Dear LCC Community,
Following the Board of Education’s approval of the FY2027 Budget Mitigation Plan, we are now squarely in the implementation phase. I want to share the remaining organizational changes that are taking effect, and I will warn you that this communication is lengthy. It is my intent to provide the greatest amount of information available.
These changes include both realignments and reductions reflected in the approved plan. They affect positions, reporting structures, academic programs, and how some services are delivered.
A word before the details
I want to begin by acknowledging where we are as a community. These decisions impact colleagues and the ways we work together as an institution. I know that we share a collective feeling of strain from change, and for some, this moment may feel uncertain or even discouraging. Please know I share that weight.
Through our Gallup engagement survey, and through individual conversations with those of you who have candidly shared your feedback, I have heard clearly that many do not feel consistently listened to or empowered in helping shape our path forward. That feedback matters, and my leadership team and I take it seriously. We are evaluating how we operate and identifying ways to improve.
I also want to name a tension directly: I am acknowledging that feedback while also announcing decisions already in motion. The timing is imperfect, and I understand how that can feel. What I can commit to is that this feedback will shape how we move forward in our processes, our communication, and the cross-functional work ahead.
At the same time, action is necessary. The decisions represented here are part of a deliberate, multi-year effort to address our structural deficit, reduce reliance on our ending fund balance, and position Lane for long-term stability. Acting now allows us to make measured decisions, rather than reacting to more urgent and disruptive circumstances later.
Staffing structure changes
A key component of this phased approach includes changes to our staffing structure. The approved plan includes the elimination of three management positions:
- Dean of Social Sciences
- Director of Software Services
- Health Clinic Director
In addition, the plan outlines classified position eliminations. The removal of these full-time roles results in a reduction in the C3 budget, which funds part-time classified positions. This process is a requirement under our classified collective bargaining agreement: part-time positions within a classification family must be addressed before full-time positions in that same family. This is a contractual constraint, not a discretionary choice about individuals.
The process to reach these decisions has been difficult. The results are difficult. There is no way to fully reduce their impact, and I acknowledge that directly.
Streamlining the college’s organizational structure
We are making several changes to reduce duplication, clarify leadership responsibility, and improve coordination across the college.
Social Sciences and Humanities division
With the retirement of the Dean of Social Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences will operate as a single academic division under the leadership of the current Dean of Humanities.
I want to address a concern I expect some will raise directly: this change is not a signal that Humanities matters less, or that Social Sciences is being absorbed. Both disciplines retain their faculty, their courses, and their program identity. What changes is the administrative layer above them.
There are practical reasons for this structure. These program areas share a physical home in the Center Building, have historically shared administrative support, and serve students in foundational transfer pathways. One dean overseeing both divisions reduces administrative cost without changing what happens in classrooms. Faculty academic freedom and purview over curriculum and academic standards remains unchanged.
Academic Technology Center and Information Technology
We are integrating the Academic Technology Center and the college’s Information Technology (IT) division. This brings related functions under a unified structure, eliminates duplication, and results in the reduction of one director position.
Tutoring, Testing, and the Library
Tutoring and Testing will align under Academic Affairs leadership alongside the Library, ensuring continued strong connections to instructional programs and student success outcomes.
Student Health Center
We are transitioning from the current delivery model to a new management model for the Student Health Center. The Health Center is not closing.
Currently, the Health Center operates with a LCC manager and a contracted medical partner. We are moving to a model where a local contracted physician provides clinical oversight for the nurse practitioners on-site. The stand-alone Health Center manager position is ending; administrative oversight will be maintained by the current Mental Health Center manager. This creates better connection between the two services while ensuring sustainable use of student health center fees and eliminating reliance on the general fund without increasing those fees.
Preserving services while redesigning operations
Printing and Graphics
In response to calls to preserve services where possible, we are restructuring Printing & Graphics operations. The cost of these services will be adjusted for both internal and external partners to eliminate reliance on general fund dollars, while we continue to provide comprehensive experiential learning opportunities through the Design and Media Center (DMC). This approach supports both operational sustainability and our educational mission.
