Board of Education questioning past decisions

Ongoing budget issues have forced the MHCC Board of Directors to consider a tuition increase for new, incoming students.

On Wednesday, a vote to approve next year’s tuition and fee schedule was moved to the May 11 board meeting due to incomplete information.

At stake is a potential $2 per credit tuition increase and a 25-cent per credit technology fee increase, both in response to a projected 7 percent decline in student enrollment.

Rick Doughty, Mt. Hood vice president of administrative services, explained that for higher state funding from Salem, a tuition increase is required. This would not conflict with the Board’s promised “tuition freeze” at the beginning of the 2015 Fall Term, as that only extends to students enrolled by the 2016 Spring Term.

It didn’t take long to find opposition.

ASG President Seth Albert and Vice President Lindsay Patiño spoke against a tuition increase, saying that it will continue to rise and worsen the financial burden on students. Patiño said the board should search for creative ways to manage the budget without an increase.

The board discussed the issue following two other official meetings held on Wednesday.

MHCC President Debbie Derr, Board Chairwoman Susie Jones and Doughty sat before the Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission (TSCC) to answer questions about Mt. Hood’s efforts on passing a general obligation bond measure. Jones talked about feedback gained from a speaking tour conducted by bond campaign staff – mostly the need for “a trained work force, and we need it yesterday,” she said.

If the bond passes, a new Applied Technology building would replace the current “bunker” of a building, according to Jones. Other bond money would rebuild the Maywood Park campus, help pay off current MHCC debt and pay for seismic retrofits.

On Wednesday, the Board also presented outstanding support staff awards. Kealani Balfour, MHCC dual credit coordinator; Katelyn Goslin, admissions/transcript evaluator; and Paul Wild, economic and workforce development coordinator, all received glass plaques and $500 checks from the MHCC Foundation.

Members also convened as the Mt. Hood budget committee, and voted Jim Zordich as chairman.

Shortly before the closing remarks, a recent poll was mentioned in which Mt. Hood was selected as the fifth-most scenic community college in the nation. Board member Sonny Yellot also suggested the MHCC Athletics program should not have money set aside if it isn’t self-sustaining.

“I do think that we should take some serious consideration in removing the responsibility of the athletic program from ASG,” Yellot said. “If the athletic programs cannot, at least be self-sustaining, maybe they should find someplace else to exercise… We’ve got parks all over town.

“We are here to create jobs, we are here to work, we’re to do this, we’re here to do that, we’re here to do all this kinds of stuff, and competition is part of it – if you can’t create competition that is attractive to the public to support your efforts, you need to re-evaluate your program,” he said.