Published: July 29, 2009 07:35 pm         

DSC expects to save $100,000 from closing CE center

Dalton State College’s Center for Continuing Education will close in December after 41 years of operation, college officials said Wednesday.

In a press release, college president John Schwenn said the move is expected to save about $100,000 from a program that continues to lose money. It comes on the heels of a series of spending cuts at the college to cope with a $24 million budget that is 12 percent smaller than last year due to state funding shortfalls.

“Given the state of the economy, we will have to stop providing this service to the larger community,” Schwenn said. “Unfortunately, the center has operated at a loss for many years, and because of unprecedented budgetary constraints, we are unable to continue to absorb those costs.”

Center director Pam Partain declined comment. John Hutcheson, Dalton State’s vice president for academic affairs, said four full-time employees and one part-time employee will lose their jobs after Dec. 31. A facilities manager position will likely be created for the James E. Brown Center, which houses the Center for Continuing Education.

The center offers personal growth and professional development courses, including industry specific courses and approved teacher training. Hutcheson said college officials haven’t decided how to use the Brown Center after Continuing Education closes.

“We know we’ll use some of it for classroom space because we’re short on (it),” he said.

College officials said there is a possibility their budget deficit could rise to 18 percent over the previous year as state spending cuts continue, and student enrollment may be up by 10 percent this fall.

Hutcheson said Continuing Education is supposed to be self-supporting through enrollment fees but has operated at a $100,000 deficit each of the last five years. Raising enrollment fees to cover costs wasn’t an option since the program would price itself out of the market, he said.

In 2007-2008, the latest year for which numbers were immediately available, 8,576 students enrolled in Continuing Education courses. Some of those are duplicates, Hutcheson said. Most courses were taught by instructors not part of the college faculty.

For example, a women’s self-defense course in April was taught in coordination with the Dalton Police Department. Participant Judy Forester said she learned of the course through a Continuing Education mailing she received. Forester said at the time that the course helped her feel safer and that she learned more than she expected.

Hutcheson said many of the courses in Continuing Education are offered elsewhere. Companies have begun holding many of their own training programs, he said, and churches and recreational centers also offer several options.

It’s possible that some programs, like teacher training and a travel program the college coordinates, will continue operating under another college department. Yet Hutcheson said he’s unsure what will happen.

“There are a lot of details that still have to be worked out on this,” he said.

Several other University System of Georgia schools recently eliminated continuing education departments, officials said, including Georgia Perimeter College.

“We are deeply saddened that we are not going to be able to continue providing this service to the community,” Hutcheson said, “but the economic climate is such that we have to focus almost entirely on our core academic mission and reduce costs wherever we can.”





Dalton State College press release



Citing a drastically diminishing budget and unprecedented financial circumstances, Dalton State College President John Schwenn announced today that the College will be eliminating the Center for Continuing Education effective December 31.

With the College currently operating under a 12 percent smaller budget than at this time last year, plus the possibility that the budget deficit will rise to 18 percent or more during Fiscal Year 2010, Schwenn says that the administration had no choice but to terminate the program, which serves primarily as an outreach extension of Dalton State.

“Given the state of the economy, we will have to stop providing this service to the larger community,” says Schwenn. “Unfortunately, the Center has operated at a loss for many years, and because of unprecedented budgetary constraints, we are unable to continue to absorb those costs.”

The College will save approximately $100,000 a year by eliminating the Center for Continuing Education. Four full-time employees and one part-time employee will be affected by the decision, Schwenn says.

The Center for Continuing Education, which is housed in The James E. Brown Center on campus, has served the northwest Georgia region since 1968, offering personal growth and professional development courses, providing business and industry specific programs at the Center and contract training on site, and facilitating community outreach by providing programming and meeting space in the Center’s conference rooms.

Vice President for Academic Affairs John Hutcheson, who oversees the operations of the Center, says that while this action is necessary, it represents an “extraordinarily difficult step.”

“We are deeply saddened that we are not going to be able to continue providing this service to the community,” he says, “but the economic climate is such that we have to focus almost entirely on our core academic mission and reduce costs wherever we can.”

The mission of Dalton State, as an open access institution, is to educate as many Georgians as possible within the confines of its budget, says Hutcheson, noting that the steep economic downturn necessitates that all available financial resources be directed toward fulfilling the College’s core academic mission.

Financial resources will be scarce this fall, adds Schwenn, noting that enrollment may be up as much as 10 percent while the operating budget will be down considerably.

“We are experiencing a severe slicing to the bone of our funding,” Schwenn says.

Several other University System of Georgia (USG) schools have recently elected to eliminate continuing education departments, officials say, including Georgia Perimeter College.

     

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