Luzerne County Community College trustees set budget, raise tuition
Jun. 27—NANTICOKE — The Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees approved the 2023-24 budget at Tuesday's regular meeting that increased tuition by $5 per credit, up by 3.57%.
Numbers are broken down for five budgets: Operating, bookstore, food service, student activities, and capital. Combined, the spending is projected at $47.2 million. The operating budget is by far the biggest piece of that, at just under $43 million. Capital funds are a distant second at a little under $3.1 million.
An item explaining the budget in the agenda noted that salary and benefits costs, which are 77% of total expenses — down 7% from fiscal year 2019 — and that college is not replacing 57.5% of vacancies for the coming fiscal year.
Along with tuition increase, the $40 online fee will be removed for online course, but technology fees will increase by $10, to offset a "significant increase" in tech expenses and to maintain money to pay for the student learning management system.
Faculty members touted the addition of two new certificate of specialty programs. One is for advanced manufacturing with Brandon Babbish as department chair and Ed Kuehner as coordinator. The other is for game art and design with Doug Martin as department chair and Kevin Jones as coordinator.
Students who complete the advance manufacturing program will be able to "install, troubleshoot, repair and maintain the various systems in manufacturing/production facilities," according to the program description. Technologies covered include plumbing, heating/air conditioning, electrical systems, instrumentation and welding.
The game art design program will provide "introductory skills of game design concepts and visual storytelling," and students completing the requirements for certification will be prepared to transfer to a four-year institution for careers in game art.
The board also approved the deletion of the AAS court reporting program, which currently has one student and had only five inquiries in the past year.
The board also:
—Approved the purchase of furniture for the main campus and the Hazleton Center from lowest responsible bidders Phillips Supply Company and Educational Furniture LLC, as well as direct purchases for items which had no bids submitted from Nova Solutions and DISPLAYS2GO. Total cost of all purchases is $42,476.
—Awarded bids for the computer and technology hardware replacement plan totalling $337,633. The biggest part of the plan is Dell/HP computers from CDW Government for $175,052. Other purchases include Apple computers from CDW Government, networking hardware from IntegraONE, CCTV equipment from ConvergeOne, and miscellaneous technology hardware from ConvergeOne, B&H Photo, and CDW government.
—Awarded the bid for kitchen equipment to lowest responsible bidder Rice's Food Equipment and Consulting, Inc., at a cost of $52,985. Most of that is for equipment replacement in the Trailblazer Cafe, with some in the Educational Conference Center kitchen.
—Awarded a contract for repair work on the Public Safety Training Institute Truck Driving course to M&J Excavation, Inc, for a total project cost of $92,817.
—Elected Attorney Catherine O'Donnell as board chair for 2023-24.
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Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish
