Budget Development for FY 2013 & Vex Robotics Competition

Two more weeks until spring break!  This week-long pause at the middle of spring semester is eagerly awaited by both students and faculty members.  It gives the opportunity to catch up and refresh before the quick run to the end of the semester.  This week, I want to share the many factors that are considered as we develop the budget for the next fiscal year.

• Budget Development for FY 2013
• Vex Robotics Competition

Budget Development for FY 2013

Throughout the State of Minnesota, all state agencies are awaiting the February budget forecast.  In late November the forecast was more favorable than expected with an almost $1 billion surplus projected.  The February forecast will reveal if that positive news is still holding and will be the basis for legislative budget-setting.

The best scenario Northland is anticipating is a flat state allocation from the current fiscal year into the next fiscal year.  The current budget is built on about 40% of its revenue coming from the allocation and about 60% of its revenue coming from tuition.  Consequently, our level of enrollment is very important to projecting total college revenue and, hence the budget for the next year.

At the last Cabinet meeting, we dug deep into the factors that might affect next year’s enrollment.  While current enrollment appears to be less than last year’s, we expect an additional 150 full-year equivalents (FYE) from online classes and an additional 20 FYE from Farm Business Management.  This will bring the current year’s enrollment to the same level as last year’s.

We have experienced a decline in the number of students enrolled in the Licensed Practical Nursing program.  This is due to the adoption of more rigorous pre-enrollment requirements that, we believe, will lead to higher levels of success.  Additionally, in the past three years, we have had significant enrollments of students coming from the Twin Cities because nursing programs there were filled to capacity.  As capacity in metro nursing programs has grown, more of these students are staying there.  With a decrease in nursing enrollments, we have had some decrease in enrollment in liberal arts disciplines, because they are prerequisites or co-requisites for nursing.

On the other hand, we have seen growing enrollments in several of our other technical programs.  Architecture Technology, Aviation Maintenance Technology, and Law Enforcement have experienced steady growth over the past few years.  The Commercial Vehicle Operator program is full and an additional section will likely be offered this coming summer.

Other factors that might affect next year’s enrollment include state-wide conversations that are occurring related to developmental education and student success.  Several Northland faculty members participated in meetings in St. Paul last week.  If we can be more successful in helping students stay in college and complete certificates, diplomas, and degrees, we will retain higher enrollment.

The Northwest Private Industry Council was recently awarded an $800,000 grant for retraining American Crystal Sugar employees.  Because of our location, we may see many of these employees at our campuses.  Another factor is the population decline that continues in many northwest Minnesota and northeast North Dakota communities.  Our work with regional high schools in online opportunities, scholarship opportunities, and technical program articulations may yield higher numbers of these students choosing Northland.  And, special events such as next week’s VEX Robotics Competition, Honors Band and Honors Choir, and athletics create interest in the college.

Employees have had the opportunity over the past few weeks to submit their budgetary needs through an online budget submission process.  In the next couple of weeks, heads of various functional areas of the college will prioritize these submissions for equipment, supplies, new personnel, and new programs and bring them to Cabinet budget deliberations.  By the end of the academic year, Northland’s budget should be set for the coming year.

Vex Robotics Competition

If you have the time, I would strongly encourage you to stop by the gym at the Thief River Falls campus on Friday, February 24.  The first VEX Robotics Competition qualifying event held in Minnesota will be occurring.  One hundred-twenty high school students representing 20 school teams in northern Minnesota will demonstrate the performance of robotic vehicles they have designed during the past several months.  The competition will occur on 12’ by 12’ mats that are equipped with a variety of obstacles and challenges that the vehicles must maneuver around or move.  The team that wins this competition will participate in the World Championship in Anaheim, CA.

This competition is possible because of Northland faculty member Andrew Dahlen, who teaches electronics technology.  He was willing to take on this additional responsibility and has worked with 360° Center for Applied Engineering and Manufacturing – a consortium of MnSCU institutions.  360° provided the seed money last year to launch eight teams in northern Minnesota.  Because that experience was so positive, 360° has invested more into growing the competition.  Andrew has shepherded the process, giving northern teams the opportunity to gather at Northland throughout the year to test their design ideas on a field resembling the competition arena.  Digi-Key Corporation is also a significant partner, supporting the competitions through donations of employee time and lunch for competitors and officials.

The purpose of the VEX Robotics Competition is, according to Andrew Dahlen, “to expose students to the world of Electronics Technology, and this event is a great way to reach out to high school students.”

The competition is open to the public and will run from 10 am to 4:30 pm.

Upcoming College Events

• Wed. Feb 22:  Women’s Basketball vs. Itasca CC at 6 pm, Men’s Basketball vs. Itasca CC at8 pm –TRF Campus
• Fri. Feb. 24: VEX Robotics Competition – TRF Campus
• Tues. Feb. 28: Nat’l Eating Disorders Week DVD and Discussion TRF Rm 625 – Pre-registration required
• Mon., Mar. 5– Fri., Mar.9 – Spring Break

My schedule for this week:

Mon., Feb. 20 – Presidents’ Day Holiday

Tues., Feb. 21 – TRF

Wed., Feb. 22 – EGF – State of the City Address in Grand Forks

Thurs., Feb. 23 – TRF (am), EGF (pm) – NV360 Steering Committee meeting

Fri., Feb. 24  – TRF – Vex Robotics Competition, NW Alliance meeting

Have a wonderful week.