Does anyone know anything more about the SCCC campus in Albany? Are Schenectady taxpayers footing the bill? I know that the board of directors at the college are all politicians and the president is kept on a tight leash so I am a bit skeptical. I worry because I would rather see money alleviate the high drop out rate community colleges are facing. I go to many music events there and sometimes eat in their restaurant. SCCC is a good place but the Albany campus doesn't help this county or its students.
I've been trying to figure this one out myself. Higher education has become a big ripoff on the level of mortgages, that's been the case for ages, and it is getting worse, not better. Now the 'cheap' alternative to the big schools is where the money is at. These people behind it are smart, so it's hard to see what they are up to, but they are up to something. Nobody ever makes a connection. No money for roads, the property owners in this state are getting killed paying for local schools, and somehow, all these "cash-strapped", "broke" cities are making these lavish outlays. Nobody questions it because it is for "a good cause". I know of a lot of young people who get pushed into college, who really have no business being in college, because some people are just not that studious, and college generally involves study. The president got involved in the push himself, if you don't have a job it is your fault because you don't have the right degree, remember he claims that in the future, everyone will have more than a high school diploma? Why? So you can have all these programs to push people into something they aren't suited for, at a high cost to somebody, and the end result is a low-wage, part-time job anyhow? If anyone doubts schools are the new ripoff, think about Cuomo's new plan for tax-free zones around certain universities.
ALBANY — Schenectady County Community College will launch a satellite location in downtown Albany in a new partnership between the college and Albany County.
SCCC will lease 10,000 square feet on the second floor of the county's 112 State St. headquarters, County Executive Dan McCoy announced Thursday, a move expected to bring 1,000 students to downtown beginning this fall.
McCoy said the agreement will be a win for higher education in Albany, which does not have its own community college, and be a boon to the economic development of downtown.
"It's not just about getting the students downtown. It's about getting Albany on the map," McCoy said. "This is going to be what our economy needs."
The deal also comes after an announcement this week that SCCC is expecting its enrollment to increase by 1.5 percent in the upcoming spring semester, thanks to growing numbers of both full- and part-time students attending the two-year school. The Albany satellite, college officials said, will be modeled after SCCC's Center City satellite in downtown Schenectady, which opened in September 2011.
"This is the first step towards creating a formal extension center in Albany," SCCC President Quintin Bullock said.
Presently, the state requires counties to pay so-called "chargebacks" to colleges for county residents who attend schools outside their county of residence. Hudson Valley Community College in Troy has long been the most popular choice for Albany County residents, although it costs the county less per student when students choose to attend SCCC.
McCoy expects the new SCCC satellite site will save the county money as more students choose to attend SCCC.
"It's a lot cheaper," McCoy said, referring to the county's cost for students who attend SCCC vs. HVCC.
The county has feuded with HVCC over the cost of chargebacks. In 2011 HVCC represented about 90 percent of Albany's college tuition payment obligations. According to 2013 executive county budget, payments to HVCC were $8,733,814 in 2011 of the total $9,851,485 chargeback payments, while payments to SCCC in 2011 were just $273,382.
According to Albany County, in the 2012-13 school year chargebacks at HVCC for each full-time equivalent student taking 15 credits are $1,370 each semester. SCCC's chargeback rate is $150, though that number is extremely low in part due to a previous year's overcharge. Going forward, though, the county still expects SCCC's rate will be about $1,000 cheaper than HVCC.
In his 2013 spending plan, McCoy noted that the high-cost of chargebacks at HVCC would force the county to "pursue alternative low-cost methods for providing higher education opportunities to the people of Albany County." Chargeback rates are determined by a statewide formula influenced by a variety of factors, such as operating costs at a particular institution. Rates might increase, for example, as operational costs at a college also increase.
The news also comes after HVCC's announcement last week that 18 part-time and full-time jobs will be cut at the school with hours reduced for still more due to a decline in enrollment. HVCC's enrollment is now 13,250, down from a peak of 14,011 in fall 2010.
