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Proponents of the college’s programs in health information management and criminal justice vigorously defended them and criticized the process by which administrators identified and communicated the cuts.
A divided Lane Community College Board of Education voted Wednesday, April 22, to shutter the college’s degree programs in criminal justice and health information management, siding with administrators who said the moves were needed to close a budget shortfall.
Faculty members and students urged the board to preserve the programs, saying the administrators’ case didn’t add up. They also argued that LCC’s process to identify the programs was poorly communicated and didn’t allow sufficient feedback from students, in particular.
At the end of a meeting that lasted three hours and 45 minutes — with an hour break to squeeze in an LCC’s Budget Committee meeting — the board approved cutting the two programs as part of a $4.2 million package of budget cuts for the 2026-27 school year.
Board members Kevin Alltucker, Jesse Maldonado, Steve Mital and Julie Weismann voted for the motion. Board Chair Austin Fölnagy, Vice Chair Jerry Rust and Zachary Mulholland voted against.
The $4.2 million in proposed cuts for next school year are part of an overall three-year mitigation plan to rebuild LCC’s ending fund balance — essentially, its reserves — to a level equal to about 10% of its general fund, as required by board policy. Without the plan, LCC budgeters say its projected ending fund balance would drop to about 3.1% of its general fund by the end of the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Supporters rally for the programs
LCC administrators said the programs targeted for elimination — criminal justice and health information management — have had relatively low enrollment and completion rates. They said both programs faced questions about their long-term sustainability, and a goal of the mitigation plan is to identify programs whose elimination would cause the least impact to LCC students.
Shelley Tinkham, LCC’s vice president for academic affairs, said students in both programs would receive individualized support for the transition. The 59 students in the health information management program will be able to complete the program through an arrangement with Klamath Community College.
LCC will offer limited courses to the 15 students seeking degrees through the criminal justice program, to prepare them for transfer to a bachelor’s program elsewhere.
Speakers at Wednesday’s meeting sharply criticized the reasons given for the program cuts and the process by which LCC publicized the plans.
Rick Riordan, supervisor of the health information management program, challenged the rationale behind the administration’s recommendations, saying the program operates in the black and eliminating it would not save any money.
“This success is being dismantled by a flawed process … a disorganized, harmful suspension process that prioritizes administrative convenience over student well-being,” Riordan said. “You’re not cutting a failing program. You’re cutting a successful one.”
Caoimhim O’Fearghail, supervisor of the criminal justice program, said it brings in $100,000 a year to LCC, “and that’s a conservative estimate.” He also said enrollment in the program was increasing.
Other speakers criticized what they saw as a lack of transparency of administrators in identifying areas to be cut.
Among them was Michael Olson, LCC’s student government president, who holds a nonvoting position on the Board of Education.
“I understand cuts need to be made, and it’s the unfortunate logistical and financial reality that this college has entered,” Olson said. “But ignoring any kind of student input on this, I believe, is just wrong.”
He added that students are concerned about “the way that this looks financially (and) the way the communication happened. We’re concerned about the way that the information was presented. … Through my own personal research — I understand I’m no expert — but it didn’t take me long to find some interesting red flags throughout the administration’s argument.”
LCC President Stephanie Bulger said she would talk with members of the Student Government Association about that feedback, “because I’d really like to hear that myself.”
Jenna McCulley, LCC’s senior adviser for strategic communications, said in some circumstances, the college is “bound by processes and timelines associated with contractual obligations and/or accreditation requirements that impact the timing and information we’re able to share.”
She added that LCC administrators look forward to additional discussions with the student government.
Budget Committee meets
LCC’s Budget Committee — the members of the Board of Education and an equal number of community members — gathered Wednesday for its first meeting of the budget season.
Jonathon Campbell, LCC’s senior director of budget, grants and resource planning, led a quick orientation session for the committee, which included a snippet of bad news: The college estimates it’s facing a $550,000 shortfall for the current fiscal year, in part because budgeted vacancy savings are less than anticipated, credit enrollment growth is less than planned and personnel costs are higher than expected.
Campbell said information on how LCC plans to address the shortfall would be shared with committee members before its next meeting.
Campbell also mentioned “headwinds” affecting public colleges and universities: Students are taking fewer credits. Government funding is uncertain. A “demographic cliff” means the United States has fewer college-age students.
“We go into that with eyes wide-open, right?” Campbell said. “The whole point of having a plan is to recognize those things.”
Jesse Williams, a senior treasury analyst at the University of Oregon, was elected chair of the committee, and Amber Patterson, chief financial officer at Burley Design, was elected vice chair.
Williams, noting that one of the tasks for the Budget Committee was to “discuss and revise” the budget, asked a question that reflected the governance debate that has divided the Board of Education during the last year:
“I just want to clarify. That’s the budget at large, right? It’s not our responsibility to give input into specifics of how to implement that budget. Is that correct?”
Campbell answered: “That’s correct. We’re talking about budget allocations at large, not operational decisions, not the individual positions, not individual programs, but, to your point, allocation at the high level.”
Committee member Dan Isaacson had the Board of Education’s recent history in mind when he said that people are expecting the Budget Committee to make “very difficult decisions.”
“I know there’s a lot of heated emotions on the board itself. I personally have no interest whatsoever in getting bogged down in any of that,” Isaacson said. “But I do hope that over the next five or six weeks, we can come together and put together a budget that puts LCC in a better position financially, that best balances the needs of what the students are looking for and (that) the community expects.”
The committee, which has six scheduled meetings and a seventh date in reserve if needed, will meet again at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 29, in the LCC Boardroom.
