As one of the many repercussions of state-wide budget cuts, academic departments at the University of Wisconsin will experience cutbacks in class selection and teaching staff for next year’s term.
The university has asked all departments within the Letters and Science College to prioritize 10 percent of their budgets for possible reductions. Other colleges within the university have faced similar requests.
“If really dramatic budget cuts get enacted, it will be a body-blow,” School of Journalism and Mass Communications chair Sharon Dunwoody said, noting that staff and faculty would face not only serious salary cuts, but also the possibility of losing their job.
Such cuts not only pose danger to faculty but also to the student body.
As Mark Beissinger, chair of the political science department, noted, such cutbacks pose problems in various aspects of students’ lives.
For example, the political science department, which has more than 10 percent of the major selections in Letters and Science, has been forced to close down numerous classes for the fall term, and as a result, those majoring in this area may have greater difficulty meeting the requirements.
“It will exacerbate an already-existing problem,” he said, noting that students had problems getting into their desired classes even before the cutbacks.
UW freshman Mike Williams expressed similar sentiment, fearing that if such cuts are taking place now, he will have great difficulty not only fulfilling all his requirements in four years but also finding a desired major route.
“It’s really disappointing because limited class listings will make it more difficult for me to find and/or get into the classes that interest me…But because classes have been cut I have less chance of finding that class that will be particularly inspiring to me,” he added.
As Beissinger also pointed out, several classes within the political science department will no longer utilize teaching assistants because “once you get over a certain level, you incur costs.” He said that TAs in the department face possible job loss.
“I’m against the cuts, obviously. At this point in time, we don’t know how deep it will cut. It’s potential effect is quite serious. We’ll survive, but [the cutbacks] could be serious enough to push us down,” Beissinger said, adding that management of the economic issues will play an integral role in the overall effects of the reductions.
Beissinger said the ultimate fate of the university is one that, “lies in the hands of the legislature … Hopefully the state legislature will be wise to restore what was cut.”
As of now, Dunwoody is confident that the journalism and mass communications major will not face the same threats that loom over the political science department, but she added, “Our students will be quite unhappy with course availability.”
Although both Beissinger and Dunwoody attribute an already-minimal number of faculty within their departments as contributing to the lowered course selections, they fear the state’s current economic recessions could create a slippery slope for future problems.
One such predicament involves student tuition, which is right now rated as among the lowest within the Big Ten University realm.
“The impact of students relative to the institution’s budget cut will be felt … financially if tuition and/or fees are raised to help offset the cuts,” Dean of Students LuoLuo Hong said, adding that course selections and availability will also greatly impinge on the student body.
“In the student services areas, students may experience a decrease in the level of services or an increase in response time; also, the amount of student-focused programming will decrease as many cuts had to be taken out of those areas,” Hong said. “I personally hope that in the future our lost funds will not only be restored but expanded, but I am afraid that we are facing a period of rough times.”