HVCC officials said they were not concerned about the county's partnership with SCCC, nor with their school's declining enrollment.
"We've experienced tremendous growth over the past decade. It's natural that there's a plateau," said HVCC spokesman Dennis Kennedy, who emphasized that HVCC has its own Albany Extension Center on Central Avenue.
"We're not pitting ourself against SCCC," he said.
Though a lease has not been finalized, school officials said they anticipate paying $12 a square foot, or about $120,000 a year, to lease the space. Plans include six classrooms as well as administrative offices. SCCC officials said the location will offer general studies courses.
Those who attend classes in Albany will be able to park their cars in a garage on the west side of the Times Union Center. Also, a CDTA ridership program will provide free bus transportation from outside the county building to SCCC's main campus.
"I'm anticipating that this is a convenience that will bring many students to downtown Albany," McCoy said.
Legislators Rethink Community College Chargebacks Rockland legislators discuss rescinding 2012 motion that shifted community college chargebacks from the county to the towns.
Posted by Robin Traum (Editor) , February 15, 2013 at 03:49 AM patch 49 Comments Recommend
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Rockland County legislators reconsidered their 2012 action that transferred the county’s responsibility for community college chargebacks to the towns. The discussion during Wednesday’s Budget & Finance Committee meeting came after Rockland Community College President (RCC) Dr. Cliff Wood confirmed that RCC kept the $2.7 million in revenue from chargebacks it received from out-of-county students attending the Suffern-based college while the county had been paying the $1.7 million in chargeback fees for Rockland residents going to other community colleges.
Wood agreed with Legislator Ilan Schoenberger’s description that the county payment of tuition chargebacks was comparable to a subsidy for the college. Schoenberger proposed that the legislature should rescind the $1.7 million in chargebacks it shifted to the towns and should push the state to pay its 40 percent share of the college’s costs, not the 25 percent it is currently funding. He said he had changed his position on the issue.
I think we should deal with this issue,” said Schoenberger. “We should resolve this.”
Committee Chair Michael Grant opposed putting the proposed resolution before the committee because he had received it Wednesday morning and it did not include a funding mechanism. The resolution did not state where the funds would come from to pay the $1.7 million in chargebacks.
Town of Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said he spoke on behalf of the other four town supervisors and asked the committee to reconsider and vote on the resolution to repeal the chargebacks.
“They’ve asked me to ask this legislature for an up or down vote on this and either move it to the full legislature or not move it to the full legislature,” said St. Lawrence.
He said Ramapo’s chargebacks amounted to $580,000, however if the coverage of FIT students was limited to two years that number would fall to about $183,000. He expressed a willingness on the part of the town supervisors to work with the county to resolve the chargeback issue.
Wood told the committee that chargebacks paid by the home counties of students represented 16 percent of RCC’s revenue in 2012. He said about 1,600 out-of-county students attend the college and the vast majority of them, 900, hail from Orange County.
The committee also discussed FIT’s classification as a community college. More than half of RCC’s chargeback costs, a total of $1 million, were attributable to FIT. Wood said FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) is considered a “two plus two institution” that offers associates and bachelor’s degrees as well as master’s degrees. He noted that FIT students are required to earn an Associate’s Degree before pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree.
Schoenberger said he thought the chargeback for FIT should be limited to two years, the same as the other community colleges. He also noted several pending lawsuits in other parts of the state could affect the chargeback situation.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Grabbing revenue Rockland County is desperate to fill its deficit hole and shore up a Moody’s Investors Service credit rating now hovering just above junk status — local officials on Thursday met with credit agencies in an attempt to stave off any further downgrade. The county has also sought state permission to borrow $95 million to pay off its deficit, and pay off the bond over 20 years.
To shore up its finances, the county has issued 102 layoffs, a number that could grow depending on continued negotiations with unions on $17 million in labor givebacks unwisely counted as revenue in the 2012 budget. It has also sought more revenue. The county imposed a 4 percent residential energy tax, similar to but slightly higher than what counties in the region charge; and saddled the towns with election costs, a proposal that was in the county executive’s 2012 budget plan but was pulled by the Legislature. Both are burdensome.
