BMCC is working on its budget
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, April 12th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Blue Mountain Community College President Mark Browning and other officials are hard at work plotting the budget for the next school year. Community colleges lose enrollment when unemployment is low since more people are in the workplace and fewer are seeking to learn a new skill. That could mean cuts.
“We’re going to budget for about a three percent decrease in enrollment,” Browning said. “We strongly believe that is the prudent thing to do. We’ll work like crazy to get a three percent increase. No one’s going to sit by idly and say, ‘Gosh, we hope it’s all going to work out.’”
He said that community colleges might need to step out of their traditional two-year role and be more responsive to the shorter-term needs of students.
“We can change the way existing programs are delivered,” he said. “We can look at the time that it takes so that we can get folks into their desired outcomes sooner.”
Browning said people come to BMCC to acquire a skill and it’s up to the college to provide the shortest path toward acquiring that skill.
“This generation doesn’t wait,” he said. “They don’t wait for something to be created. They create it.” BMCC’s first budget meeting, which is open to the public, is April 25.
