Linn-Benton Community College President Lisa Avery announced March 31 that the college will be enacting a budget plan that involves eliminating five currently filled positions as LB faces a $3.5 million deficit entering the upcoming biennium.
The plan, Avery stated in an email to college staff, involves cutting five currently filled positions and six currently vacant positions. The plan also involves “transitioning community education to a cost-recovery program and switching some technologies to less expensive or free alternatives.” Avery wrote the reduction will save $2.1 million, adding that the remaining $1.4 million deficit would be addressed “later this spring.”
LBCC stated in a news release that it will handle the remaining reductions “through operational efficiencies, prioritized spending on core instructional needs, and additional cost-saving measures that will be implemented throughout the coming year.”
Most staffing changes will go into effect by June 30, 2025, the school announced. Earlier this month, the LBCC Board of Education approved a 4% increase in tuition and fees.
Avery noted in her email that “our core instructional programs remain intact, although some support services will be restructured or reduced.”
In the 2022-23 school year, Linn-Benton made substantial cuts, including eliminating the computer science and criminal justice programs, as well as the library faculty positions on the Albany campus.
In November of 2024, the estimated budget deficit was $3.3 million. But staff were notified in January 2025 that the college’s projected funding from the state was less than previously anticipated. Governor Tina Kotek’s recommended budget for the 2025-27 biennium included $870 million for Oregon’s Community College Support Fund – instead, updated numbers showed that $854 million would be distributed among the state’s community colleges.
The initial $870 million amount was a 9% increase from the previous biennium, but the Oregon Community College Association stated at the time that it was “still about $50 million short of what colleges say they need to maintain current services.” Instead, that number dropped even lower.
Avery noted that the college-wide budget task force created to tackle the deficit included “representatives from each Association on campus.”
“These decisions were made after careful consideration of how to minimize direct impact on our students while addressing our financial responsibilities,” she said in a school news release. “While these reductions are challenging, we’ve approached them purposefully, ensuring that student support and educational quality remain our top priorities.
“I have been in constant contact with our state legislative delegation, expressing the valuable role of community colleges in our economy. We are hopeful that the state will approve adequate funding for community colleges in the next biennium and that the new federal administration will allocate funds to help Oregon students obtain the skills they need to become workforce-ready.”
Avery stated that LBCC’s human resources has contacted every employee impacted by the cuts, including discussion of potential “reassignment opportunities” for those eligible. One faculty member whose position was cut has accepted a full-time role elsewhere in the school.
