2008 Woodie Awards
Budget cuts take their toll on academics, extracurriculars
EDITORIALS
Issue date: 4/14/05 Section: Opinion/Editorial
- Page 1 of 1
Fuzzy details about the state of the university's budget are emerging, and it's looking pretty dreary. Professors are openly questioning the administration's financial decisions, gauging the relevance of large expansion projects to the core necessities of faculty hiring and equipment.
This is what we know right now: In the middle of this academic year, departments were asked to make cuts of up to 20 percent, which was problematic since much of the money had already been doled out. This budget crunch will follow into the next academic year, with budget cuts expected to total 8 to 10 percent.
"The faculty are not happy campers," said Brian Kennelly. chairman of the international language and cultures department. "We cannot run the departments the way we're being asked to."
Some schools will be forced to offer fewer classes, while the department of biology cannot even get basic equipment that it needs to teach students.
In student affairs, student programming will suffer, and organizations will no longer be able to take retreats off campus. International students will no longer have the van that they use to go shopping and explore St. Louis. Sick students will only be treated to one day of medicine instead of three.
Although there is not an official hiring freeze, many departments are desperate for new faculty positions. The university relies on adjuncts, but students need full-time faculty for advising and development. While enrollments are up every year, some schools, like the School of Education, have not created a new position in five years.
Department chairs are nipping at their budgets, taking off a little here and there. But cutting down on copies and eliminating the dinner at the athletic banquet are not going to solve the school's budget problems.
The administration will not release details of the budget until the summer, but it's becoming obvious that something is not working out. Investments in overseas and downtown campuses as well as developments on the home campus have overwhelmed the small budget, which is based primarily on enrollment.
There is an ebb and flow, as President Richard Meyers puts it, in any sort of business, even if it is not-for-profit. As professors and administrators have pointed out, their colleagues at other universities are dealing with budget cuts more frequently. This is the first time the quality of education at Webster has been threatened by budget cuts in at least a decade.
Time will tell how much students will suffer, and if the predictions made by some Webster professors come to fruition, the effects will be much worse than reported.
"Something smells like Enron," Kennelly commented about the
budget.
Until the administration is forthcoming in details related to the budget, no one will know how dire the situation is. Enron analogies, albeit on a smaller scale, are valid until proven wrong.
This is what we know right now: In the middle of this academic year, departments were asked to make cuts of up to 20 percent, which was problematic since much of the money had already been doled out. This budget crunch will follow into the next academic year, with budget cuts expected to total 8 to 10 percent.
"The faculty are not happy campers," said Brian Kennelly. chairman of the international language and cultures department. "We cannot run the departments the way we're being asked to."
Some schools will be forced to offer fewer classes, while the department of biology cannot even get basic equipment that it needs to teach students.
In student affairs, student programming will suffer, and organizations will no longer be able to take retreats off campus. International students will no longer have the van that they use to go shopping and explore St. Louis. Sick students will only be treated to one day of medicine instead of three.
Although there is not an official hiring freeze, many departments are desperate for new faculty positions. The university relies on adjuncts, but students need full-time faculty for advising and development. While enrollments are up every year, some schools, like the School of Education, have not created a new position in five years.
Department chairs are nipping at their budgets, taking off a little here and there. But cutting down on copies and eliminating the dinner at the athletic banquet are not going to solve the school's budget problems.
The administration will not release details of the budget until the summer, but it's becoming obvious that something is not working out. Investments in overseas and downtown campuses as well as developments on the home campus have overwhelmed the small budget, which is based primarily on enrollment.
There is an ebb and flow, as President Richard Meyers puts it, in any sort of business, even if it is not-for-profit. As professors and administrators have pointed out, their colleagues at other universities are dealing with budget cuts more frequently. This is the first time the quality of education at Webster has been threatened by budget cuts in at least a decade.
Time will tell how much students will suffer, and if the predictions made by some Webster professors come to fruition, the effects will be much worse than reported.
"Something smells like Enron," Kennelly commented about the
budget.
Until the administration is forthcoming in details related to the budget, no one will know how dire the situation is. Enron analogies, albeit on a smaller scale, are valid until proven wrong.