State Tech looking at budget issues

LINN - Tuition may be going up slightly for State Technical College of Missouri students after the Board of Regents voted Friday to raise tuition $1.50 per credit hour - then put that increase on a temporary hold.

The board action authorized school administrators to put the tuition increases into effect without further board action if it's determined that's the best course of action for the administration.

"I'd say as soon as possible," Regents President John Klebba told the News Tribune. "Obviously, it will be effective as of the fall semester - the end of August and the first part of September.

"It's important obviously to give people as much notice as possible."

Unless economic conditions improve before the end of the business year on June 30, regents were told Friday that State Tech likely will have to dip into its reserve funds for about $200,000 to $300,000.

New President Shawn Strong said the tight financial situation is "an opportunity to evaluate our program mix - what are the needs of the industry (and) what are the opportunities to grow?"

Strong added: "One weakness of State Tech is our branding, our notoriety and how well we're known around the state and, frankly, the Midwest.

"We have such high quality programs that we should be able to recruit from anywhere in the Midwest - and we're doing some of that. But there's a lot of room for growth."

Before coming to State Tech last summer - to succeed longtime President Don Claycomb who retired July 1 - Strong was dean of Business Technology and Communication at Minnesota's Bemidji State University/Northwest Technical College, a regional comprehensive, master's degree institution with about 6,500 students.

Before Minnesota, Strong worked 14 years at Missouri State University, Springfield, including nine years as head of the Technology and Construction Management department. He also served as head of MSU's Fashion and Interior Design department.

"I said when I took this job it was the best one in the country - and I still believe that," Strong told the News Tribune on Friday.

As he and his staff deal with the latest financial situation, Strong said: "Unless there's new state funding, there's just not a lot of places that we can cut.

"We're lean. You can kill programs, but frankly, almost all of our programs are profitable.

"So if you cut programs, you really haven't done anything to solve the problem."

Among the financial headaches discussed Friday was Gov. Eric Greitens' announcement last Monday the state's budget conditions required him to withhold money from higher education institutions - including $430,000 from State Tech's core budget.

Klebba said: "Obviously another contributing factor is that we're about 5 percent down on our tuition revenues.

"If the core cuts actually transfer over to subsequent years, that's (also) a real concern."

While colleges can get some funding from other sources, he said it's not easy to "come up with some core funding that's not going to come from the state - and where does that money going to come from? And you hate to put it all on the backs of students in the form of tuition increases."

Still, Klebba noted, the sources of extra revenue are limited.

State Tech ended its 2015-16 business year last June with a slight operating surplus, Klebba noted. "Last year was a good year; it's this year that we're dealing with, with these withholdings, that's going to cause us some heartburn."

State Tech's business operations got a clean report in an audit submitted Friday by Jefferson City-based Evers & Company CPAs.

"That's always good news. I love to see a 'clean' audit," said Klebba, who is president of Linn-based Legends Bank.