The Board of Trustees Finance Subcommittee has voted to recommend to the trustees at the board’s April 1 meeting that they approve the Tier 1 proposed budget reductions.

The unanimous subcommittee vote at Tuesday’s meeting included the proviso that Tier 2 and Tier 3 cuts may be necessary depending on the state revenue projections that are to be announced March 20.

Vice President of Administration and Finance Natalie Lutes said that it will take a number of days to assess the impact of those projections on the College budget, adding that by April the College may have to identify some Tier 2 reductions. Tier 3 reductions, which will be cumulative, are the “worst-case scenario,” Lutes said.

During the discussion, President Stephen Jordan said that keeping “real people in real positions” is a priority. He also said that he has allowed the vice presidents to determine if the vacant positions frozen in their areas in October after cost-containment measures were announced are critical. If so, the vice presidents could decide alternative reductions, rather than have those positions remain vacant.

Since the Feb. 16 town hall meeting held by Jordan when the Tier 1 target reductions were announced, there have been some adjustments as follows:

	Target Tier 1 February 16	Proposed Tier 1 March 10
President	$ 130,704	$  138,142
Academic Affairs	3,091,012	2,905,195
Student Services	350,586	361,591
Administration & Finance	177,073	180,115
Institutional Advancement	179,588	189,530
Information Technology	239,008	295,174
Other	793,149	893,149
Total	$4,921,120	$4,962,896

Trustee Ellen Robinson commended everyone involved for their hard, “incredibly diligent” work in establishing the three tiers.

To read more about the budget reductions announced at the town hall meeting, go to http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/budget_twv6021609.shtml.