Although the Richmond Community College board of trustees know the current recession will seriously impact next year’s budget, they are not letting it keep them from planning for the future and searching for alternative funding sources.

During this week's meeting, RCC President Dr. Sharon Morrissey laid out the current state deficit and how NC Governor Beverly Purdue’s budget package will affect RCC employees and students.

The current restrictions on hiring will remain, continuing education tuition will increase, and employees will lose longevity pay and face higher health care premiums.

“So far, community colleges are faring well with both Purdue’s and the Senate’s budget proposals compared to other educational institutions, but then, we’re the lowest funded. Truthfully, they can’t cut us much more. It’s hard to face these cuts when the state is looking to us to retrain our workforce,” she said.

A renovation to the Forte Building to create an industrial training facility and to maximize resources in the industrial and engineering instructional areas is the number one construction priority for RCC. The Board approved a grant application for the renovations to be considered by the local steering committee for the Golden LEAF Community Assistance Initiative for funding.

Trustee Glenn Sumpter said the number one outcome of the grant and the facility is to enhance industrial recruiting efforts by providing an educated workforce that will earn higher salaries and increase County tax receipts.

The board approved a strategic plan for the College that will carry through to 2016. A revised mission statement and goals are supported by activities that will fulfill the college’s mission of providing workforce training and retraining, life-long educational opportunities, cultural enrichment, support of economic development, and enhancement of the quality of life in Richmond and Scotland Counties.

To better serve students and to add much needed classroom space to the campus, the Board approved the initial design of a Student Services Center. A presentation by Shannon Rydell with Little Diversified Architectural Consulting of Charlotte shows a facility that will combine all services needed by students during the application and registration process into one facility. Approving the design at this point in time allows the College to put the project to bid immediately when funds become available in the future.

In other action, the board approved the following:

— An Identity Theft Prevention Policy in compliance with federal law to create a process for training, procedures, and practices to mitigate the risk of identity theft.

— Memorandums of Understanding between the College and the RCC Foundation in compliance with requirements of the Internal Revenue Service and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools regarding established roles and limitations of the Foundation and privacy rights of donors.

—To deed land at the Richmond County Industrial Park back to the Richmond County Commission since renovations to the existing John E. Forte Building on campus have proven to be a better usage of resources to develop an industrial training center for the county.

—A budget request with no increases for Fiscal Year 2009- 2010 to the Richmond County commissioners.

— A budget request to the Scotland County commissioners with projected increases based upon occupancy of the F. Diane Honeycutt Center on the RCC Scotland County Campus.