Editorial: Budget cuts need to be fair, but for who?

The college has now pushed through its first weeks of the budget process, and though things appear to be running smoothly so far, we at The Advocate would just like to express some of our concerns as students for this very crucial juncture at MHCC.

As a part of the college’s two-year balanced budget plan, 30 percent of deficit reductions are to be attained with tuition and fee revenue increases, 30 percent from reduced costs through administrative reductions and efficiencies, 30 percent from faculty/staff collective bargaining cost reductions, and the final 10 percent gained by increased revenue from higher student enrollment and state funding.

Last year, the students fulfilled their obligation by facing up to new tuition and fee hikes. The administration has stated that students’ role in deficit-reduction efforts is finished (aside from a small fee increase for next year) and that they will not soon see any more significant tuition or fee hikes.

As students, we are happy about that, but when you’re talking about contracts and the wages/livelihoods of employees at MHCC, the ice you walk on is very thin.

We at The Advocate doubt that anyone, whether from the administration or faculty, wants to go through what the college endured the last time negotiations nearly turned disastrous. Faculty members threatened to go on strike and the attitudes of student and teachers alike turned sour as both stared into an uncertain future.

The administration needs to tread carefully, especially when it comes to that final 10 percent, as enrollment and state funding are not something that the college has direct control over.

Both sides at the bargaining table need to be prepared in the case that this 10 percent solution will need to be met through different means.

Given the stated aim for a “shared balance” of sacrifice, we at The Advocate think that meeting a middle ground between the faculty and administration and ensuring open lines of communication between the groups are key.

For example, what the administration might view as a “fair” portion of the burden for the faculty might not be viewed as such by the latter. The opposite may be true, as well.

The administration and faculty must look at themselves and speak with honesty to one another, as both will no doubt have some very hard questions ahead. Adding confusion and misunderstanding will only hinder the process.

Both sides need to be prepared to ask themselves, “Can we manage to just make a little more of a cut here? Or, there?”

It has also become obvious to us that some bad blood might still exist between the various groups on the campus. But, in order for MHCC to maintain or even surpass its current state as a great source of education, grudges must be laid down for the greater good.

While it’s common for people to say that schools “are all about the students” and that without them, there would be no campus, the same could be said of the faculty members.

No matter how many students you have, if there is no one to teach them, the college will fail as an educational institution.