Friday, January 16, 2009

Weber State facing layoffs. 55 faculty members could be cut!

During the recent Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee meeting last Tuesday, the future of Utah's higher education system took a turn for the worse. Having sat on a board of trustees, I have known a few college presidents and board of regent members; therefore I can imagine the feeling in the room as these cuts were being discussed. Overall, higher education will be taking a major hit with cuts of 7.5 percent (plus the 4 percent from last September) and these could go even higher.

Anne Milner, Weber State President, spoke at the meeting about how this will affect our local university. President Milner laid out her defense starting with the pros of Weber State, mentioning their goal has been to try to make sure programs meet the needs of the community. This reflects the fact that over 20 percent of Weber grads are in health professions with most staying in Utah. However since the September cuts, Weber has had a hiring freeze and as a result has eliminated 38 positions. In addition they have postponed capital projects, like a 55 year old boiler replacement.

President Milner continued by explaining how Weber State would handle the proposed 7.5 percent cut, she said, "This will be very hard." Weber will be looking to eliminate all working capital projects and cancel every capital expenditure including emergency maintenance. (This would cause a problem when the state audits the university every year for maintenance issues.) Next there would be a staff furlough to eliminate costs. However the worst will be a 10 million dollar cut in the Weber State budget, eliminating up to 150 positions. 60 percent of these positions will be eliminated via layoffs! Yes you heard it--layoffs; including 95 staff members and 55 faculty members. In a time with record enrollment numbers, people who need education, and the need for more teachers, we will be cutting teachers. Does this make sense?
President Milner concluded, "We need to balance the needs of the state both in the short term and in the long term. We need to make sure we are not doing things that will cause harm to the long term ability to meet the business needs of the community and increase economic development."
One of the best economic plans people can have at this time is a J-O-B! If higher education is the way to this job keep higher education, ATC's, and public education away from the cuts. According to the subcommittee it is reported Utah schools saw a 12,000 enrollment increase and is expected to see a higher enrollment in 2009. So why are we making it harder for people to go to school? It was mentioned during the 1980's recession, the legislature did everything it could to hold cuts from higher education.

11.5 percent in cuts is too high! The economy of Ogden cannot afford to lose potential accreditation of programs, jobs, and students.

Hold Higher Ed harmless!

Let's put our heads together and find away to avoid such drastic cuts.

You can listen to the entire meeting and future meetings at this link

Comments welcome.

2 comments:

Jess said...

My brother is in law school at UNLV, and he said the Nevada Legislature is proposing more than 50% in cuts to higher ed. He was attending a rally at the school last night, but I haven't heard how it went. Love the blog! Keep it up.

BenJoeM said...

Thanks for the post. I know it is scary stuff. I have another post coming with more details on the cuts. But we are lucky we are not in Nevada.