Dawson Community College pushes back on budget cuts, suggestion to defund campus - JAYME FRASER, Missoulian

More than a dozen Dawson Community College leaders, students and alumni took turns behind the lectern last week, trying to convince members of the House Appropriations Committee not to close their 75-year-old campus. A week earlier, Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock had suggested that budget cuts to higher education proposed by the Legislature would be deep enough that he might need to close a college – a statement he later walked back since the authority to do so lies with the Board of Regents for university-affiliated campuses and with separate local boards for community colleges. The regents and board leaders have said they have no plans to do so, but have warned that the proposed cuts will result in tuition increases and impact programs. But Glendive-area leaders say the threat remains and the closure of Dawson Community College could still be forced by legislators’ budget decisions. http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/montana-legislature/dawson-community-college-pushes-back-on-budget-cuts-suggestion-to/article_99fc357e-d5b0-52ff-bc53-d078e9a80ac3.html