CHEYENNE - Wyoming's community colleges need millions of dollars in additional state assistance if they are to help ease the skilled worker shortage, a panel formed by Gov. Dave Freudenthal has concluded.

The governor's panel also determined that the body that oversees the colleges should have more authority to terminate academic programs that aren't performing well.

The recommendations by the Governor's Commission on Community Colleges piggyback a request this week from the Wyoming Community College Commission for $63 million in state funds for new dorms and other buildings.

All the proposals are now on the table for consideration during the upcoming legislative budget session in February, and could help spur a shift in the way community colleges are perceived and managed by the state.

"Right now people are willing to have a serious conversation about the community colleges, their role and their contributions to the state," Freudenthal said shortly after forming the panel.

The Governor's Commission on Community Colleges this week called for a state investment of $60 million over four years to support work force training and development programs. The commission recommended a sunset date for the program in four years.

The panel suggested four ways to raise the dollars, including a general fund appropriation of $15 million a year, a new trust fund, a statewide property tax levy or money from the Abandoned Mine Lands fund.

The job of dolling out the money would be left to two groups: the Wyoming Work Force Alliance, an existing group with representatives from state government and the colleges, and a new governor-appointed panel from the private sector.

"All of those groups would have a chance to give input into what criteria should be used to identity priority work force training programs," said Tex Boggs, chairman of the Governor's Commission on Community Colleges and president of Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs.

Boggs said the $60 million figure represents approximately the amount that would be raised by levying one mill in statewide property tax for one year. He estimated the money would be enough to fund three to six projects a year.

The prospect of a statewide mill levy is likely to be controversial. Under the current system, only taxpayers in counties where colleges are located provide direct property tax payments to their colleges.

Some have complained that the current system is unfair, as all Wyoming counties benefit from the colleges either directly or indirectly. The colleges do receive appropriations from the Legislature for operations as well.

Housing need grows

In a separate recommendation, the panel said the state ought to pick up half of the cost of on-campus student housing construction. Colleges would be required to provide matching funds to acquire the assistance.

Historically, colleges have been required to raise money locally - through such actions as countywide bond issues or the sale of revenue bonds - to pay for new construction. However, the Legislature showed a willingness to pay for new construction for the first time in many years during its last session.

Miles LaRowe, president of Northwest College in Powell, said the funding would help the colleges absorb students who are increasingly taking advantage of the Hathaway Scholarship program.

"We are doing some wonderful things to get kids here," LaRowe said. "I don't know if we thought of all the logistics that would go with it."

At Western Wyoming Community College, about 50 student were without housing at the start of the fall semester, and existing worker training programs are unfilled because potential students can't find places to live, Boggs said.

"What the state has done and what industry has done is they have given us some money (in the past) to provide some very good training, but we can't fill the programs to capacity because we don't have the housing," Boggs said.

Mixed reviews

The recommendation drew a cautionary note from Sen. Philip Nicholas, R-Laramie, co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee.

While not opposed to the concept, Nicholas said the colleges would compete for funds with other high-priority areas of state government, such as the state highway system.

And while state tax revenue appears strong, the expansion of state government in recent years could result in a smaller budget surplus than some might expect, he said.

Nicholas also noted that the University of Wyoming has made similar arguments about the effects of the affordable housing crunch on student enrollment. Increased requests from community colleges will almost certainly spark new competitiveness for state funding, he said.

"If the Legislature believes that the state should subsidize the cost of student housing, it should be prepared to do that for all of the institutions," Nicholas added.

Community college presidents had mixed views of the proposal to grant the Wyoming Community College Commission authority to eliminate programs.

Boggs said it would help in cases where local college boards and administrators don't have the will to do the job themselves.

"The state is saying, 'We put in a significant amount of money, and as a consequence we want to assure there is a reasonable measure of accountability,'" Boggs added.

Kevin Drumm at Sheridan College said the new power might take some of the heat off of college administrators, and he believes the commission would be a sensible about its decisions.

Likewise, LaRowe said it's unfair to ask the commission to approve and fund programs without also providing authority to end programs that aren't working.

"I would tell you that at Northwest we have the good taste and discretion to terminate programs that are not cutting it," LaRowe said. "But I actually think if we are going to ask people to approve and fund, that they should have a voice in the total health of the curriculum."

Local control critical

But the longtime president of Central Wyoming College in Riverton, Jo Anne McFarland, said that while the commission might offer input, the authority to end programs is overreaching.

McFarland also took exception with the argument that college boards and administrators sometimes lack the will to end failing programs.

She noted that CWC recently terminated its surgical technology program because after five years of success there were no longer jobs available locally for graduates.

Moreover, limited resources at community colleges sometimes give administrators and boards incentives to end struggling programs in order to create or support more successful ones, McFarland said.

"I strongly believe, and in fact our record demonstrates, that trustees are willing and able to terminate programs that no longer serve a useful purpose," McFarland said.

The Governor's Commission on Community Colleges produced a total of about 30 recommendations. Boggs declined to release the full list until the commission members have a chance to review it for errors.

The recommendations now proceed to the governor's office, where they could be turned into legislation for the upcoming session. Freudenthal's office did not have a comment about the recommendations so soon after their completion.

When Freudenthal formed the commission after the last legislative session, he asked the group to craft comprehensive recommendations about the mission, governance and funding of community colleges.

Reach capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at jared.miller@casperstartribune.net.