Copiah-Lincoln Community College President Dr. Ronnie Nettles ispreparing for a heavy round of funding cuts for fiscal year 2011,but the prospect of closing one of the school’s three campuses ordissolving its governing board is not one he is willing toembrace.

Nettles and the other 14 community and junior college leadersstatewide are digesting Gov. Haley Barbour’s budget recommendationsfor the approaching cash-strapped fiscal year, which includedrastic changes for their institutions. The governor is suggestingcontroversial courses of action from eliminating athletic programsto shuttering entire colleges to save $715 million needed by thestate.

“You’re talking about the oldest system in the U.S. It’s beenrecognized nationally as being one of the most efficient systems inthe U.S.,” Nettles said. “I would argue we don’t need to bechanging that, we need to be funding it.”

Nettles pointed out that reducing the number of a communitycollege’s campuses doesn’t reduce its capacity, and reducingcampuses goes against the very mission of the colleges in the firstplace. The whole point of a community college, he said, is toprovide educational opportunities in a local setting.

“Many students enrolled in campuses like ours, they don’t haveother options. They can’t travel 60-80 miles; they’re singleparents; they’ve got jobs,” Nettles said. “That’s why you havecommunity colleges in communities.”

Furthermore, if the 900 students at the Natchez campus or the600 students at the Simpson County campus were forced to attend theWesson campus for class, there would be no classrooms to use. The2,000 students on the Wesson campus are using all the academic anddormitory space available, Nettles said, and no additionalappropriations for construction will be forthcoming.

“If every student on a satellite campus came to Co-Lin, wecouldn’t handle them,” he said.

Eliminating community colleges’ local governing boards wouldkill the very strength of the institutions, said Tommy Sasser,secretary of Co-Lin’s board of trustees.

“The local board is the backbone of the community collegesystem,” the Lincoln County resident said. “By having local membersthere, you have your finger on the pulse of the community. It’sbetter than having a central government somewhere in Jackson.”

Even if a new, central governing board for the state’s communitycolleges was created, Sasser said it still would not be able toaccurately represent the communities that contribute to theinstitutions.

“You’re talking about a five- or six-member board – they’re notgoing to be able to represent all their communities,” he said.”When you put your governance a distance from where it’s going tobe active, they don’t know the needs and desires of those localcommunities.”

And the main thrust for the governor’s proposal – saving money -would not be achieved by eliminating boards of trustees. Sassershared his compensation as a trustee.

“It’s $40 per month, $480 per year. No, he’s not going to saveanything by doing away with those boards,” he said.

Both Sasser and Nettles agreed the state would save moneythrough the governor’s other proposal – cutting community collegefunding by 12 percent, a scenario much more likely than campusclosure. A 12 percent cut to Co-Lin’s funding would result in aloss of more than $1.4 million.

Nettles said the school would consider saving the money by notreplacing retired teachers, hiring freezes, cutting programs and,possibly, tuition increases.

“I think what we would have to evaluate, for us, would be on therevenue side,” he said. “That requires a lot of soul searching. Wedon’t want a tuition increase, but they’re all things we have toconsider as we move forward.”