Guilford College has a $2 million deficit, and no one seems to know how we got here.

Due mainly to a drop in enrollment, cuts will be made and no one is safe.

“I’ve been here 16 years,” said Instructor of English Caroline McAlister. “There should be some sort of labor protection for people who have spent that much time in a place.”

The root of the problem is that the Guilford community needs to communicate.

“There’s a lot we don’t know in terms of what our administrators do,” said the Bonner Center for Community Service & Learning Director James Shields.

For those of us who don’t know what happens at the administrative level of the college, it’s hard to say what’s really going on.

It works both ways. Administrators can’t know the effect budget cuts have on the students and programs such as the Bonner Center.

“Not having a coordinator position right now, I certainly see the effect it has … on the work of the Bonner Center,” said Shields. “It is adversely affecting what we do.”

We can’t be blamed for the deficit that has already happened. However, if we don’t bring the community together, it will be our fault if we still have a deficit.

“If the community all got on board behind a leader that was willing to show that kind of commitment, we could do what now seems impossible,” said Matt Armstrong, former adjunct professor at Guilford. “We could close the deficit.”

According to Professor of History and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean Adrienne Israel, the administration cuts positions based on student need.

“We’re trying to make sure we have the courses we need and not offer as many as we did last fall,” said Israel.

But that’s not what professors are seeing.

“I’ve gotten emails from six or seven students saying they needed to get into an HP class and they couldn’t,” said McAlister. “Here, that’s what you’re paying for, to get into the classes you need.”

A lot of the anger about the budget crisis came from the 990 tax forms released earlier this semester revealing administrator bonuses, though they may not be an entirely accurate representation of administrator salaries.

“It looked like salaries for administrators had jumped,” said Professor of Geology and Earth Sciences Dave Dobson. “It’s pretty clear now that those are bonuses, one time things.

“The 990’s are a crude reporting tool.”

This year, the administration is working to facilitate better understanding, including President of Guilford College and Professor of English Jane Fernandes.

“In Guilford’s past, when similar cuts have been made, they’ve just been announced and folks have had to respond to it, but not had a chance to change it,” said Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Todd Clark. “Jane had promised to the community a chance for feedback.”

The students advocating for administrator pay cuts may also be surprised to know that certain members of the administration stand behind reductions.

“I would support voluntary salary reductions if it would enable the lowest-paid employees at the College to earn a living wage,” said Israel.

Currently, Fernandes is looking at ways to minimize community impact when cuts are made.

“As we proceed with the messy, painful process of making the sausage of budget balancing, let’s approach it with a sense of trust in each other, whose points of view inform and enlighten our collective thinking,” said Fernandes in an email to the community.

“And let us always remember that it is the good and the betterment of Guilford College that we all wish to achieve together.”