CVTC approves $79 million budget for 2007-08

Ran Friday, June 22, 2007

CVTC approves $79 million budget for 2007-08

By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-Telegram staff

The Chippewa Valley Technical College District Board Thursday night approved a $79 million budget for 2007-08, an increase of 5 percent from the past year.
The budget calls for elimination of 27 positions, the addition of four new educational programs and some hard feelings among the board, the college president and the public.
"We operate on a business model," CVTC president Ihlenfeldt said.
Annually the board looks at each position and determines if it can be done in a more effective way, he said.
The major concerns among those at the meeting were laying off employees who have been at the school for many years, losing amenities in the disability services center and health care costs.
"The numbers don’t show the bodies that are being displaced," said Lisa Storms, registration and records assistant at CVTC.
Greg Lampman, who had worked at CVTC for 20 years, is one of the displaced. He said he was promised the opportunity five years ago to be trained in information technology services when upgrades were needed, and when he asked for time off to receive the training he was denied. Now Lampman’s position has been eliminated.
"We continuously change and upgrade," Ihlenfeldt responded.
"We need people with different skills to match the changing technology," Ihlenfeldt said. "They don’t have the skills that we need in various areas … it’s not something that we can train them for overnight."
The $7 million bill for CVTC’s employee health care plan is one of the major expenditures, Ihlenfeldt said.
"As I told the staff: It’s not their fault, it’s not my fault and it’s not the board’s fault," he said. "It’s the product of a broken system."
Another major concern was the hit the Disability Services program is taking.
Tina Oleson uses the Disability Services program.
"I am very angry about these changes," Oleson said.
She was unsure how one person will be able to help her with her test anxiety as well as recruit high school students who need to use the Disability Services for the college.
Joe Hegge, vice president of education said he had no reservations.
"We believe that we can serve those students," Hegge said. "There are some differences about how we are going to do that."