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Arizona Merges Fine Arts Into Already Huge New College
Tweet Share on Facebook February 27, 2009 CommentMuch like the Arizona State system, the University of Arizona is trimming its budget. Arizona likely will merge the College of Fine Arts into the newly combined Colleges of Letters, Arts, and Sciences (formerly four separate colleges, until restructuring plans were announced in December) and eliminate several College of Education degrees.
With the addition of the fifth school, the Colleges of Letters, Arts and Sciences will now house more than half of the undergraduate students at the University of Arizona. Officials estimate the entire consolidation process will save the university about $2 million, which will barely put a dent in the $76 million in state cuts the school faces.
Meanwhile, the education school has proposed to cut two bachelor's degrees—secondary education and physical education. Future secondary education students will be rerouted into a similar master's degree program while current students will be able to continue their degree as planned.
The physical education degree is being cut entirely because of lack of demand. "We found that after researching local schools and statistics, there was not a real critical need for physical education teachers at this time," an education professor told the Daily Wildcat..
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Tennessee Halts Chancellor Search
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2009 CommentUniversity hiring freezes are the norm nowadays, but the Tennessee Board of Regents—which controls Tennessee's six state universities, 13 community colleges, and 26 technology centers—is taking it to the next level, suspending its search for a new chancellor.
The board cited the economy and a potential restructuring of the state's entire higher education system, and it has asked the current chancellor, who had planned to retire, to stay on for the time being.
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Maryland Accepts More Out-of-State Students
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2009 Comment (3)Worried that a sour economy will drastically decrease the number of out-of-state admitted students who choose to enroll and consequently the amount of tuition coming in, the University of Maryland has accepted more nonresident students this year compared with last, the Diamondback reports.
The numbers:
- Nonresidents pay $21,637 a year; residents pay $6,566.
- Nonresidents make up 24 percent of the student body (70 percent of the student body must be in-state students, a Board of Regents policy dictates).
- Nonresidents make up more than half the university's tuition revenue. "We're dependent on the 24 percent to balance the budget," said John Blair, the university's director of budget and fiscal analysis.
- For every 1,000 in-state students enrolled instead of out-of-state students, the university loses $15 million, Blair said.
University officials say the school isn't necessarily hoping to boost the number of out-of-state students who enroll but instead is making an effort to maintain the current ratio.
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Suicide Attempts Up at UC-Santa Barbara
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2009 Comment (1)UC-Santa Barbara has noticed a spike in student suicide attempts, the Daily Nexus reports. Counseling services on campus reported four suicide attempts this quarter (starting January 5) and recorded a 22 percent increase between 2006 and 2007.
There is only speculation about why the numbers have gone up (the economy, the September 11 attacks), but officials stress that there is a difference between suicide and suicide attempts. "Out of the UCs, we have fewer suicides," counseling services director Jeanne Stanford said. "What we've seen here, though, is an increase in suicide attempts and an increase in people thinking about suicide."
Budget cuts most likely aren't helping the situation. A proposal for a suicide prevention program has been tabled, and an effort to hire more counselors to bring the psychologist-to-student ratio closer to 1 to 1,500, rather than the current 1 to 1,900, has also gone nowhere of late. Instead, the school has set up a 24-hour suicide prevention hotline and will continue to rely on student health services, which houses two social workers, a full medical staff, and a psychiatry program.
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More Schools End Russell Contract
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2009 Comment (2)In addition to Wisconsin, Georgetown, Rutgers, Miami, and Houston, several more schools have dropped their Russell Athletic contracts following allegations that the company closed a factory in Honduras after unionizing efforts took place.
The schools:
Cornell University
Harvard University
Penn State University
Purdue University
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of WashingtonAm I missing anyone else?
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Texas Businessman Creates Branding Problem for Stanford
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2009 Comment (1)What happens when you share a name with a disgraced Texas businessman who has been accused of running an $8 billion Ponzi scheme? First thing's first: You issue a press release, which is exactly what Stanford University did soon after news of Robert Allen Stanford's alleged wrongdoings broke.
