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RCC president defends aid increases Tells budget subcommittee money is investment in future By PETER WONG SALEM -- As he winds up 15 years as president of Rogue Community College, Harvey Bennett urged the Legislature's budget writers Monday not to forget state aid to Oregon's 17 community colleges. The Legislature is considering big increases in state aid to public schools and the university system in the next two-year budget. Bennett said both are necessary because public schools prepare students for higher education and careers, and universities refine students and advance knowledge. "What is between refinement and new knowledge from higher education and readiness from public schools is us," Bennett told the Legislature's joint budget subcommittee on education. "When you look at our mission, we're the middle school. "But we're not a different school. We are on the same passage as Oregon citizens find themselves through life." As an example, Bennett talked about the seven-week training in long-haul truck driving that Dave and Terri Campfield underwent at RCC. They lost their jobs at Boise Cascade in Medford after a Labor Day fire destroyed the mill. The subcommittee is hearing the budget for community colleges, which would split $415.7 million in state aid for operations from the tax-supported general fund. Community colleges also receive money from tuition and from local property taxes, though voter-approved limits have reduced those amounts. They have asked for funding beyond what is needed to maintain programs. The subcommittee is scheduled to consider regional partnerships with the universities, including RCC's links with Southern Oregon University, at a hearing Wednesday. A different budget subcommittee headed by Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, will consider Senate Bill 782, which would set aside $3 million for a Southern Oregon advanced technology center in White City. Bennett is retiring after 40 years at all levels of education, the past 15 of them at RCC. Bennett spoke as the 17 community colleges reported an increase of 4.8 percent in student enrollment, measured in full-time equivalents, through the first half of this year. The state Office of Community College Services projected only 2 percent. RCC led that growth with 34 percent, which Bret West, deputy commissioner of community colleges, attributed to RCC's start of full service to Jackson County in 1997-98. Bennett said RCC's full-time equivalent enrollment this year already surpasses the 1999-2000 target of 4,535, and next year's enrollment is likely to run closer to 4,700. "We're already exceeding our growth expectations," he said. Community colleges appear to be in no danger of losing the share of aid proposed by Gov. John Kitzhaber. But they are the smallest share of the three-piece education budget pie shared by public schools and four-year universities. Kitzhaber has asked for $710 million in state aid for the university system, including $75 million to continue a freeze on tuition, shift to per-student budgeting for campuses, and boost enrollments in engineering and teacher training. Senate President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass, wants to add $25 million. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA