the $225,000 for the master plan may or may not be linked to the loss of money in the reserve fund, and while the current spending tactics may not be practical considering the college’s economic state, Sygielski deserves credit for placing the college in a position where students and faculty can be excited about a new campus. He is creating scenarios that will make the college more attractive to business ventures, and he is confident that MHCC will come up with the $125 million to $175 million to pay for the construction. He is also aware of the amount of scrutiny he may face, and said he is willing to deal with that.
However, he also knows what it takes to be a leader. As the saying goes, “If you don’t have the guts to be hated, you don’t deserve to be loved.” Time will tell if this venture ends up a success, but Sygielski must also know that a failure could put the college in a financial position that may end up a general calamity.
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