The Colorado Mountain College (CMC) board of trustees approved a $94.3 million budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 at their June 25 meeting in Breckenridge, according to college spokesman Brian Barker.
General Fund personnel costs are the biggest budget item at $67.5 million, followed by services, other, phone and supplies, travel and training, supplies, rental and maintenance and promotions (such as the seasonal printed class catalog).
CMC President Matt Gianneschi’s base salary is $345,000, according to a Colorado Open Records Act request submitted by The Sopris Sun.
Capital projects for 2024-25 include: college-wide major projects ($8.4 million), employee housing ($7.5 million) and facilities master plan projects ($1 million).
Minor maintenance projects include: boiler replacements, creating a gender-neutral restroom and a radiology lab, modernizing elevators and working on parking lots.
CMC’s primary revenue sources are: property taxes (70%), state revenue (14%) and tuition and fees (13%).
An elected board of trustees helps to set college policy, approves the annual budget and performs other duties, according to the college website. The trustees are:
Marianne Virgili (east Garfield County)
Peg Portscheller (west Garfield County)
Markey Butler (Pitkin County)
Chris Romer (Eagle County)
Kerry Buhler (Summit County)
Bob Kuusinen (Routt County)
Gloria Perez (Lake County)
Dave Armstrong (liaison for Salida and Poncha Springs)
The board of trustees meets at various locations, usually every other month. They have met 12 times so far this year, six of them special meetings. Meeting dates through the remainder of the fiscal year are: Aug. 26-27 (annual planning retreat), Oct. 21-22, Dec. 16-17, Jan. 14, May 19-20 and June 24. Meeting agendas are posted on the CMC website. Board packets are available upon request.
Recent history
Colorado Mountain College was the state’s first officially designated dual mission institution. As a dual mission college, it offers a blend of certificate programs, associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees.
The college is also a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) with a more than 25% Latino student body. “The HSI designation creates opportunities for grant funding benefitting all students,” states the CMC website. In 2013, the college’s Latino population was approximately 13% of overall enrollment, which was not representative of the general population. Knowing that, the college promptly adopted performance objectives for each of its 11 campuses and the college as a whole. In every category — enrollment, retention, credit accumulation and course completion — the college focused on disparities between Latino and non-Latino students.
The federal government designated the college an HSI in 2021 after years of efforts to grow CMC’s Latino population. It is the first HSI in the state’s rural-resort region. About one-third of Colorado’s colleges and universities have been granted HSI status. Across the U.S. there are about 500 HSI.
Hall of Fame
Most folks are not aware of CMC’s Alumni Hall of Fame. Yesenia Silva Estrada was inducted in 2015. Today she is executive director of the college’s Strategic Initiatives. Estrada started her college career at CMC, then earned a bachelor’s in accounting from Regis University in Denver and a master’s of social work at the University of Denver, according to the Alumni Hall of Fame website. Her awards and honors include: CMC Alpine Bank Scholar (2005-2007) and the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants Gold Key award at Regis (2009). She was also an Aspen Ideas Festival Fellow (2009). Estrada was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. At the age of 6, her parents moved to Western Colorado. She is the first in her family to attend and graduate from college.
David Delaplane is an honorary hall of fame member. In 1962, while serving as manager of the Glenwood Springs Chamber of Commerce, he reactivated a committee whose mission was to bring a community college to the region. He “pounded the pavement” to convince voters in five counties — Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle, Summit and Lake — to establish a taxing district to fund a community college. Voters approved the ballot question 2-1. Today, the college covers 7,500 square miles and operates 11 campuses: Aspen, Breckenridge, Carbondale, Dillion, Glenwood Springs, Leadville, Rifle, Salida, Steamboat Springs and Edwards. At the direction of the state legislature, CMC also serves Chaffee, Grand and Jackson counties.