SPC enrollment outpaces budget

With enrollment up 17 percent this year and the state's community college budget up 1.8 percent, something has to give. But what?

By ADRIENNE P. SAMUELS
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 22, 2003

St. Petersburg College president Carl Kuttler says the school is faced with tough choices: cut spending, students or classes.

SPC enrollment is up 17 percent this year; Gov. Jeb Bush's $1.4-billion community college budget unveiled Tuesday is 1.8 percent more than last year's budget.

Though limiting the number of students is not Kuttler's first choice, he fears there might not be enough space for the students who sign up.

"If I were a parent or a student next year, I'd apply early and register as early as possible," Kuttler said. "It's going to be first-come, first-served. . . . We're not going to be adding a lot of new anything."

Community colleges throughout the state are seeing student population increases between 8 and 20 percent, Kuttler said. Hillsborough Community College enrollment is up 5 percent, said spokesman John Huerta.

"We have had an increase on average of 10 percent a year," Huerta said. "When the economy flattens or declines, our enrollment goes up."

HCC will likely raise student fees, he said.

Bush's budget includes a 7 percent tuition increase, but does not take into account an enrollment trend spurred by the economy.

Students will be left out in the cold, said SPC trustee Ken Burke.

"If they don't fund us properly, they'll in essence be capping enrollment," Burke said.

Burke joins fellow trustees Cecil Keene and Susan Jones in Tallahassee today to lobby Senate president Jim King and the Pinellas County legislative delegation on the college's behalf. Chicken satay, oysters and other finger foods are on the menu at SPC's fete for legislators.

"We're going in with more specific requests," said Sallie Parks, SPC's lobbyist.

SPC's trustees also discussed bowing out of administering a portion of the county's controversial WorkNet program because, they say, it does not fit with the college's goals.

"No doubt we've turned the program around," Jones said. "(But) is it consistent with our mission to continue it?"

SPC runs WorkNet's One-Stop centers, where people come in for job training, job placement or to learn about welfare benefits. The college took on the WorkNet centers at the county's request, Kuttler said. It was later found that the county should have awarded the contract based on competitive bids.

Other WorkNet problems include the controversial award of a contract to a politically connected church, bookkeeping problems, and a county report showing pay disparities between black and white employees.

Given its history, trustees question the value of continuing the program.

"I have real mixed emotions," said trustee W. Richard Johnston. "I don't want us to sink ourselves just because we feel obligated to help the county."

The board will likely vote on whether to continue their WorkNet contract at their February meeting.

-- Adrienne Samuels can be reached at 445-4157 or samuels@sptimes.com .

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