The Faculty Senate again joined in the statewide conversation concerning higher education budget cuts.
Resolution 15-10, “Comprehensive Approaches to Higher Education Funding,” introduced at the April meeting, urges LSU President F. King Alexander and the Louisiana Legislature to “find budget solutions that will allow for the full funding of the entirety of Louisiana higher education.”
Alexander told the Faculty Senate in February not to panic until Gov. Bobby Jindal announced his executive budget. With the numbers in, faculty senators are ready to act.
The changes could lead to more than $600 million cut from higher education if there is no intervention by the state Legislature, the resolution says, and more than $200 million cut if the governor’s proposal passes.
The resolution criticizes the state’s higher education funding and lack of collaboration between university systems.
Some leaders across the state are using the fiscal situation as a rallying cry to bring the systems together.
House Bill 60, authored by state Rep. Thomas Carmody, R-Shreveport, and being debated in the current legislative session, would abolish the system management boards and replace them with a single Postsecondary Education Board of Trustees, which could lead to better collaboration among the campuses.
“You will see this tone come up now and then that some campuses will be all right and other campuses will not be all right,” said Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope, adding the resolution is an “expression of the thought that we are in this together.”
Cope said while some think the higher education system is too extensive and there are too many public universities, he disagrees.
“[States] only have too many colleges when you have too many educated people,” he said.
The resolution was introduced at the request of the Association of Louisiana Faculty Senates and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Southeastern Louisiana University faculty senates.
The senate also discussed Resolution 15-09, which would support a Student Government resolution limiting the number of midterm exams within a 24-hour period.
Many senators were skeptical of the resolution, citing concerns over a structured midterm week and more stress on students.
Senator Charles Delzell, associate chair for instruction in the Department of Mathematics, then proposed removing midterm week from the academic calendar because many faculty do not give designated midterm exams.
The resolution will not affect the reporting of midterm grades.