Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sept. 2, 2016
strong liquidity. These characteristics are offset by pressure on enrollment and revenue growth due to an
improving economy and participation in an underfunded pension plan. In 2015, the CCCS produced
excess operating cash flows of $30.9 million. This result builds on the average annual operating cash
flows of $32 million from 2012 to 2014. In addition, reserves are very strong, with approximately $300
million of unrestricted reserves at the end of each of the last four years. Specifically, the primary reserve
ratio (reserves divided by total operating expenses) is over 50%, which is extremely strong for a public
university. The generation of large cash flows and the strong reserves are the main reasons why the bond
rating is so high, and is the key evidence to conclude that CCCS is in very strong financial condition.
The Financial Statements and Compliance Audits produced under contract to the CCCS by KPMG are
useful but they do not provide the detail needed, especially in terms of salaries and benefits. One might
question, if the system is indeed so financially strapped, why the CCCS spends millions each year on new
building projects and why has it expanded to 39 campuses across the state. During this time, as well, the
13 CCCS presidents were awarded salary increases as high as $90K since 2012, bringing some of their
annual salaries to as high as $209K. The CCCS Systems presidents salary increased nearly $100K so
that her salary is now double that of Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. She also may be awarded an
annual bonus of 15% of her salary. Furthermore, one might question why so many college presidents,
some of whom are already paid over $209K per year, qualify for yearly 15% bonuses, but that, too, is a
policy enacted by the CCCS governing board, the State Board of Community Colleges and Occupational
Education (SBCCOE). Also, recently, the last, remaining full-time faculty (averaging 90 or so per
college) were given salary increases of $188/week, bringing their per-three-credit-hour class pay 2/3
higher than that of the average adjunct faculty member. Meanwhile, the adjunct professors who teach the
lions share of the 29,000+ classes the system offers were given an average raise of just $4.80/week,
bringing their average per-three-credit-hour class pay to just a bit over $1,834. One also might ask how
many vice presidents Colorado needs in higher education, given that the 13 colleges of the CCCS now
employ 48 of them and their salaries range from $72 to $181K. This is especially puzzling, given the
CCCS untrue claims that enrollments are down and the system is strapped. Indeed, program prioritization
initiatives the CCCS are promoting are predicated on college systems that are in financial exigency, and
the CCCS, most decidedly, is not.
The Integrated Post Secondary Data System reports are useful in making the case for a more equitable
distribution of CCCS revenue, but we need the further detail only a Legislative Audit can provide.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Caprice Lawless
2nd Vice President
American Association of University Professors
aaup.org
AAUP Chapters of the CCCS
coloradocaprice@gmail.com