WorWic aims to boost enrollment, retain all staff depsite state budget cuts
MARYLAND – From a proposed 1.5 million dollar cut- down to one million.
That’s the financial reality for WorWic Community College, after an effort from lawmakers on the eastern shore to scale back those cuts.
“When we were cut at the 26.5%, we were concerned about what that was going to look like for all of the community colleges in the state of Maryland,” said WorWic President Dr. Deborah Casey.
She says now the goal is to make students and staff feel that cut as little as possible.
“I want to retain all employees that I currently have if our budget allows us to do so, I hope regardless to increase enrollment of our students at WorWic Community College. My vision is that we will get to a place where we have 10,000 students on this campus and it’s going to take everyone’s effort to make that happen,” Dr. Casey said.
That means more than just the state, with their budget also coming from Wicomico and Worcester County.
Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano says, they know the value the school brings and intend to fully fund the school.
“WorWic came to us and proposed about $6.9 million, which was only about 400,000 more than last year. And we decided to completely, fully fund it,” Giordano said.
She says the school represents a great return on investment from county dollars, with programs that help with workforce development, child care, and more.
Worcester County Council President Chip Bertino tells 47ABC that while the county has not yet finalized its budget plans, they expect to fully fund the school at their requested level.
WorWic says until the numbers are finalized in June, they can’t say exactly where those cuts will land.
“We might have to shift some of the positions or we might have to freeze them depending on where we end up, so I don’t I can’t articulate yet until I know what the final dollar amount is going to be,” Dr. Casey said, adding that student experience and performance remains a top priority.
“We’re going to still make sure that we’re meeting the mission of serving our local communities. We were continuing to have conversations about how we still serve with the highest level of academic excellence in the classroom, as well as our quality support services outside of the classroom,” Dr. Casey said.
WorWic also confirmed to 47ABC that dual enrollment for high school students will not be affected by the funding cuts, as they remain fully subsidized as part of the Maryland Blueprint for Education Reform.
The finalized review of the school’s budget is expected in mid-June.
