WILMINGTON—The Cape Fear Community college recently eliminated a score of positions to accommodate a serious budget shortfall. But, to the surprise of at least one CFCC Board Member, the college has spent over $300,000 so far this year on a public relations firm.
Last month, CFCC announced that it was facing a $1.5 million budget cut for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, due to decreased enrollment. To accommodate that shortfall, CFCC cut 21 positions, including some of its public relations staff. The eliminated jobs represented a little over $1.2 million in salaries and benefits.
According to CFCC Spokeswoman Sonya Johnson, the college also spent $317,786.48 on a PR firm.
“Year-to-date, the College has spent $317,786.48 with Fourth Day Advertising for mass media buys, media placement services and commercial production. Fourth Day Advertising is distributing our media releases as a courtesy,” Johnson said.
Fourth Day Advertising is the Wilmington-based public relations firm run by Sandy Collette, who forwards press releases from CFCC to her list of clients and media contacts. According to Johnson, CFCC will not retain Collette’s firm anymore – but it seems the Board of Trustees wasn’t aware of the contract in the first place.
CFCC Board Member and New Hanover County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield said he was surprised to hear how much was being spent on Fourth Day Advertising.
“That’s a chunk of change to be spending on those services. I would imagine we would have some ability at the county to do some of those things in-house,” Barfield said.
Barfield said he planned to check with New Hanover County Manager Chris Coudriet to see what ability the county had to provide some of the services Fourth Day did. He also said he would notify the board.
“That’s definitely a number the board should be aware of. I was not aware we had a $300,000 line item for a PR firm, especially given the employee situation we just faced” Barfield said.
Other costs, other cost-saving moves
Johnson did say that the college considered other cost-saving moves before eliminating jobs.
“Some openings that resulted from retirements or attrition were not filled. The College continues to look for ways to become more efficient by streamlining processes and using more advanced technologies. Vacancies from attrition and retirement will be examined closely before they are filled,” Johnson said.
Johnson also confirmed that CFCC was aware of the impending budget shortfall before it considered President Jim Morton’s raise to $255,000 per year. The state sets a base salary of $158,718, but individual county college boards can choose a supplemental amount; in Morton’s case, the board vote to approve an additional $96,282.
The college also recently decided to scrap campus police force in favor of a contract with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office. The deal will actually end up costing the college around $7,650 more annually, but – as Barfield has pointed out – the plan may save the college money in the long run, since it will not incur training costs for new campus officers
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