LCC board discusses college president’s goals, looks ahead to new strategic plan 

The Lane Community College Board of Education got a look last week at how the college president, Stephanie Bulger, wants to tweak her key goals for this school year, including how those goals tie into the creation of a new strategic plan.

Board members seemed to agree that the goals — which have been in place since Bulger started at LCC in 2022 — should remain key areas. But one board member, Steve Mital, said that finishing the new strategic plan could be a fourth goal. He added that board members should be more involved in crafting the plan.

The discussion took place during a board work session Wednesday, July 15. The board did not take any action at the meeting, but approval of the goals will be on its September agenda.

The three overall goals:

• Protecting LCC’s long-term fiscal stability. Bulger said keys for this school year include holding LCC’s deferred maintenance backlog, estimated at $108 million, at that level and maintaining the college’s ending fund balance (essentially, its reserves). That would require this year’s budget to at least break even; in recent years, the college has been forced to tap into its reserves to cover expenses.
• Managing enrollment growth and student success. LCC officials are aiming for an increase of between 2% and 4% in credits attempted this school year, which would boost revenue from tuition. LCC also seeks to improve retention levels from year to year as well as term to term, although Bulger acknowledged that potential “headwinds,” including demographic shifts and changes to financial aid, could challenge that.
• Improving LCC’s work climate, as measured by an annual Gallup survey that asks questions such as “At work, my opinions seem to count.” The results from the most recent survey showed a decline from the previous year.

Bulger outlined ambitious goals for the new strategic plan, which would go into effect July 1, 2027.

“This is what a president waits for, is the opportunity to help a college work through developing a new strategic plan,” Bulger said. “So I could not be more delighted.”

Bulger talked about the next strategic plan in terms of helping LCC build what she called “community vibrancy” throughout Lane County. In particular, she said, LCC could help reduce the reported 42% of households in the county that fall below what’s known as the ALICE threshold, which stands for Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed. These are households that are above the federal poverty line but still lack the resources to make ends meet.

“Don’t you think that Lane Community College’s mission is to help move that percentage down?” she asked. “How can we work with our community partners, work internally, and make those connections so that we can lift up the entire community, change individuals, and change communities?”

She said LCC would sponsor a series of seven community conversations throughout the county beginning this summer as part of creating the plan.

LCC’s current plan covers five years, but board member Kevin Alltucker suggested that a three-year span for the next plan might be more appropriate, considering the unsettled landscape of higher education.

Mital urged Bulger and other LCC administrators to involve the board to the fullest extent possible in crafting the plan.

“I don’t want us to weigh in only at the end when it’s largely baked and it sort of feels like, well, there’s nothing left to do but, you know, (add) some icing or whatever,” he said. “So I’m looking for multiple touch points.”

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 2.