Clarendon College’s new president will have to hit the ground running when he arrives next month, facing an immediate cut in state funding and the departure of one of CC’s top administrators.
The governor’s office informed the college December 1 that another 2½ percent will be withheld from the current state appropriation, which amounts to the loss of about $150,000, outgoing CC President Bill Auvenshine said.
“It is extremely unfair for a new president to have to deal with cuts as soon as he takes office,” Auvenshine said, speaking of Dr. Phil Shirley, who will take over on January 1.
“It makes it extremely difficult because the budget has been passed by the board of regents based on promised funding, contracts have been let for the year, and supplies have been purchased to accommodate an increased enrollment,” Auvenshine said.
The college has about $80,000 in a contingency fund, the president continued, and depleting that will leave no money for emergencies that might come up.
Shirley will also have a vacancy to fill in the dean of instruction’s office after Dr. Debra Kuhl accepted a job as Vice President of Instruction at Galveston College, where former CC president Myles Shelton now presides.
“I will truly miss this community and the college,” Kuhl said.
Kuhl was hired here by Shelton as he was leaving CC. Her final day will be this Friday, and her new job at Galveston starts January 3.
Auvenshine said he would not make an interim appointment to fill the dean’s position in his final days as president.
“I’ve spoken with Dr. Shirley, and he thinks he might hold the position open until he can do a thorough search for a replacement,” Auvenshine said.
The CC Board of Regents will meet to discuss Kuhl’s resignation and matters of college business this Thursday, December 16, in the Bairfield Activity Center.
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