Mohawk Valley Community College’s Board of Trustees has passed a budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year beginning Sept. 1. The budget includes a freeze on tuition and student fees and no layoffs. 

The 2020-2021 budget, $50,358,137, in light of projected enrollment declines, a reduction in state aid due to COVID-19, and with no increased aid from Oneida County, is 1.9% less than the College’s 2019-2020 budget. This gap was closed through a combination of reductions in department operating budgets, programming, and cutting personnel vacancies. The College also was able to identify and allocate one-time funds from the MVCC Foundation, Auxiliary Services Corp., and Fund Balance to further close the gap.

“Despite pressures to help fuel the economic resurgence of the region and reimagine our student success agenda while managing declining enrollments and shrinking financial resources, MVCC has chosen a mindset of abundance and a philosophy of ‘preserving the core and stimulating progress,’” said MVCC President Randall J. VanWagoner, Ph.D. “While this challenge has tested us in an unprecedented way, I’m confident that we have the flexibility, creativity, and focus necessary to navigate it.”  

Over the past six years, MVCC has:

• Had 69 retirements (6 more this year)
• Deleted 71 vacancies (21 more this year)
• Had 27 full-time layoffs (no additional at this point)
• Deleted 27 academic programs (no additional at this point)
• Added 14 new full-time positions and (1 more this year)
• Added 5 new academic programs (no more this year).

MVCC received its CARES Act grant funding allocation of $2,184,405, and plans to later apply it to the fund balance, if permitted to do so, in anticipation of an additional 20-50% mid-year cut to the College’s base state aid.