Communications, Marketing, External Affairs, and Recruitment
We are aligning Communications, External Affairs, Marketing, and Recruitment under a single structure reporting to the Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications. This reflects the importance of enrollment to our long-term sustainability. These functions must operate as a coordinated system to ensure students can find, access, and navigate opportunities at Lane. This structure leverages existing staff to provide increased marketing, awareness, and enrollment campaign support for programs, along with more comprehensive and aligned engagement and advocacy within the broader community.
Closing two academic programs
On April 22, 2026, the Board of Education held a Special Board Meeting and approved a motion supporting the college’s recommendation to close two academic programs: Health Information Management and Criminal Justice. I want you to hear from me about how those decisions were made and what they mean for where we are headed.
Here is how the process worked:
Everything began with the values our Board of Education articulated in July 2025. Student success is at the top of that list. It shaped every question we asked and every criterion we applied. The mission-critical framework we used, centered on transferability, clear pathways to employment and further education, and the ability of programs to serve students across a lifetime of learning, is a direct expression of what our Board believes postsecondary education is designed to accomplish. Those values were the foundation. The data built on top of them.
We undertook a comprehensive review of our academic program portfolio, an examination of how programs lead to credentials or meaningful educational outcomes. Academic support areas were included in the broader decision-making even where they fall outside the formal portfolio. The review examined student enrollment and Full Time Equivalent (a calculation combining full-time and part-time students), course success rates (a grade of C- or better, or a mark of “pass”), course capacity and utilization, and program completion such as certificate or degree attainment. Faculty within each division are part of the academic program portfolio process. That input matters.
The comprehensive review also included labor market wage value for graduates and the potential contribution to the budget mitigation we needed to achieve. Twenty-one programs or areas were identified in an initial review based on low enrollment or limited utilization. From that group, further consistent analysis narrowed the list to two programs: Health Information Management and Criminal Justice.
I have heard you. The feedback has been clear and consistent: this process would have benefitted from more communication and earlier engagement from the people most affected by these decisions. That is a fair assessment, and it will inform how we approach the work ahead.
What this means for our community
I know this is a significant amount of change, and it comes at a time when we are already processing a great deal. People you work alongside are affected. Academics, operations, and support services that represent years of commitment by faculty, students, and this institution are changing. I do not view that lightly.
These decisions were made carefully, with data, and with the full implications for real people in our community in mind. Not every decision will feel aligned from every perspective, and I understand that.
The path forward: your role in FY28
As I shared at the Spring Business Forum this week, the path forward to the FY28 budget development will not be defined by a small group alone. The college is forming cross-functional work groups focused on three mitigation strategy areas: Operations, Support Services, and Academics. These groups are intended to create space for employees across the college to contribute ideas, identify solutions, and vet recommendations.
If you are interested in participating, I encourage you to apply here. Your perspective matters to this process.
What will not change
Our commitment to student access, student success, and the quality of our academic programs and services is unwavering. Faculty authority over curriculum and academic standards remains intact. Core student services will continue. The work of our faculty, classified professionals, and managers continues to define the strength of this institution.
Moving forward
These efforts represent the culmination of year one of a three-year effort to achieve fiscal sustainability and reinvestment. Our goal is to create greater stability, clarity, and alignment in how the college operates. Additional structural changes may be necessary as we move forward, and I want to be transparent about that.
I am committed to offsetting the natural unease that comes with change through consistent communication and genuine two-way engagement. You can expect that from me and from the leaders who support you.
Lane has always been an institution that adapts in order to serve. That commitment to adaptation is especially important in difficult moments. I am confident in our ability to move through this period with purpose and continued support for our students and community.
Thank you for the ways in which you continue to show up for students and for each other.
Sincerely,
Stephanie