BLINN BOARD APPROVES 4 PERCENT PAY INCREASE FOR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES IN NEW BUDGET
Blinn College’s newly approved budget accounts for a 4 percent increase in full-time pay.
for the 2024-25 Fiscal Year.
(Blinn College)
The Blinn Board of Trustees today (Tuesday) approved a $129.3 million budget for the 2024-25 Fiscal Year, growth of 2 percent from the $126.5 million budget for the current fiscal year.
Part of that is a 4 percent increase in salary for full-time employees and tiered longevity pay for full-time faculty and staff, including benefits. The budget also calls for a $25 pay schedule increase for part-time faculty.
2024-25 Fiscal Year, not including debt service.
(Blinn College)
Blinn Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance Dr. Clen Burton showed during the meeting that the College’s estimated cost to implement the 4 percent salary increase is $2.42 million, while the tiered longevity pay is $486,500.
According to Dr. Burton, the tuition and fee budget projections do not include an enrollment increase.
Blinn Board Chair Jim Kolkhorst noted that Chancellor Dr. Mary Hensley voluntarily offered to accept no wage increase on her behalf so that the College could give the maximum raise that it could to employees.
Also today, Vice Chancellor for Student Services Dr. Becky McBride gave an enrollment report for the spring 2024 semester. The certified spring total of 15,953 students districtwide is a 1.71 percent increase over the previous spring and is Blinn’s largest since the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, which had 17,076 students.
enrollment in comparison to recent spring
semesters.
(Blinn College)
The spring 2024 enrollment includes 3,137 students at RELLIS, up 25.6 percent from spring 2023; 2,198 high school dual credit students, up 16.1 percent; 25 Sealy Campus students, up 8.7 percent; 47 Schulenburg Campus students, up 6.8 percent; 4,173 online students, up 2.4 percent; 1,553 Brenham Campus students, down 1.6 percent; 4,728 students on the Bryan Campus, down 12.5 percent; and 92 students listed as “other”, down 85.8 percent.
Dr. McBride said the Brenham Campus had a higher number of students transfer out during the holidays to continue working toward their four-year degrees. As for the decline on the Bryan Campus, she said the College is actively recruiting students who have been with Blinn and decided to stop going to college altogether.
In other business, trustees authorized the College to seek qualifications for engineering services related to central plant upgrades on the Brenham Campus. This project, which includes the replacement of various chillers and pumps, reconfiguration of internal piping, and the addition of a new cooling tower, is scheduled to begin in fall 2024 and be completed in fall 2026.
“Blinn Board Chair Jim Kolkhorst noted that Chancellor Dr. Mary Hensley voluntarily offered to accept no wage increase on her behalf so that the College could give the maximum raise that it could to employees.”
If I recall accurately, Dr Hensley’s wages, or more appropriately her salary, is $400,000 per year. That’s always seemed to me to be rather far- fetched; however, I wonder if this story and the one following it about the financial cuts now create issues. To give everyone a raise and then to find out that you’re taking in less money doesn’t seem to be fiscally sound.