Hope vs. Optimism

In these challenging times, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the differences between hope and optimism. In the face of adversity or trouble, many of us have an inherent need to look toward the future with a sense of optimism or hope. It’s also important not to overlook the underlying issues that created the adversity in the first place. Somehow, we need to find a middle way that acknowledges the adversity and shines a light on a path forward through whatever darkness we may be facing at the time.

Reviewing multiple online dictionaries and AI models, I found some common themes on the two concepts of hope and optimism. Optimism can be seen as a general attitude or outlook that things will be better — without providing much in the way of specifics. Hope, on the other hand, is more of a feeling or belief grounded in aspects of a specific goal or outcome.

While I consider myself a generally optimistic person, I can more precisely say I have warranted hope — based on multiple facts — that the difficult budget process we just endured at the college is a pivot point for us. I believe we are now on a course of programming for the future and no longer rightsizing from the past, and here’s why I feel hope is warranted:

Our recent organizational climate survey showed that 86% of respondents are proud to work at MVCC and 86% also look forward to coming to work every day — every day. When we contrast that with the Gallup research that shows record levels of employee disengagement at work, it’s evident that there’s something uniquely good that resides in MVCC’s culture. The proposed budget for next year leaves the college in its best fiscal shape (absent the years with COVID stimulus dollars) since 2018 and maintains capacity with the major changes in recent years to enhance and support the core student experience here.

Additionally, enrollment is up 7% this semester over spring of last year. What makes this increase different is that we have a sense of why: Enrollment used to be something that happened to us, but the hard work and increased collaboration throughout the college to manage enrollment more intentionally has created a new-found sense of agency for us compared to the past. From annual scheduling to scaling guided pathways reforms to new programs like Fast Track, we’re seeing intentional efforts drive enrollment increases that fuel our fiscal engine.

I don't want to leave the impression that, in my sense of warranted hope, I am overlooking the hard work and added burdens each of us will face as we pull together to design a brighter and more sustainable future. My hope is squarely centered on my admiration and belief in the people at MVCC. It is the people — each and every one of us — working together, finding solid footing on sometimes shaky ground, and the profound sense of resilience I have seen in our employees over the years and continue to see daily, that will ultimately see us through.

At the end of the day, we all want to feel a sense of safety for ourselves and our colleagues. That is understandable, but in this ever-uncertain environment, we are managing a multi-variate problem — we have most of them solved but will be forever managing the others as they arise. MVCC has been studying and preparing for disruption for a decade, and it is squarely upon us. Fortunately, we have built organizational muscle and the capacity to anticipate and respond to change and disruption in productive ways. In addition to the reasons offered above, what gives me hope is that we have spent the last year not just minimizing the impact of very difficult financial circumstances or a pervasive sense of abundance in always finding a way forward, but we’ve become ever-more resilient and have evolved our collective thinking, strategy, and operations to be more intentional about shaping our future together.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me directly at presblog@mvcc.edu.

Against the Odds

There are times when an organization needs to grieve. As we face unprecedented uncertainty in our budget, and in the Higher Education space in general, this is one of those times for MVCC. When any organization is forced to endure layoffs, everyone is left with a sense of loss, a fear for the future, and a very natural questioning of the decisions that have been made and why it is that we had to make them. This is true for all of us — including me. So, as we take a moment to pause, to grieve, and to reflect as an organization, I wanted to give some context for the situation. Of course, context will not alleviate the feelings of loss that we, as a community, must work through, but I hope to situate that grief in the larger context. 

Thinking about this post, I asked ChatGPT “What does against the odds mean?” The AI model responded, “The phrase "against the odds" means to accomplish something or succeed despite facing difficult or unfavorable circumstances. It suggests that the chances of success were low or that the situation was challenging, but despite those odds, the person or thing was able to succeed. It is often used to describe a situation where someone overcomes significant obstacles or achieves something that others thought was unlikely or impossible.” I find it fascinating how I could not have chosen a collection of words to better describe MVCC’s financial circumstances.

Roughly 95% of annual revenue for community colleges comes from a combination of student tuition, county sponsorship, and state aid. The ideal is that the proportionate distribution would be one-third, one-third, one-third from these three funding streams — we are nowhere close to that ideal. What made me think about the notion of “against the odds” is the fact that MVCC continues to thrive and serve Oneida County despite the disinvestment from the State of New York.

Until recently, state aid for community colleges was allocated on an enrollment-based funding formula. When enrollment went up, state aid was supposed to increase and consequently, when enrollment decreased, so did state aid. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. When the Great Recession hit, enrollment increased, but the state cut our per student allocation with the rationale that we would make it up with the increase in student tuition and the promise that they’d restore the funding when the economy recovered. MVCC watched its state aid per student decline 12% from 2009-2011 and waited until 2016 to see the per student rate restored to 2008 levels. The Great Recession was an anomaly with historic increases in enrollment, so it was easily anticipated that community college enrollment would drop as people returned to work. Rather than stemming the tide, the state funding formula put community colleges in free fall despite our efforts to establish a “funding floor” otherwise phrased as, “Please don’t cut us.” As a result, the state reduced community college funding by 14% from 2015 to 2020.

The outcomes have been devastating. It wasn’t until 2021 that the state established a funding floor for community colleges — a funding structure that K-12 and SUNY state-operated four-year campuses have always enjoyed, and which both the counties and state are legislated to comply with. However, the state has not adhered to its legislated commitment, which means that MVCC currently receives roughly $353,000 more from the state than it did in 2008. Yet, we serve nearly as many individuals when considering the increase in part-time students and non-credit workforce training programs. In contrast, Oneida County has made good on its commitment and has increased its annual base support of MVCC by 18% during the same period. If the state would have simply matched the County’s commitment, MVCC would be receiving roughly $1.8 million more in our base budget, which is roughly close to the structural budgetary deficit we rally to resolve on an annual basis. Let me situate those numbers. We serve, if you take into account credit and non-credit programming, more than 15,000 students with a $50 million budget. When compared to the budgets of K-12 and public four-year colleges in New York, community college budgets are a fraction in total. It shouldn’t be this hard to serve the educational needs of our community.

The reality of the situation is that the odds are stacked against us, but as an organization we are more efficient, more resilient, and more creative than many of our counterparts. If anyone is positioned to triumph against the odds, it is MVCC. So, today we will grieve our loss and wrestle with the realities of the difficulties that we face. However, we also must look to the future, to know that as an organization we will heal, and as we always do at MVCC, in the long run, we will not only survive, but more importantly, we will thrive. 

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me directly at presblog@mvcc.edu.