But sticking the towns with the community college “charge-back” fee lacks any kind of logic.
Community colleges, Rockland’s town supervisors point out, are under the purview of their host county — the Rockland Legislature appoints the majority of Rockland Community College’s Board of Trustees and the county provides some funding, as does the state — albeit, for decades, much less than pledged, another problem that needs to be addressed. As Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart told The Journal News, “College education is not in the charter or the mission of town government. We run summer camps. We don’t do college education.”
Rockland’s five town supervisors have scheduled a press conference today with Carlucci to support the “charge-back” bill, S7152. It lacks matching legislation in the Assembly.
Rockland lawmakers would do well to support fixing the “charge-back” conundrum, rather than just passing the buck.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
The college seemed to take a different direction after the SCCC president made that mistake in the press a couple of years ago when he was looking to get out of dodge and get a new job. The directors there took control and their chairperson seems to be the one in charge. Hopefully her intentions are good but I know some faculty there who are pretty disgruntled about everything.
Operating Chargebacks: A Critical Component in the Funding Partnership for New York’s Community Colleges
The community colleges of the City University of New York (CUNY) and the State University of New York (SUNY) are a vital part of the public higher education system in New York State, educating more than 340,000 students at an affordable price. New York’s community colleges enroll the majority of undergraduate students in both systems (51.8%), ensure open access to high quality postsecondary education and contribute significantly to the development of an educated citizenry and skilled workforce. They offer comprehensive learning opportunities ranging from transfer and career degrees to programs customized to serve specific individual, community, business and economic development needs. Historically, the main focus of the community college was the provision of high quality classroom teaching and student learning. In addition, they have aggressively added services to support their local businesses and industries.
Community colleges are geographically distributed, providing for differentiated missions designed to meet the needs of both traditional and non-traditional students. Student choice is central to the mission of community colleges and the chargeback system ensures that students and New York’s 62 counties all share and contribute to keeping these colleges affordable. It is important to note that 42 counties directly sponsor the community colleges in both systems, incurring the responsibility of operating and maintaining these colleges.
The colleges are supported financially through a three-way partnership: the state, the student, and the local sponsor. Since the earliest days of the SUNY system, which originally included the community colleges of CUNY, colleges have been allowed to charge the home county of a New York State student from outside the sponsorship area the local share of the costs, (the “chargeback”) to fully fund all three legs of the partnership. Over the years, a variety of questions have been raised about the chargeback system.
This report addresses some of the most persistent questions about chargebacks and is submitted pursuant to legislation included in the 2012-13 New York State Enacted Budget, which directed the State University of New York Board of Trustees, in conjunction with the City University of New York Board of Trustees, to examine the laws, regulations and policies regarding charges for non-resident students. (See Appendix A.)
A Brief History of Community College Operating Chargebacks
In 1948, New York State passed legislation that authorized qualifying entities to sponsor a community college. Each community college would have its own board of trustees and would be locally sponsored and locally operated. Their financing was a three-way partnership comprised of the State, the local sponsor and students. From the outset, students were free to attend the community college of their choice – giving them the same freedom of choice as those electing to attend a public four-year college without any additional financial penalty. In 1953, the New York Legislature passed legislation that discontinued six temporary institutions1 and authorized them to become community colleges. For the first time, the Legislature authorized a “chargeback” to be utilized by these six institutions.2 This allowed the newly created community colleges to chargeback to the home counties of non-resident students an allocable portion of the local sponsor’s operating costs. The chargeback concept was embraced by the County Officers Association which asserted that the chargeback provision would be of “great financial assistance to local communities in establishing community colleges and will facilitate the transition of the temporary institutes into such colleges.”3 The legislation also amended Education Law to allow a county, at its discretion, to charge back its associated costs to towns and cities whose residents incur chargebacks by attending a community college outside the home county.4
In 1954 the County Officers Association sponsored legislation, supported by the State University Trustees, which extended the use of chargebacks to all community colleges. This legislation was adopted in 1955. Previously, the Trustees’ 1953 Annual Report had stated that “the charge-back plan introduced an entirely new concept of support for higher education in New York State and that the whole charge-back provision should be extended to the four other community colleges of the State.” A Memorandum to the Governor submitted by SUNY supporting the legislation stated that the purpose and effect of the legislation was “to extend the same charge-back provisions to the other community colleges…,”5 as it was “inequitable to provide for a charge-back in the case of six locally sponsored two-year colleges and to deny the same recourse to other such colleges...”
