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RCC reps lobby for $1.1 million more By John Darling Despite general belt-tightening in state budgets, Rogue Community College officials today are lobbying Southern Oregon legislators for a $1.1 million increase over the next two years. RCC President Rick Levine, board vice-chairman George Gilman and Josephine County student body president John Gilan are urging legislators to pursue the increase through the Joint Ways and Means Committee early, before expected budget shortfalls tie up money later in the session, said Gilman, a former state representative from Medford. RCC officials are meeting with Sen. Jason Atkinson, R-Medford, and Reps. Alan Bates, D-Eagle Point, Rob Patridge, R-Medford, Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass and Cheryl Walker, R-Murphy. Oregon�s 17 community colleges asked for a $76 million increase in state funding for 2001-2002, but Gov. John Kitzhaber�s budget trimmed this to $46 million. The Joint Ways and Means Committee is likely to trim more, Gilman said. RCC enrollment has more than doubled � from 2,000 to 4,700 full-time equivalent students � over the past five years, mostly since Grants Pass-based RCC annexed Jackson County in 1996. But revenues have only risen 70 to 80 percent for the period, said Levine. RCC last biennium received $10.5 million from the state, with no increase over the previous biennium other than normal cost-of-living hikes, said Levine. "Any erosion of dollars means we�ll have to make it up with tuition hikes and this goes against one of our main missions � providing a quality, affordable education. "We�re stretched pretty thin," Levine said. "It�s likely we�ll get the amount in the governor�s budget ($1.1 million increase), because we have the highest tuition of any community college in Oregon and legislators seem to agree it�s time we held down tuition increases." Community colleges are one of the few areas getting increased funding under the governor�s budget, said Levine. "He�s already cut a lot of program areas, so this puts us in an awkward position and the Legislature is going to be asking a lot of questions as we go along." RCC will need to focus on how it fulfills a critical role in the local economy, such as training health-care workers in a time when HMOs are pulling out and taking nurses with them, Patridge said. "Investment in RCC is critically important to the economic development of the Rogue Valley, and unless we have a well-trained workforce, we�re not going to attract or retain good companies," he said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.