As the cloud of budgetary uncertainty continues to hang above the University, Chancellor Michael Martin announced recommendations to eliminate several University programs and centers.The recommendations, announced May 24 by Martin in a broadcast email, would save the University an estimated $3 million per year by eliminating the Bachelor of Arts degree in both German and Latin and the master’s degree in Library and Information Science, as well as a number of on-campus centers and institutes.
“These are difficult and heart-wrenching decisions, but they are decisions that must be made in light of the current fiscal crisis,” Martin said in the email. The proposal will be next presented to the Board of Supervisors for review, said Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope, who serves on the “rightsizing” committee Martin met with May 21 to discuss the cuts.Cope said many questions were raised when Martin presented the proposal, and though the cuts will be detrimental to the University, the committee decided they were the “least offensive” cuts under the present circumstances.Student Government President J Hudson, who will participate in the committee’s next meeting as a member, said any talk of cutting programs is difficult because of his commitment to enhancing the academic core.”Cutting departments students use on a daily basis is not enhancing the academic core,” he said. Janet McDonald, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the cuts could be harmful to the University’s Flagship Agenda.”I think it could hurt us as far as the Flagship Agenda goes, particularly in the humanities where people need to know Latin and German for certain types of studies,” McDonald said.Emily Batinksi, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, said German and Latin are fundamental for various branches of study, including philosophy, history and international studies.Cope said he expects the programs to be phased out rather than immediately eliminated to benefit students currently enrolled in them and because faculty members who will lose their jobs need at least a year’s notice.Batinksi said in addition to the initial loss of faculty that would come with these cuts, the University may also see long-term faculty loss because professors who are passionate about the languages will be attracted to universities where those programs have more prominence.”[The faculty members] are enthusiastic about teaching beginning and intermediate courses, but the real pleasure is when you have a student at that point that they can understand German philosophy and literature and so forth,” she said.Cope said the loss of these programs would have widespread harmful effects on academics at the University.”It’s also more than a matter of passion,” Cope said. “The students and young people of Louisiana are losing a certain range of opportunities.”McDonald said the proposed elimination of centers within the College of Arts and Sciences is another blow to that department.Closing the University’s Writing Center, which helps students with writing skills, will be a huge loss, McDonald said.”That one distresses me personally,” McDonald said. “Students, especially when they first come here, may need more help with their writing, and that resource will not be here anymore. That hits the students where it could hurt.”Batinski said she understands the chancellor is faced with difficult choices because of budget cuts but said she felt the faculty who work in these programs should have been consulted directly about the decision.”I am aware there is a committee involved that faculty sit on and staff and students and they are part of the decision-making process, but no one consulted with us,” Batinksi said. “I would have expected to say why should we continue [the programs] and that was never posed to me or any member of my department.”The state legislature has not yet made any concrete decisions about next year’s budget, and Cope said nothing is definite yet.”Until the legislature establishes a budget, almost anything is speculation,” he said. “This is what would happen if we continue on the path we’re apparently on.”Cope said the best thing for people associated with these programs to do is let legislators know how important both the programs and adequate funding for the University are.Hudson said he is in constant contact with legislators and urges students to do the same because every student has an important voice.”The great thing about students is we’re not only students, but also constituents,” he said.
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Contact Ryan Buxton at [email protected]