The removal of the word “community” from the Green River College’s name seemed an ominous sign that the school was becoming disconnected from its mission to serve local needs.
Since then, the campus environment has become even more toxic, and the local community will soon lose even more programs as the Ely administration mandates a “program prioritization process.”
The recent eliminations of the auto body program and global information systems, with carpentry and parent education given reprieves, are just the beginning.
The administration has ordered staff and faculty to engage in a process that will place all programs into one of five quintiles. The process will place 20 percent of programs in a bottom quintile, which will then be targeted for possible elimination.
Faculty and staff were not consulted in the selection of the process, and we were astounded that the administration did not use an existing program review process that had worked in the past and was mutually negotiated. Their process is not only divisive in the way it pits staff against one another, but it is also biased against smaller programs that have traditionally been the backbone of community colleges. Programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will be safe, but programs in the trades, arts and humanities are likely at risk.
President Eileen Ely and Board Chair Pete Lewis repeat their mantras that “times are tough” and “these budget decisions are difficult for us to make.” They claim there is a budget crisis and shortage of up to $5 million, and they blame the Legislature and reduced enrollments. But the truth is, next year’s state funding will only be about $1 million less than current levels, enrollment levels have barely changed and GRC seems to be alone among community colleges in crisis.
In the past, GRC budgeted $1 million to $2 million per year to supplement state capital funds. But over the past three years, the Ely administration, with board approval, has budgeted $74 million of local money on capital projects. They have taken the money from reserves, tuition from a growing international student population and from numerous loans that now encumber the college until at least 2035.
After erecting a new $34.6 million trades complex, the administration abruptly axed the auto body program, just as the building was ready to open, resulting in thousands in wasted equipment, a need to remodel one-fourth of the complex, and the firing of program faculty, including the faculty union president. The state board recently was forced to approve the use of $1.2 million in local funds to remodel this new building. A new $32.2 million student union building recently opened. While many believe it was mostly paid up front with past student fees, the college ended up having to contribute $23.4 million, about 73 percent of the cost, using $8.8 million in local money and a $15 million loan. And, a new $20 million-plus building for an aviation program is underway in Auburn.
The administration now needs to renovate the old student union building, and this has led to a daisy chain of remodeling, which will cost millions more. The administration reports that Phase I of this project will cost $4.1 million. When questioned about the number of phases, there was no response.
President Ely also announced that her office and boardroom would take over the Welcome and Testing Center, which will in turn be forced to move to the old cafeteria, which will then need to be remodeled to accommodate their computer lab. Oh, and human resources will move into the old president’s office area, after it is remodeled, of course. The only good news in all of this is that President Ely has stated that none of these remodels will be “plush.”
But the spending spree does not just include capital projects. During the first five years of the Ely administration, a select group of 24 administrators received average salary increases of 34 percent totaling $476,000. To compare, faculty received no pay raise during this time, and classified staff took a 3 percent cut.
In the meantime, no travel restrictions have been placed on administrators. As just one of many examples, one administrator was reimbursed $24,000 in travel expenditures in just a two-year period. A dean was recently sent on a trip to Dubai to recruit more international students for the flight training program. Similar recruitment trips for this program are planned to China.
But there is more, much more. For example, more than $225,000 was spent for a program called Achieving the Dream, and while nothing came of it, additional payments continue. We have lost count of how much the college has spent on outside “consultants.” Up to $75,000 was spent for a professional negotiator to represent the administration during faculty contract talks. President Ely even hired an outside facilitator to help her talk with faculty in what she labeled “courageous conversations.” The conversations soon fizzled.
And so, at the same time that the GRC administration continues its reckless spending, erecting new buildings, and claiming a budget crisis, it initiates a process that will eliminate more community-focused programs and the jobs of those who support these programs. Local community members, and all Washington State taxpayers, should be questioning the fiscal decisions that are being made at Green River. Maybe there is a budget crisis at the college, but it seems mostly the result of poor fiscal decisions by campus leadership.
The Ely administration deleted “community” from the college’s name. I would like to challenge the community to now reinstate itself before the administration hands down its next list of program cuts and does further damage to a college that used to have a welcoming climate and excellent reputation.
Dr. Stephan Kinholt has been teaching mathematics and teacher education courses for the past 34 years. For the past 24 years, he has taught at Green River College. He has been involved in several NSF-sponsored STEM grants and was the lead investigator for Project TEACH, a program that prepares future teachers.
