BC3 seeks $9 million for nursing building, other work
Butler County Community College has received “positive signals” that the state will approve the school's application for half of the $18 million needed for a new building for the nursing program and the ongoing construction project on the main campus.
BC3 officials discussed the combined projects with the board of trustees during a meeting held via conference call Wednesday.
“We're very excited ... that we're going to receive official approval to fund half of the south end campus project,” James Hrabosky, vice president of administration and finance, told the board.
The trustees agreed to apply to the State Public School Building Authority's revolving loan program for $3 million to serve as bridge financing until the $9 million in state funding, which has already been applied for, comes through.
The three-year loan has a 1.5% fixed interest rate.
Hrabosky said the school would draw funds from the loan to pay construction bills and estimated that $1 million would be used this year. Interest on the loan would total $35,000 to $40,000, he said.
Currently, the school is using money from its operating budget to pay for the first phase, Hrabosky said. A payment of $439,678 was made to general contractor DiMarco Construction of Clairton, Allegheny County, in August, he said.
The first phase of the project includes construction of a maintenance building, demolition of the existing maintenance building, construction of a connector road from Old Plank Road, and site preparation and utility extensions for the Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building that will house the Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health.
The second phase is construction of the nursing building, which is estimated at $10 million.
Donations totaling $4 million have been received for the building. Donations of $1 million were made by former state Sen. Tim Shaffer, Janice Phillips Larrick of Butler Township and Concordia Lutheran Ministries, and Grove City College donated $500,000. Smaller donations make up the rest of the $4 million.
Concordia's donation is aimed at addressing the shortage of nurses in the area, and Grove City College's donation stemmed from an agreement in which its nursing students will take classes at BC3.
After the meeting, BC3 President Nick Neupauer said the school has received positive indications from officials that the Department of Education will approve the $9 million application.
“There are positive signals that we will be getting that funding by year's end,” Neupauer said.
The $9 million would come in the form of a 20-year bond issue.
Trustees learned that COVID-19 has affected enrollment and the budget.Total credits taken by students in the current fall semester are down 12.3% from fall 2019 and enrollment is down 10.8%, Neupauer said.Dual enrollment and college in high school programs for high school students have not started, but those students will count toward the total enrollment number, he said.Full-time enrollment is down 16.91% from 1,490 in fall 2019 to 1,238 this fall.A 10% decrease in enrollment was projected in the budget, Neupauer said.In the operating budget, tuition from credit courses was $10.4 million at the end of the 2019-20 fiscal year. That amount is $897,428 under budget.Revenue from student fees is down $445,688 and revenue from noncredit tuition is down $297,492.Total revenue of $28.2 million is $1.6 million under budget.The revenue numbers were offset by expenditures of $27 million, which is $2.7 million under budget. Overall, the school generated $1.1 million in revenue.
Neupauer said three students had confirmed cases of COVID-19. One attends the LindenPointe campus in Hermitage, one attends the main campus and the third attends the Cranberry Township campus.Employees and students are required to wear face masks and classroom capacity is limited to 30% to 50%. The theater and Founders Hall are being used for large nursing classes.
The trustees also approved offering early retirement incentives to employees. Those incentives combined with other retirements planned for the end of the semester are projected to save the school $400,000 to $450,000 in the 2020-21 fiscal year and $700,000 to $750,000 long term, Neupauer said.Most of the positions vacated won't be filled after the retirements, he added.The savings in 2020-21 are less because of the incentive payments.The incentives offered to administrators and professional and technical employees are four months' salary, compensation for up to 10 vacation days carried over from last year and participation in the retiree medical insurance program.Incentives for secretarial and clerical employees; maintenance, shipping and receiving and custodial employees; and campus police are four months' salary and participation in the retiree medical insurance program.The incentives for all the employees include free tuition for their children.
