SUNY Rockland Community College OKs more layoffs; president hit with 'no confidence' vote

SUFFERN — More SUNY Rockland Community College staff face layoffs, more RCC employees are due to be hit with furloughs and tuition is set to increase next academic year after the college's Board of Trustees approved another round of cost-cutting. Meanwhile, key college groups issued a "no-confidence" statement in the new college president and his leadership.

Some of the 19 positions being eliminated through a new "retrenchment plan" are currently open or are filled by people ready to retire, college officials said. Still, union leaders estimated about nine employees will be losing their jobs.

The college has reported a "structural deficit" of around $3.6 million. The cuts are designed to trim the $67 million 2024-2025 budget estimate by $8 million.

The measures were approved Monday night by the college's Board of Trustees as part of a plan to demonstrate that the college is taking steps to tame its deficit. The plan, trustees said, was needed to signal to SUNY and Rockland County that it was responding to its deficit. The college has sought additional financial support from both.

Phase 2 of Rockland Community College cuts

This was Phase 2 of cuts suggested by SUNY Rockland Community College President Lester Edgardo Sandres Rápalo.

RCC trustees had already approved furloughs for faculty and staff and O.K.'d a handful of layoffs in December 2023.

Rapalo confirmed to The Journal News and lohud in January that more layoffs were bound to come.

RCC: College braces for faculty layoffs, president confirms

RCC's Finance & Administration Vice President Victor Anaya told the college's Board of Trustees in January that cash-flow problems were so severe, he had to shift bills around so he could cover payroll.

Anaya on Monday said while SUNY advanced the college $7 million in future aid, the county had not provided extra revenue.

New York's two-year colleges, which put their focus on associate's degrees, workforce development and certification programs, are supposed to derive a third of their funding from SUNY, a third from their home county and a third from student tuition. The state's portion has lagged and at RCC and many other campuses, tuition has become a bigger slice of the funding pie.

Trustee: 'We wish we didn't have to do anything'

Meanwhile, trustees said they hoped they would be able to remedy the planned cuts in their 2024-2025 budget planning.

"We have to, have to preserve this institution," Trustee Ileana Eckert said during Monday's board meeting. "We wish we didn't have to do anything."

The board backed tuition increases of $15 per credit for the 2024-2025 academic year, from $228 per credit, or $5,472 per year, for the residential rate to $243, that's expected to hike tuition to $5,832 for a full-time student.

Student enrollment for fall 2023 was estimated at 5,898.

Community colleges across the state have demanded increased funding from SUNY.

RCC Faculty Senate passes 'no confidence' resolution

The RCC Faculty Senate announced at Monday's meeting that it had unanimously passed a "no confidence" resolution in Rápalo and the senior administration of the college.

The Student Government Association and Administrative Staff Assembly Executive Board also signed onto the "no-confidence" statement. So did the Rockland Community College Federation of Teachers.

Professor Allison Frank, a faculty member for 32 years, said she had worked at the college through eight presidents. The current administration, she said, "has poisoned the trust and camaraderie" on campus.

Faculty Senate President Eric Magaram cited inaccurate information provided by Rápalo, including enrollment numbers, in meetings and to the media.

During Monday's meeting, Magaram said Rápalo had told his group on Nov. 15, 2023, that there would be no furloughs. He called it "cruel" that there was a lack of warning to faculty that they wouldn't be hired back.

The "no confidence" statement also references a lack of leadership skills and professionalism by senior administration, and some plain bad decisions. That included removing a student adviser from the college's popular and well-regarded school of nursing, health and wellness during a key advisement period, and removing the director of the testing center, who was the only certified proctor on campus. The latter, the no-confidence resolution stated, "affected students (both on and off campus) and their ability to take necessary exams."

Some cuts scrapped, for now

The Board of Trustees tabled a planned “Student Service/Academic Support Fee” of $150 for full-time students, $10 for part-time students.

Trustee Joe Rand said the board didn't have enough time or information to consider the fee nor compare it to what other community colleges charge. It was expected to bring in another $1 million in revenue.

"I would like not to put our imprimatur on this until we have time to review," Rand said.

The college had also planned to transfer its non-credit English Skills Academy program to the Workforce Division and raise the students' fees by 500%.

Rand moved to table the changes to the English Skills Academy. He said the board had not been told that there was opposition to the plan. The board agreed.

The move came after Julie Brown, director of the English Skills Academy, told trustees Monday night that the changes would kill the academy and derail new immigrants' efforts to prepare for college. As she spoke at the podium, about a dozen students stood with her.

In a county that's 21% foreign born, Brown told the trustees, she said it was wrong to take away this key pathway to college readiness for students who need more English support.

The student fee for English language learners, most of whom are recent immigrants, would have gone from $100 to $600.

"We are a pipeline to the college," Brown said after the meeting. "The college needs to support this program."

Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy for lohud.com and the USA Today Network New York. Email her at ncutler@lohud.com; follow her on Twitter (X), Instagram and Threads at @nancyrockland.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: SUNY Rockland Community College hit with more layoffs amid deficit