Faced with declining enrollment and funding, the Brookdale Community College board of trustees authorized a controversial reduction in force (RIF) in advance of a reorganization of the college structure.
The unanimous vote, which came despite emotional pleas during the Nov. 13 meeting on the Lincroft campus, approved a preliminary plan set to begin in July 2015.
The plan would eliminate 210 of the existing 646 positions at the college, including 33 that are vacant. It would also create a total of 126 new positions.
“The authorization [would] allow college officials to present a proposed reorganization of Brookdale’s operational structure, which includes staffing levels and redesigned models for academic and administrative offices,” Brookdale President Maureen Murphy said. “A finalized plan is to be presented to the board of trustees in December.”
Previous measures were unable to address a decrease in revenues, tuition, state aid and a deficit, leading the board to consider the RIF, she said.
According to Murphy, roughly 80 percent of the college’s expenses are for salaries, benefits and wages.
Since 2011, Brookdale has eliminated or deferred more than 50 full-time positions; reduced or frozen all operating budgets; delayed capital expenditures; and enacted a hiring freeze for all noncritical positions, leading to a $2.4 million reduction in expenses for 2014, a press release from the college states.
According to the press release, operating revenues have declined by nearly $14.7 million since 2011, including a $5.7 million decline in tuition.
Over the same period, county and state funding to Brookdale has decreased by $9.4 million and $393,000, respectively.
Brookdale’s enrollment for fall 2014 is 14,144 — down from 14,360 in fall 2013 and 15,783 in fall 2010. At the start of the meeting, an overflow crowd, with some holding brightly colored signs and chanting “No to RIF,” rose to their feet as the trustees entered the room following an executive session.
More than two hours of testimony followed from students, staff and faculty members, urging the board to consider alternative options and not to move forward with a RIF.
Professor Jess Le Vine, who teaches history, said any changes should be made gradually and carefully, adding that a RIF was likely not the best approach.
“This place is No. 1 because of all those people,” Le Vine said, gesturing toward the audience of students, staff and faculty. “The RIF is poison. It is poison to Brookdale. … It will be poison out in the public, and it will poison people [against coming here].”
Emily Vota, president of the Professional Staff Association, said a RIF would negatively impact the community that has been built on the college’s campus.
“What each of us sitting in this room represents is the community here at Brookdale Community College,” she said. “We are not only the employees who show up every day — we are the community this college serves, and we are success reimagined.”
Adam Winkler, treasurer of the Student Life Board, said he is not unsympathetic of the need to resolve budget issues, but urged the board to find other ways to shore up college finances.
“I think we’re being foolish here by cutting staff at Brookdale Community College,” Winkler said, adding that he has received immense help from the college’s learning assistants in the math lab — positions that might be in jeopardy during the reorganization.
Despite the pleas from the public, the board ultimately affirmed the resolution unanimously, with board member David Flaherty absent from the meeting.
Afterward, each expressed an understanding of the concerns of the public but stood behind what they said was the need for the reorganization.
“I want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to be so open about your passion for Brookdale. At the same time, I don’t want you to think that the members of the board of trustees are from some strange planet and just landed here,” trustee William Dalton said after the public portion of the meeting.
Dalton continued to explain that he has fond sentiments of the college, as well — his son graduated from Brookdale and opened a small business — but he said the state of the college’s finances demands drastic measures.
“The fiscal reality facing us has been laid upon us by forces that are beyond our control, and in order to continue to provide what I feel is the best education … [we must] do what we have to do to maintain the fiscal reliability of the college,” he said.
Murphy emphasized the need for a collaborative environment moving forward, as the college begins drafting a final reorganization plan.
“I am hopeful that we will find ways to collaborate. I want that very much,” she said.
Over the past few years, other controversies have impacted Brookdale. These included the resignation of Howard Birdsall, Brookdale trustee and CEO of Birdsall Services Group, who was charged with violating the state’s pay-to-play laws.
Birdsall resigned in May 2011 after more than 20 years on the board. Shortly after, then-College President Peter Burnham was charged with misuse of funds. He was sentenced to five years in prison after entering a guilty plea.
As the reorganization process continues at Brookdale, the board will release details of the RIF and other planned measures to the public, Murphy said.
“We will release, as soon as possible, the means for you to give feedback. There will be multiple means, and my door is always open for conversation,” she said.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 20, according to the college website.