To clarify, from the Stanford Daily:
- Stanford University has no formal ties to Robert Stanford.
- Over the past 10 years or so, the university has sued the businessman and his holdings several times over trademark infringement. They say he has used "willfully confusing imitations" of the Stanford University brand on his company website, on company apparel, advertisements in The New York Times, and sponsorships of various sporting events.
- Stanford (the man) has said he is related to Leland Stanford, the college's founder. The school and its archivists said it has not been able to find any familial ties.
- Stanford (the man) donated $2.5 million to the Leland Stanford Mansion Foundation and is a member of the organization's board, according to the foundation's website. The mansion is not affiliated directly with the university (only that they share the same namesake) and is actually a historic state park.
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UConn Tutoring Hit Twice by Budget Cuts
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2009 CommentThe writing and math tutoring centers at the University of Connecticut have been hit with a budget double whammy this year. As funding has been cut 3 percent schoolwide, the two tutoring centers have seen the number of visits skyrocket, presumably because students are turning to the study centers because face time with professors and teaching assistants is becoming scarce, the Daily Campus reports.
In particular, the math department has reduced the number of classes and increased class size. At the same time, the Quantitative Learning Center saw the number of visits jump from 7,000 visits in the fall 2007 to 9,279 this past fall.
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UMass to Increase Tuition 15 Percent
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2009 Comment (7)The University of Massachusetts trustees are likely to approve a 15 percent tuition hike for all in-state students. That is a $1,500 increase, bringing the average tuition to $11,000 a year. The fee hike would take effect next year.
Along with the tuition hike, the five-campus system plans to reduce spending by about $50 million.
Meanwhile, the faculty at the University of Massachusetts in both Amherst and Boston has agreed to a wage freeze this year. The contract deal, reached Friday, raises salaries by 1.5 percent next year and 3.5 percent the following year.
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Yale, Duke Halt Growth, Thanks to Economy
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2009 CommentYale president Richard Levin announced that construction on two new residential colleges would be delayed, and that the parts of the university's budget—staff salaries and nonpersonnel costs—would be reduced 7.5 percent as opposed to the previously reported 5 percent.
Duke is preparing plans to "gradually" shrink its budget by more than 5 percent per year, roughly $100 million, over about two years. "What you're going to see is Duke become a smaller place over time," said Duke's executive vice president. Personnel will likely be hit first, with likely hundreds of nonvital positions left unfilled.
The University of Idaho has warned six nontenured faculty in its math department to start looking for jobs. Although they have not yet been formally laid off, a 7 to 10 percent budget cut is not a particularly encouraging outlook.
About 250 employees at Iowa State have volunteered for furloughs, saving the university around $420,000 or approximately 7 percent of the budget cuts needed.
Texas Christian University's athletic department is cutting back, making plans order equipment in bulk, planning travel further in advance, and scheduling competitions that are closer to home.
Bowling Green State University will cut off Saturday mail service in the dorms, which will save the school $50,000 a year.
Nicholls State University has cut the free printing allotment for students from 250 pages a semester to 100.
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Ann Coulter Causes Stir at New Jersey
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2009 Comment (25)The College of New Jersey hosted Ann Coulter last week, and as could be expected, a trail of controversy was left in her wake. Coulter was invited by the College Republicans and gave a 45-minute speech that plugged her new book, Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America
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Thirty minutes into the speech, up to 50 students staged a planned protest, standing up, and walking out of the auditorium, a disruption that protest planners called a "great success." The speech was also preceded by an old-fashioned sign-holding and yelling protest.
The excitement, of course, did not end there. At a book signing after the event, one student was arrested for disorderly conduct, and that student is now alleging the police showed "aggression and unprofessionalism" during the arrest. Police officials say they are looking into the accusation.