SHOW ME THE $$ TRAIL
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Chargeback revenues are a critical part of all community college operating budgets, along with student tuition, state aid, and the local sponsor share. Since the establishment of community colleges in 1948, the operating costs have been shared by the students, the state and the local sponsor(s). The three entities have often been referred to as the “Funding Partners”. Since 1948, there have been three distinct funding periods as described below.
The key to understanding the funding partnership is the concept that for each student, there are three funding streams: a state funding share (state aid), student funding share (tuition), and a local funding share based upon the student’s legal residence. For students attending a community college sponsored by the county in which they live, their local share is the sponsor’s contribution. For students living in other counties in New York State, their local share is the chargeback received from their home counties. For students that live outside of New York, the non-resident tuition premium (e.g. the difference between the resident and the non-resident tuition rates of tuition) represents their local share. Sharing the costs of educating every community college student via this three-way funding partnership is the foundation of the community college funding formula.
Students attending a community college outside their home county (or sponsorship area) must obtain a “certificate of residence” in order to qualify for the resident tuition rate and for the home county to pay the chargeback. If the student doesn’t have such a certificate, the college cannot bill the home county, and the student becomes liable for the non-resident tuition rate. Students who are not residents of New York State are charged a premium on tuition to provide their local share.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
That is the problem. These boards of the colleges are political appointments so they are not necessarily education minded. I guess one could look for the $$ Trail in Albany. What is the goal there politically? HVCC is closer to Albany and apples to apples is as good a college as SCCC.
Well I guess they finally did it! The cover of the Gazette today says president Quentin Bullock is leaving for greener pastures. He was smart this time and did his job search in secret from the board of directors. He wants out by the end of the month. I guess all of the antics and games got to him over time. Shame.
"It's not just about getting the students downtown. It's about getting Albany on the map," McCoy said. "This is going to be what our economy needs."
HAHAHAHAHAHA....it's the freaking CAPITAL OF NYS.......
OK, he is not the brightest bulb and this is politics at its worst when the college board of directors chair just wants to see her name in print and reap rewards!!! What a character that one is!
I am worried about the direction of the college from what I hear. The Gazette today did try to paint Dr. Bullock as a job hopper but you have to ask yourself, what was so bad at SCCC that the person started looking for a new job soon after he was hired and that he felt such pressure that he had to search for a job in secret?? I know this may sound far fetched but there may be a racial component to all of this. It is too bad that the "hometown paper" does not investigate any of this and they just take the word of what they are told by the wild board of directors chair person!
That paper participates in propaganda campaigns. A lot of colleges have these cliques and they don't want any outsiders involved. It upsets things when there is somebody who is thinking foremost about education in charge. Schools are about money for the connected ones nowadays, and they will fight to protect their turf. We even saw this phenomenon in our local school system. Looking back, I can see that we had some bright, capable 'outsiders' involved with our schools, who were systematically pushed out to make room for the connected ones to establish an empire. It doesn't sound far fetched to me, what you say, because doesn't it sound crazy that we have a mad terrorist janitor sitting in PRISON collecting $6k a MONTH? It sounds like a script for a lousy B movie, doesn't it? Truth is stranger than fiction.
Logged
I know this may sound far fetched but there may be a racial component to all of this. It is too bad that the "hometown paper" does not investigate any of this and they just take the word of what they are told by the wild board of directors chair person! 
