BY KATHLEEN DONOVAN
The Bergen Community College graduation rate is 12.6 percent, while the dropout rate is three times greater. This is troubling.
In "Cuts to Bergen Community College are unacceptable" (Other Views, June 15) Bergen Community College President G. Jeremiah Ryan said that "it is a dangerous fantasy to move the burden of financing educational and economic opportunity to those who need it most."
I agree. Unfortunately, the college has done just that by offsetting needed budget cuts with higher student tuition and deferred faculty compensation.
What the college should have done is reduce its administrative spending. Prior to 2007, the college employed 36 administrators. That number skyrocketed to approximately 100 during Ryan's tenure. While the faculty at BCC is commended for being fiscally responsible, the leadership maintains an unacceptable "business as usual" attitude.
Ryan said, "We are reaching a point where we may have to compromise quality." There is no compromise for quality. Our students, their families and Bergen taxpayers deserve better. But a review of the college's own internal institutional dashboard shows the college's performance in four key categories is well below the college's target rate.
Meanwhile, the graduation rate is 12.6 percent, while the dropout rate is three times greater. This is troubling. One wonders if quality has already been compromised and why.
Is it a failure of leadership? Is this the reason the college faculty has expressed its displeasure with Ryan with a vote of no confidence?
Ryan writes that "all cuts are not created equal." I agree again. Where I disagree is what spending priorities should be. Are expense accounts and entertainment priorities? The college's president strongly resisted our efforts to bring full transparency and accountability to the college
The college's institutional dashboard review notes that while foundation revenue was targeted at $4.8 million, actual revenue was well below expectation at only $500,000. A reassessment of expenses and the overall management of the college's internal and external functions are clearly in order.
Ryan acknowledges the need for "fiscal austerity." My administration, working with the Board of Freeholders, has cut more than $30 million from the proposed budget we inherited in January from the outgoing Democratic administration.
We have frozen county property taxes and restored integrity to county government.
Ryan should take a lesson from these actions and accept the fact that the days of wine and roses are over.
?
Source: http://www.theridgewoodblog.net/2011/06/bergen-community-college-president-not.html
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