I am writing to invite your engagement in discussion around our FY16 budget. Over the past two years we have captured budget input via school board work sessions and last year also employed a budget committee made up of community members. For the upcoming budget cycle, we plan to supplement our work sessions with a budget town hall meeting on Wednesday, 3 December 2014 from 6-7:30pm in the MLWGS Auditorium.
As you know, over the past two years we have met fiscal challenges and have even made considerable progress (i.e., maintaining course offerings, meeting retirement mandates, controlling health care costs, providing our first compensation increase in 5 years, and receiving our first local revenue (tuition) increase in 5 years). Although this news is good, we must continue to be mindful that our resources are being used thoughtfully and effectively to advance our mission on behalf of our students.
At the same time, our strategic plan continues to take shape and brings with it an increasing need to make strategic decisions about resources in areas including: student and faculty recruitment/retention, curriculum and instruction, instructional technology, and facility maintenance/improvement.
I am thankful that I can count on the active involvement of the MLWGS community and I hope to see you on 3 December. Jeff
