On Tuesday, June 28, the Broward College District Board of Trustees passed the budget entitled, Unwavering Commitment: Investing in Our Students, Our People, Our Future (“Unwavering Commitment”). The 2022-2023 budget further builds on the previous year’s commitment to making investments toward enhancing the student experience and post-completion outcomes, recognizing the work of Broward College colleagues, all while remaining laser-focused on the future. The recommendations and approval of this year’s budget were made using the priority-based funding model implemented under the leadership of President Gregory Adam Haile, J.D. The model prioritizes the College’s efforts on investments that yield the most significant impact on students, the College, the taxpayer, and the community.
This budget prioritizes funding toward core College functions, as well as complementary functions or programs shown to add value to the College and lead to the greatest return for students. The $196.3 million budget seeks to balance internal and external influences such as rising inflation, the lagging labor participation rate, and the nationwide decrease in enrollment. The budget includes $171 million in recurring expenses, which is a slight decrease from last year. This is due to improved organizational efficiencies, which allowed the College to realize an $8 million reduction in recurring expenses while improving our focus on core competencies. There is also $25.3 million in non-recurring expenses to support, among other things, paid IT internships, summer Dual Enrollment instructional materials, and employee engagement and training.
Designed to integrate aspects of the College’s next strategic plan, Unwavering Commitment focuses on creating the best post-secondary education experience to ensure student success. Critical to the area of Investing in Our Students, is continued student support programs such as peer mentoring, the Seahawk Marketplace food pantries, and the Summer Seahawk Academy.
The Unwavering Commitment also allocates funding to support faculty and staff under the category of Investing in Our People. Along with training and meaningful employee engagement opportunities, the College has set aside $5.15 million for a one-time retention payment for employees to help relieve the challenges they may face due to inflation and reward their work. Under the category of Investing in Our Future, the College has allocated funding for priority areas under the next strategic plan, which is focused on guaranteeing access to higher education, empowering student development, and creating impactful career development. There are also capital improvement projects, including updates to critical infrastructure, renovations to classrooms and restrooms, maintenance of parkways and roadways, and installation of college-wide signage.
“This budget exemplifies the diligence of our colleagues and the leadership of our board to ensure a chiseled focus on our most critical priorities,” said President Haile. “We continue to reduce expenses while growing the impact on our students. Even more, this budget continues to keep the import of my colleagues and our future top mind.”
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