Colleges make their way through budget cuts
This year’s $9.5 million budget cut has brought challenges to each college and department, but they are working to overcome the difficulties.
Donald W. Fiesinger, interim dean for the College of Science, said his college lost 60 percent of its operating budget. As a result, 30 telephones were removed from the college. Reduced funding has impacted field trips, lab activities, faculty traveling, and academic interaction with visiting scholars and researchers, he said.
The College of Science hasn’t eliminated any faculty or staff positions but has cut some student-assistant jobs.
“I don’t believe [the budget cut] has any impact on research,” Fiesinger said.
It has a strong master’s program, and the faculty members are able to seek funding through external research contracts, he said.
They highly depend on discretionary donations from alumni and friends, as well as some overhead returns from faculty research, to cover some essentials, Fiesinger said.
Gerry Giordano, dean of the College of Education, said his college received $10 million from the state last year. It was reduced by $600,000 this year. Of the $10 million, 96 percent is allocated for personnel salary, and the rest is used as operating expenditure, he said.
“We are committed to offering all the courses that the students need even because of the budget cut,” he said. “It’s our highest priority.”
All the courses, services and class sections are proceeding as before. No student assistantships or faculty and staff positions were cut, Giordano said.
The College of Education reduced operating budgets, which are used for photocopying, telephone services, printing, faculty traveling and meetings, he said.
The only service it has cut that affects students is in the technology center. The college is unable to hire students to keep it open as much as it was last year, Giordano said.
Some departments use money from their research contract grants to compensate for shortfall in operating budgets and help support academic operation, he said.
This temporarily solves the problem. However, diverting the use of those grants causes research to suffer. In turn, the college may not get such contracts in the future, Giordano said.
“It’s like putting a finger in a leaking dike,” he said.
Caryn Beck-Dudley, dean of the College of Business, said her college suffered a lot this year, because its main financial sources are the students and the state.
There is no operating budget in the College of Business this year, so leaders have to find alternatives that will offset the cuts, she said.
The college limited the number of courses offered during summer semester and have closed several class sections. Some part-time student jobs and assistantships have been eliminated, she said.
“It’s really the students who are affected by the budget cut,” Beck-Dudley said.
The College of Business has 2,500 students and fewer than 60 faculty members. Students are already in large classes, she said.
Every faculty member is dedicated to teaching the classes at capacity, she said.
However, if the economy won’t improve, some faculty members seek jobs somewhere else. So they are trying to raise money from private endowments, which are expected to help support faculty traveling, meetings and research, she said.
Business aims to give students high-quality education, and “the only way we can do it is to have fewer of them,” she said.
Leaders have raised the college’s admission requirements, because they are unable to offer as many classes as before, and they are looking for four-year scholarships for the students, she said.
Thomas Kent, dean of the Graduate School, said budget cuts hamper their goal of improving graduate education.
“This year we are on a bumpy road,” he said.
House Bill 331 makes many graduate students unable to gain residency at their expected time, so the graduate leaders are trying their best to help the students, Kent said.
They didn’t change the number of student scholarships and fellowships given. In fact, they are making efforts to increase financial aid for students, he said.
They cut operating and overhead costs and reallocated money from grants to better graduate study and maintain financial support for students, Kent said.
Graduate school staff members are very dedicated to their work, he said. Some work extra hours for no payment.
“We are slowing down, but we are still making progress,” Kent said. “I am optimistic that we will be back on the paved road.”
-leleyang@cc.usu.edu