Del Mar College continues to provide access to excellence for our students and the community despite confirmation the College will lose about 20% of our state funding for each of the next two years. While other Texas colleges are capping enrollment or eliminating developmental instruction to deal with the funding cuts, Del Mar is maintaining our commitment to quality classroom instruction. Workable solutions are emerging as a result of sacrifice and commitment from all units of the College. - in preparation for the economic downturn, the College has provided no salary increases for any employees since 2008,
- the Board of Regents approved a modest increase in student charges for the upcoming academic year,
- non-classroom programs and services are combining job duties and eliminating some positions, and
- with one upcoming retirement, the Executive Team will shrink from six to five members this year while increasing the number of strategic initiatives in our program of work.
Throughout these adjustments, the College is maintaining momentum to meet community educational needs. The Northwest Center served several hundred students last semester and will add GED instructional options next year. This additional facility is the result of a generous donation of space from Corpus Christi Medical Center and renovations funded through the City's Type A Board, at no cost to the College. Work continues on the Fine Arts facilities addition using revenue bond funds pledged in 2008 before the current economic situation emerged. Those funds are restricted for that construction project and couldn't be reallocated... even if the need for additional fine arts instruction space wasn't critical. The College is also managing renovation of an under-utilized hangar at Corpus Christi International Airport to expand instructional space for our booming Aviation Maintenance program. Students from this program have great career opportunities through the Corpus Christi Army Depot and commercial firms in the region. This addition to our instructional space is being financed by public funds, not the College budget. Innovative solutions to our continued growing instructional demand in the face of shrinking resources have become the "new normal" at Del Mar College. DMC Budget Frequently Asked Questions |