3.10.1 Financial Stability

Compliance           ___  Partial Compliance          ___  Non-Compliance

Narrative:

South Louisiana Community College (SLCC) is committed to maximizing its resources to accomplish the mission of the College. Legislative appropriations and student tuition income consistently provide SLCC with more than adequate resources to accommodate instruction for the student enrollment.  Prudent expenditures and planning ensure fiscal stability and adequate resources for faculty, staff, and students. Additionally, the College is constantly seeking additional revenues through grants and contracts to enhance its fiscal operations and increase enrollment. 

The College budget is established in response to prioritized requests from each College unit with requests tied to the unit goals and objectives. The College’s budget is approved each year by the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) Board of Supervisors September 10, 2008 – FY 2008/2009 (1) p.2-3; October 14, 2009 – FY 2009/2010 (2) p.6; August 11, 2010 – FY 2010/2011 (3) p.5

To facilitate timely decision making and the proper use of its resources, the College employs PeopleSoft Management System, which includes the Office of Human Resources, student administration, and financial modules. The financial module includes the General Ledger, Purchasing, Accounts Payable, and Asset Management. The accounting and business functions are centralized under the supervision of the Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance.  The financial statements of the College are audited by the Louisiana’s Legislative Auditor. The institutional audit (4) and the Annual Financial Reports (5) conclude that the College is fiscally sound and possesses resources to support the scope of its programs at acceptable levels of quality, efficiency, and stability. 
 

Adequate Financial Base
The State of Louisiana provides an adequate financial base for the College to accomplish its mission at a satisfactory level on a continuing basis. This statement is substantiated by findings from an analysis of annual budgets. This analysis indicates that the sources of funding available to the College provide stable and sustaining support for College operations and program administration. The primary sources consist of an annual State appropriation and student tuition and fees.

As depicted in the chart above, SLCC continues to grow in both state appropriations and in student tuition and fees.  SLCC’S budget over the last seven years has increased by an average of 14.5 percent.  The College manages changes in tuition revenues and State Appropriations by requesting input from faculty and staff to establish spending priorities.   In FY 05-06, with the occurrence of the worst natural disaster in the State’s history, SLCC maintained a moderate increase.

SLCC has experienced major changes in unrestricted revenues and expenditures.  In fiscal year 2007, SLCC received an additional $1,612,754 as adjustment to bring community colleges to full formula funding.  In fiscal year 2008, SLCC received $61,085 for pay adjustments.  Also in FY 08, SLCC received $1,935,766 to insure that all higher education institutions received at least 100% of the average funding rates.  This enabled SLCC to hire four additional faculty, two academic support positions, and one security officer.  There was no additional funding for 2009 and 2010.

As a result of SLCC’s commitment to maximizing its resources and adhering to prudent expenditures and planning, the College has helped to ensure fiscal stability and adequate resources by retaining the following funding for future needs:

The funds retained for academic facilities are dedicated to the construction and/or renovation of academic or academic-related facilities.  The Academic Enhancement Funds are restricted expendable funds dedicated to enhancing academic areas.  Student Technology reserves are retained for the purpose of implementing, replacing, improving and expanding technologies to benefit student life and learning.  Funding retained from the auxiliary services can be utilized for any legal purpose at the College’s discretion.

SLCC has two small endowments that total $200,000.  The institution follows the guidelines established by the Louisiana Board of Regents (BoR) and the guidelines that were part of the agreement.  SLCC only spends the interest earned on the endowments.

SLCC computes depreciation by using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the assets.  SLCC does not fund depreciation.

SLCC has not experienced any significant changes in temporary and permanently unrestricted assets over the past four years because the majority of the unrestricted funds are state appropriations and the State requires SLCC to spend the entire balance.

SLCC has highly competent administrators to manage and sustain the institution’s financial stability.  The Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance has 35 years of experience in higher education at public two year colleges as an administrator.  The Financial Manager has 33 years of higher education experience with 7 years in community college.  The Business Manager has 18 years of accounting in private and public industry and 6 years in a community college as a Business Manager.

Supporting Documents:

• SLCC FY 2010 Standard Review Report

• SLCC History of Enrollment