New faces and new consolidations
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
More adjuncts will be brought in to teach classes for the College of Education and Human Services as current faculty and staff take the early retirement incentive, or get laid off, said the college’s dean, Carol Strong.
“Classes may be taught by adjuncts who are paid per class taught and are not on contract,” Strong said. “At this point that is the primary plan we’re looking at.”
Strong said some positions may not be replaced at all, which would result in larger class sizes for students. Other classes may only be taught every other semester, or every other year, depending on the necessity of the class, she said.
As classes back up due to fewer teachers and courses offered, Strong said there is the possibility students will be delayed in their graduation.
“We hope that such a delay doesn’t occur, but it is possible,” she said. “However, we’ll get them all in, and we’ll get them done; it’ll be a little different operating procedures.”
Strong said all seven departments in the college will remain intact and no programs will be cut. The college will also move forward with many of their initiatives, including the exercise science program which is coordinating with the pre-physical therapy program, and the STEM education program which encourages students to pursue careers in the fields of science, mathematics and education, she said.
The college will also continue forward with the construction of a new education building, which is being helped along with a $25 million gift from the Emma Eccles Jones Foundation.
“We’ll be the center with the largest impact in early childhood education in the intermountian region within the decade,” Strong said.
Even though Strong said her college is having to purge 5 percent of its budget, state-funded money – which is what is being cut from the university – is only a portion of what the college operates on. Strong said they also receive significant amounts of funding through distance education and research. A variety of clinics around Logan also generate revenue for the college, she said.
While students will notice new faces around the college, and increased class sizes in select subjects, Strong said she doesn’t expect her students to feel a strong impact from the budget cuts. Most of the impact will land on the faculty and staff whose salaries are funded largely through state money, she said.
College of Agriculture
The consolidation of USU’s animal farms, and the postponement of certain initiatives is what students in the College of Agriculture can expect next year, said Noelle Cockett, the college’s dean.
Currently, the College of Agriculture has animal farms along 1400 North in Logan where they raise sheep, horses and more for educational purposes, Cockett said. The plan is to move all the existing farms to the south farm where the AG Teaching and Research Center is located. This will consolidate all of USU’s animal farms in a central location, and will save the college money, she said.
“That’s actually an advantage to our students because it puts everything in one area, and it’ll save the college money,” Cockett said.
While Cockett said it is her hope this move will save money, she said the college may not have all the species it currently has. To determine which animals will leave, she said the college will look at how large the industry involving that species is in Utah, in addition to the number of students involved in that program.
“We are looking at programs that are growing and are relevant,” Cockett said. “Students may not have quite as many options.”
Budget reductions will also make it harder for the college to move forward with initiatives it has been looking into, Cockett said.
“We were going to add more people to AG communications department; we’ll have to put that off for now. It won’t shrink, it just won’t grow for now,” she said.
However, this does not mean all initiatives are being put on the back burner. Cockett said her college has been planning to build an equine education center by the south farm, and has the intention of moving forward with those plans. She said there is also the opportunity for the College of Agriculture to build a new facility on the east side of the Quad.
Other than these minor changes, Cockett said she doesn’t anticipate the students in her college will notice much when they return to school next fall.
“It just sounds crazy, but I don’t think our students are going to notice much,” she said.
Unlike most colleges at Utah, the College of Agriculture is able to generate revenue in forms other than grants and donations, Cockett said. In the past Aggie Ice Cream has been funded largely through state dollars; however, it will soon be funded solely on its own revenue, which will allow the college to use that money to make up for cuts in other areas, she said.
Cockett said her college, too, may experience layoffs; however, early retirement may free up enough money to save jobs.
College of Natural Resources
Loosing too many faculty members in the College of Natural Resources would decrease the amount of external funding received, and could perpetuate budget problems, said the college’s dean, Nat Frazer.
“I did a survey in 2006 of all the money spent by our college, and 48 percent of what we spent was generated through external funds received by faculty members,” Frazer said.
While Frazer said he is unsure at this time if there will be a need for personnel cuts, he said there is the possibility. If there are cuts, Frazer said it will be necessary for professors to step up and take on extra responsibilities.
As a result of fewer professors, Frazer said class sizes might increase, but not by much. He said his college is working diligently to ensure students are affected as little as possible by these cuts.
Frazer also said he is impressed with the way his college, the remaining six colleges around campus and USU’s central administrators have handled budget reductions.
“From what I’ve seen, having been at other organizations under similar circumstances, everyone is handling budget cuts in the most humane way possible, which makes me very proud to be under Stan Albrecht’s administration,” Frazer said.
–greg.boyles@aggiemail.usu.edu