NORWICH – The make-up of students at Morrisville State College’s campus in Norwich has changed over the last decade from mostly adults to at least 50 percent being more traditionally college-aged.

“That’s a big difference. Our complexion has changed,” Dean Ted Nichols said at a budget planning meeting of the Planning & Economic Development Committee this week.

A more traditionally-aged student body along with newly implemented educational programs in early childhood development, human services and criminal justice is hoped to boost registration at the Conkey Avenue branch campus. The trend has already begun with 519 students registered this fall versus 499 in 2005.

Committee Chairwoman Linda E. Natoli, R-City of Norwich, said the criminal justice program in particular should be a big draw to students from outside the county. “We pay a hefty chunk of money to pay for our students to go to community colleges outside. We hope this will bring them back and bring in students from outside,” she said.

When making the decision three years ago to expand Morrisville’s Norwich branch, lawmakers had hoped the new campus would eventually keep students from attending colleges outside the county. Taxpayers pays about $800,000 for college charge backs each year.

There were no figures related to actual credit hours in Nichols’ report to the committee, however. City of Norwich Supervisor James McNeil asked the dean to include year-to-year comparisons in future budget proposals.

The college’s budget calls for $33,946 and represents a nearly 3 percent increase. The taxpayer dollars are dedicated to outreach and recruitment, marketing materials, web development and community partnerships with public health departments, Commerce Chenango, and Opportunities for Chenango among others. Nearly 2,000 individuals attended non-credit, community-sponsored courses last year.

“This is a very small price to pay for a such an asset in our community,” Natoli said about the college’s budget. She accepted a motion to pass it through for review by the county’s Finance Committee.

The college’s draft 2008 budget was one of a handful passed through committee Tuesday. Town leaders scrutinized budgets for the Department of Planning and Development, Lt. Warren E. Eaton/Chenango County Airport, the county Historian’s office and the Environmental Management Council.

The committee elected to cut the planning department’s membership to the Southern Tier East Regional Planning Development Board (STERPDB). Annual dues amount to about $11,000 per year. Those officials serving on the board, McNeil and Jack T. Cook of Greene, said the STERPDB did not service the area.