VOLUME 59 ISSUE 19
Teachers rally for their jobs
Collegian names new editor-in-chief for Fall ‘13
All Cayuga Community College student leaders are invited to attend an informal pizza lunch with President Dan Larson at 11 a.m. Friday, May 10 in the Faculty Dining Room (off the cafe) on the Auburn Campus. He will provide a brief update on happenings in the College, and you’ll have a chance to ask questions and provide feedback directly to the president himself. Give voice to concerns, suggestions, and ideas that you and your club members have about CCC and its future.
INSIDE:
The home of Harriet Tubman in Auburn becomes a National Park, see story page 5.
The Cayuga Collegian earns some well deserved accolades, see story page 3.
A wall on the Auburn campus is getting a much needed face-lift care of some Cayuga Community College art students. The mural titled “Roots in the Finger Lakes” is expected to be complete by the end of the semester. See page 3 for the story.
While the Cayuga Community College Board of Trustees held a meeting on the Auburn campus and then eventually talked behind closed doors in executive session about how to get the College out of a $1.5 million debt, the faculty gathered in groups outside of the meeting room to talk. Some of what the faculty talked about was their concern for how the College’s plan to increase the number of furlough days for college professors to 10 would affect the students. A lot of them voiced how happy they were with what the two faculty members had to say at the beginning of the meeting.
Administration wants to close budget gap with faculty furloughs By Alec Rider, editor-in-chief There was a special meeting of the Cayuga Community College Board of Trustees on April 30th to discuss the ongoing negotiations between the Administration and its four bargaining units. Dozens of faculty members surrounded the Board of Trustees and a line formed from within the Business & Industry Center, BIC, all the way outside and into the rotunda.
“We don’t want to have to accept responsibility for something that’s not our fault, but the fault of bad planning by the college.” —Professor Susan Wolstenholme CCC Professor Susan Wolstenholme and Lorelee Lardear, a Fulton employee, spoke before the Board of Trustees. Wolstenholme was first to speak and didn’t hold back. “We don’t want to have to vote on a proposal that would force employees to take days off,” Wolstenholme said. “We don’t want to do that because we don’t want to have to accept responsibility for something that’s not our fault, but the fault of bad planning by the college.” The college has to cut $1.5 million and is looking to reduce spending by $567 million; unpaid furlough days is the Administration’s wish. The Collegian asked for comment from Faculty Association president Sue Gilmore who was not in attendance last Tuesday night. “The President and I will continue to negotiate a proposal that we can present to the faculty as a whole. The President and I are committed to reaching an agreement that the faculty and administration can support. One that will benefit our students and help us maintain our commitment to our mission and to our core values.” President Larson wrote an open letter to CCC students last week. Dear students: As you may have heard, last night our Board of Trustees met to discuss budgetary and bargaining unit issues. The College and the Board
are working to reduce expenditures of our $32.36 million operating budget by approximately $1.5 million before the end of the fiscal year on August 31, 2013, to help offset an unexpected 5% enrollment decrease. Last Fall, senior leaders and budget managers identified more than $778,000 in savings through employee retirements, operating budget reductions, cuts to travel, and reductions in part-time employee hours. Earlier this Spring, managerial and confidential employees, executive staff, and the president accepted unpaid furlough days and helped bring budgetary savings over the $933,000 mark. College administrators are currently working with leaders of the four employee bargaining units to help close the budget gap for this year. We continue to seek a mutually agreeable solution. It is important for you to know that there is no in-
“College administrators are currently working with leaders of the four employee bargaining units to help close the budget gap for this year. We continue to seek a mutually agreeable solution.” —Dr. Daniel Larson, CCC President formation about layoffs. The College and the Board are focused their efforts on budget reductions and salary considerations are under review. The board will meet again at 6 p.m. Monday, May 6, in the Business & Industry Center on the Auburn campus. Providing you with a high-quality education and supporting you with our caring faculty and staff members remain our core mission. No programs or services are being cut. Classes will continue to be taught by our dedicated faculty members, and our staff members stand ready to assist you as they always have. If you have questions or wish to express your concerns, please email me at president@cayuga-cc.edu. Thank you for your concern, and good luck with your finals, end-of-semester papers, and activities! The Board of Trustees agreed to meet again on Monday, May 6th. Students say they plan to rally for the faculty outside the meeting.
PHOTO BY ALEC RIDER
Pizza with the President returns May 10th
By Abigail Young, editor
PHOTO BY ALEC RIDER
Sophomore Danielle Skowron of Auburn is named editor-in-chief of The Cayuga Collegian beginning in the Fall ‘13 semester. Skowron, a Telcom Danielle Skowron major, has worked as a staff writer of the student-run publication this semester and is eager to take on the lead role. “We are always looking for new writers and reporters to come on board and write for us every week!! Stop on down to The Collegian office or shoot us an email at cayugacollegian@gmail.com. Hoping to hear from you soon!!” said Skowron.
MAY 6, 2013
CCC faculty and staff gather in groups outside the College’s Board of Trustees Meeting April 30th. The faculty is not happy that the Board is considering furloughs as a way of saving money. Lorelee Lardear, a switchboard operator at the Fulton Campus spoke passionately about her years working at the College, and how students had talked to her about the unfairness of the Board’s plan. Susan Wolstenholme, an English professor at the Auburn Campus spoke after Lardear. She began by saying she hadn’t planned speaking at all, but felt she needed to. Wolstenholme has been working at the College for 35 years and spoke of the faculty’s concern for what the Board was planning. She also said there was no reason for the faculty to take the fall on bad planning. “Wonderful,” was what faculty member had to say. They were in absolute agreement with what the two speakers had to say. They also said that CCC was a great place to work and their co-workers had become family to them. During this executive session there was also a power meeting with the head officers of the faculty to talk more about what their plans were. At one point, the noise outside of the meeting room swelled so loud that a member of the Board came out to ask the faculty to quiet down. Finally after 20 minutes, another member came out saying that the executive session would continue until 7:30 p.m. However, it wasn’t until 7:35 p.m. that the session ended. The faculty re-entered the room for only a few seconds to hear that the meeting would not continue. Instead the Board agreed that they would re-convene on Monday, May 6th. The reason for this was to give Dr. Daniel Larson more time to meet with staff bargaining units.
C AY U G A C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E ’ S S T U D E N T- R U N N E W S PA P E R