Connecticut State students, faculty and staff are gathering on Tuesday for a rally to let their voices be heard surrounding budget cuts.
The goal is to bring attention to budget cuts that they said will have a profound impact on student services. Some of those cuts could include cutting cafeteria services and even access to career services on specific campuses.
The budget cuts are as a result of a merger. On July 1, all 12 of the state's community colleges merged to become Connecticut State Community College.
Educators said they were promised a streamline of services, but they said resources are closing to students. An example is the Office of Career Services at Capital Community College.
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Students can still take advantage of those services at another CT State Community College campus, but educators said that is a burden for students.
"We have a challenge of having students utilize the services on our own campus, the thought that we're going to have that our students will be able to, you know, travel to, you know, another campus, frankly, just to access services that should be on our campus. Speaking for capital, is not realistic, said Seth Freeman, the president of the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges.
CT State Community College is responding to the union's claims. It said in part, "All of the public colleges and universities are facing tight budgets this year. Closing our funding gap is no easy task." "We are making strategic operational adjustments that allow us to continue to serve 70,000 people across 18 locations each year."
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The rally is expected to begin at 11 a.m. at the State Capitol.
