The next few weeks will be critical for New York's community colleges, as they help develop a strategy for using $170 million in workforce development funds from the federal stimulus package to get the state's economy moving again.

"We are going to want to think how we can best use the community college system in this state to deliver services to displaced workers," said Mario Musolino, executive deputy commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor, addressing a gathering of NYSUT's SUNY community college leaders along with community college campus administrators.

"It seems to me that community colleges are better positioned than anyone else in the state to help administer these programs," he said. States must use some of the funds within 120 days, or risk losing them, so time is of the essence, Musolino added.

Musolino spoke last month at NYSUT's annual Community College Lunch in Albany, at which campus administrators and NYSUT community college leaders develop legislative priorities and financial strategies.

The gathering comes at a time of tremendous contrasts for community colleges. The state's share of funding for them is supposed to be 40 percent of their operating costs.

Instead, it is expected to drop to 30.3 percent in the 2009-10 academic year under Gov. Paterson's proposed Executive Budget.

The community colleges narrowly averted the governor's proposed midyear funding cut, which would have totaled $11 million for the 30 SUNY campuses and $4.2 million for the six CUNY schools.

The federal stimulus funding offers an opportunity for the community colleges to develop new programs for displaced workers, Musolino said.

Most of the funds will be disbursed through the state Labor Department's regional Workforce Investment boards, which oversee job training and development, and connect workers with employers.

"If you don't already know the Workforce Investment area directors in the state right now, I urge you to get in touch with them," he said. "The state labor department is looking to see if community colleges can take these funds and develop programs in a streamlined way. Your voice will be important in that."

Ellen Schuler Mauk, a NYSUT Board member and president of the Faculty Association of Suffolk Community College, who also chairs the NYSUT Higher Education Council, said the community colleges are more than ready to meet the challenge Musolino issued. The colleges realize that the burden of creative solutions is on them.

"It's not a lot of support and funding that we're getting at the state level," she said. "The reality of this is very, very bleak."

NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin agreed, but encouraged the community colleges to follow Musolino's recommendations and put their creative energies into developing new program ideas.

"We are one team when it comes to funding and providing programs for students," Lubin said. "We have a great partnership with the Department of Labor in New York, and the federal stimulus program could be a phenomenal asset to community colleges in New York state."

Contact Darryl McGrath at dmcgrath@nysutmail.org