The Journal

Issue date: 11/17/05 Section: News

Media Credit: Erin Whitson One of many messages written in response to budget cuts on sidewalks around the Quad. Some messages were washed away by administrators. [Click to enlarge]

Although students have been showing major concern for the well being of the university in light of the recently announced budget cuts, the university administration, faculty and staff have an optimistic outlook on the situation and believe decision makers had good intentions.

At a Nov. 8 Student Government Association (SGA) meeting, budget cuts of $2.5 million were announced. The university has to cut spending due to low enrollment numbers at military campuses because of deployment.

Webster is home to many types of students - graduate, undergraduate, military, traditional, non-traditional and online. When one section's enrollment is down, usually another one will go up to suffice, said Deborah Dey, vice president of students and enrollment management. But this time the low enrollment at the military campuses was not offset by enough gain in other places.

"You can't restore what you don't have," Dey said. "If enrollment begins to grow, we can build back up. It's just a matter of time."

Residence hall construction is on schedule and did not affect the budget cuts in any way, Dey said. The university took out a loan and will pay it back with the students' rent, unless the administration underestimated the number of people who will enroll. Dey said she can't imagine there won't be enough people to fill the new residence halls since Maria Hall will be closed next year.

To increase enrollment for next year, the university is reviewing marketing plans and making office procedures more efficient. Instead of mailing things, like brochures, the university will make use of the Connections Portal, and post things on the Internet. Webster will still send people out to recruit, but will save money on paper and postage by using the Internet instead. Students can already apply online. Dey said the university hopes to perform financial aid transactions online in the future.

"Instead of having a major reliance on publications, the major reliance will be on the web," Dey said.

What will be cut?

Dey said it's hard to tell people exactly what will be cut because a lot of things are on the table and the university is still in the process of working things through. What they do know is spending needs to be cut, and the budget cuts will affect all campuses, worldwide.

Financial aid, course work opportunities, lighting, heating and full-time salaries are a few things that are set in stone and will not be cut in any way.

"The basic mission is to keep the core things preserved, but there will just have to be a minimal amount of activity on campus," Dey said.

Dey added that this will effect some students more than others, depending on how active the student is.

All 12 departments of student affairs were asked to cut spending by not traveling to conferences. All departments have also been coming up with their own ways to cut back spending. Some departments will only be minimally effected by the budget cuts - career services, counseling and life development and campus ministry.

Career services is one department that will be minimally effected since the main services offered are counseling and advising.

"Our staff continues to be available to meet with students and alumni to help them clarify and attain their goals," said O. Ray Angle, career services director.

Most expenses dealing with career services are administrative and internal, so budget cuts in that area will not affect the services provided to students, Angle said.

"I think that Webster University administrators have responded appropriately to the current financial situation in order to secure the future success and financial stability of the institution," Angle said.

Life development, counseling, campus ministry and the office of alcohol and drug education and prevention is another group of services that will not be greatly affected by the budget cuts. Therapists and interns will continue to provide the same services as before. Campus ministers have never been paid and the reason they are there is because students have asked them to be.

Patrick Stack, director of counseling, said the counseling department's budget traditionally is small, so they have been able to adapt more easily than other departments that have had to be more creative with programming.

"We have to extend the benefit of the doubt," Stack said. "I firmly believe the administration has good intentions. I'm not making the decisions; there are people who are paid to make those decisions. I work with what is presented to me. I see myself as a team player. We'll get out of this."

Stack said students should voice their concerns by using SGA "as an ally to vent their feelings in an appropriate way."

"No administrator would want to get rid of programming if it wasn't necessary," Stack said. "I think the people making the decision have the best interest in the university."

The athletic department has had to make some major cutbacks. The men's soccer team traveled to San Antonio, Texas Nov. 12 for the first round of the NCAA tournament. In the past when the team went, the NCAA paid for 27 people to go and the university covered the rest of the cost. But this year, two players had to stay behind since the university is cutting spending and couldn't afford to pay the remaining cost for the trip.

"It's reality," said Tom Hart, athletic director. "You make decisions based on reality, and the reality is, we have budget cuts."

The multicultural center and international student affairs (MCISA), like the athletic department, already has been cutting back. Some events from International Week Nov. 14 were cancelled.

"Keeping in mind that we are in a new era of Webster's development, some changes were necessary to try and help the university maintain financial liability," said Brandyn Woodard, international affairs adviser and coordinator.

To put on future events MCISA will collaborate with other student groups and organizations within the community so students can still experience the necessary social and educational values.

Affected worldwide

Extended campuses also are required to cut back and one way is by merging sections of classes together. A campus may offer a course with two sections and only six or seven people enroll in each section, Dey said. To save salaries and cut spending, Dey said those two sections will just combine into one, but the class size will never exceed 25 students. This mostly will affect extended campuses, and if it does affect the Webster Groves campus, it will be in upper-level graduate classes. No required classes for graduation will be cut.

"This approach is to be more efficient," Dey said. "All courses you would expect to find in the spring course book are there. Part of our core mission is to keep that intact."

Dey said there should be no concern of the university closing because it is "extremely healthy."

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