Rowan-Cabarrus Community College faces the most difficult year in its history, President Richard Brownell has told college trustees.

With a record enrollment this fall and less money from the state than it expected, the college is cutting programs at its Salisbury and Kannapolis campuses.

The cutbacks come at a time when residents are enduring layoffs and reduced job hours because of a slow economy and most need retraining, Brownell said Monday.

“At a time when our services are needed the most and the community and state are looking to us for crucial help, community college services are being eroded,” Brownell said.

Enrollment of students seeking degrees rose from 4,294 last year to 4,851 this semester — about 12 percent. That doesn’t include thousands more students who take continuing education courses in rescue, firefighting and other areas.

“Our role as the provider of training and recertification classes for health care, law enforcement and emergency services is being impacted,” Brownell said.

Higher enrollment and reduced funding have forced the college to enlarge class sizes. That has required instructors to use a large teaching auditorium for classes that are usually held in traditional classrooms.

The college has suspended carpentry and daytime machinist programs and reduced hours that its library, counselors and financial aid staff are available. It has begun charging students fees for computer class supplies.

Classes for those learning English as a second language have been reduced at the college’s north and south campuses and at other places it offers them, such as the Salisbury Civic Center and A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis. In the past three years, that program has exploded from 630 students to 1,900 students.

The state funds community colleges based on the equivalent number of full-time students they served the previous year. Last year, that enrollment at Rowan-Cabarrus climbed 8 percent — followed by the 12 percent this year.

Budgets under negotiation in the state House and Senate won’t cover last year’s enrollment increase at Rowan-Cabarrus or other community colleges, according to Audrey Bailey, a Raleigh spokeswoman for the community-college system.

“When the economy’s good, they don’t come to college in record numbers like they do now,” she said.

But Bailey said many of the state’s 59 community colleges have had even higher enrollment surges.

In nearby Iredell County, Mitchell Community College saw a 22 percent increase, forcing that school to hold Spanish courses at 7 a.m., she said. And rural Mayland Community College, which serves three mountain counties, has seen the highest growth of any community college, 40 percent, fueled in part by job layoffs.

The influx has required Rowan-Cabarrus to hire six security officers to monitor traffic and parking in the morning, said Ann Hovey, associate vice president for administrative services.

“We have them parking along the road, in the grass and under trees.”

Contact Brad A. Hodges at 704-797-4266 or bhodges@salisburypost.com .