Free pizza was a nice touch, but the meat of Tim Sheehan’s
presentation on April 1 at Salt Lake Community College’s Taylorsville Redwood
Campus focused more on what you’d find in a pie chart rather than a round pie with
cheese on top.
“I think that when you start to see the numbers from Vice
President Sheehan, you will agree that this was really a phenomenal year for
higher education in general in terms of priority, but certainly for Salt Lake
Community College,” Interim President Dr. Deneece Huftalin said before
introducing and thanking Sheehan. “I think much of where we’re situated this
year has been because of the way Tim (Sheehan) has been able to build strong
relationships full of integrity on The Hill.”
Sheehan, SLCC vice president over government and community
relations, summed up the 45-day session, in which Utah lawmakers tackled
funding and legislating the business of higher education. Overall, the Utah
Legislature showed a “substantial commitment” to the state’s public colleges
and universities, according to a report handed out to more than 100 people who
gathered in the Student Center Oak Room to hear Sheehan.
SLCC will receive a substantial share ($15 million) of a $50
million Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) 2014-2015 appropriation dubbed
“acute equity.” That money means the cost of funding students’ education at
SLCC will fall even more on the state (59 percent) and less on the student (41
percent), a change of about 7 percent from last year, bringing the ratio closer
to a national norm of about 70 percent (state) to 30 percent (tuition).
“We were really pleased with that,” Sheehan said.
“Ultimately, the things we do here are for the students. Right? That’s what we
do here. … Hopefully we will be able to keep our tuition rates as affordable
for our students as we can possibly make them.”
Students came out the winner with SLCC’s $800,000 share of
$7 million for so-called Mission Based Funding Distinctive Mission, which will
benefit SLCC’s Student Advising Pathway Project. The State Board of Regents also
asked for a three percent increase in compensation for employees in higher
education, but the final appropriation for a bump in pay came in at around 1.25
percent, which was the same for all state employees. Lawmakers also approved a
funding increase for USHE to cover the rising cost of healthcare and
retirement.
“That was maybe the one discouraging part of the session,”
Sheehan said. “We know you’ve felt the pinch. We know there haven’t been large
increases. We will keep asking the Legislature over and over for compensation
for the work that you do.”
Sheehan also handed out information about 19 bills of
particular interest to SLCC that passed in 2014, including several that impact
military veterans in a positive way. Sheehan said that lawmakers frequently
mentioned SLCC’s Veterans Center as how to model other centers on college
campuses.
“Kudos to our veterans folks among others for the work they
do and how they represent us,” Sheehan said.
He ended his presentation by urging everyone to be involved
in the political process, particularly during an election cycle.
“We need your voices,” he said. “Wherever your political
preferences are, it doesn’t matter – We need to be involved. But we certainly
need to be involved in representing and advocating on behalf of higher
education.”
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