RW-BraveWolf

Wed Mar 10 2010 09:20

To "Concerned"...if you are dumbfounded as to how/why the University built the stadium and Greek Village, please read my previous post. I know it's pretty lengthy, but I think it does offer insight.

concerned

Mon Mar 8 2010 09:37

I have enjoyed my experience at West Ga. This is my 5th college i have attended as my job keeps me moving in various states. However, it IS a business, and costs and revenues must be looked at. It is sad that states have to balance their budgets while the federal government does not, (12.5 trillion in debt), and budget deficits. However, I too am dumbfounded why a University this size feels the need to construct a stadium for a team that generates little revenue and a greek villiage during times like this. If you wanted to spend money on something, how about improving the parking situation or do something about the ridiculous schedule requirements for summer classes. What professional senior in the RCOB can come to class during the day, five days a week! I have never thought about the core requirement elimination, that makes sense. Good suggestion mentioned above.

RW- BraveWolf

Wed Mar 3 2010 10:46

I know on the surface you may find hard to understand why/how these tough decisions are made and perhaps even harder to justify the existence of things like an underperforming athletics program and all of your shiny new buildings. It is however important to understand how these things are funded and what these budget reductions effect. As a UWG business grad (back in the day when we were “The Braves”), a veteran working in Higher Education, and a current employee of the University System of Georgia (here at UGA we have had pay cuts through about 1 furlough day per month since the school year started.), I would like to offer perspective and something to think about.

Janecia, I agree that we should look at where funds are going, however it is almost equally important to understand where those funds came from. If I remember correctly, neither the new football stadium, Greek Village, Student Center, residence halls were built using state money so their existence or absence has 0 effect on the state budget (other than operational costs). Athletics also receives no state funding as far as I know so cutting/eliminating would also have 0 effect on the state budget. Besides those facilities were planned and funded years in advance and also serve a purpose in recruiting and retaining students for UWG. Even schools with stronger academic reputations such as UGA or even Harvard would have trouble getting students to enroll if the campus looked like a piece of crap. Would you have come to UWG if the facilities and grounds did not look appealing?

It would be as if someone gave you $1000 cash as a Christmas gift which you deposited into your bank account and then bought a new flat screen TV and a laptop. A month later, your boss lets you know that the company will not survive if they don’t do something drastic, so they have decided to deduct $1,200 from each employees March paycheck. You tell your boss that you need your money and that you don’t have $1,200 to spare. His response to you is “So how could you spend $1000 on a TV and a laptop last month?” That $1000 gift was your money to spend and came from a funding source that had nothing to do with your earned wages from your job. It would be a bit unfair to criticize you for spending it on electronics.

As the article pointed out, the recent request to prepare to slash the additional $8 mil out of UWG’s budget was a directive from the state government. Up until this point, President Sethna and his administration had been a good steward of UWG’s budget and a champion for UWG students and their needs. There have been efforts for the past few years to make cuts here and there all while trying to keep your faculty and staff employed and not sacrifice the quality of your UWG education or campus experience and UWG has gone above and beyond trying to reach that goal…and now they (along with all other state colleges and universities) are asked to dig even deeper.

To give you a bit of perspective, here at UGA, President Adams was asked to cut an additional $60 million. His proposed plan includes things like Laying off 1,418 faculty and staff, eliminating custodial workers (1/4 of campus bathrooms will not be regularly restocked, campus trash will be emptied once a month and classrooms would not be cleaned daily), Closing the Rec Center and student center 5 hours early every day, eliminating academic programs, and drastically reducing hours in libraries. So the state ends up saving $60 million but it will cost students much more than that.

Janecia

Tue Mar 2 2010 19:54

I don't understand how the University of West Georgia can build a coliseum, a football field, buy new buses, and fund Greek Village, but yet they want to cut people's majors. Let's really look at where funds are going. Is it in education or extracurricular activities?

Anonymous

Tue Mar 2 2010 16:06

I personally have never understood the need for CORE classes. If you have just graduated from high school, you've just finished up four years of Science, English, Math and History. Why have to take those classes UNLESS it pertains to your particular major? All it does is add years on to how long it takes to actually get a degree and adds more cost onto an already strapped student.
Cut some REQUIRED CORE CLASSES and get on with the degree.

David

Tue Mar 2 2010 16:03

Get rid of the west georgian? I kid I kid.........but seriously..

Sean L.

Mon Mar 1 2010 07:29

For those privy to such data, cutting the athletics department is absolutely useless.

Anonymous

Sun Feb 28 2010 10:38

it is all business as usual

Sabihando

Sat Feb 27 2010 18:10

FrankC - I completely agree with you in that the cuts will have devastating effects on our institution as well as our community. However, that being said, these cuts should not come as a surprise, nor should anyone have any idealistic hope of preventing them from taking place. This action is simply a response, though regretfully a necessary one, to the systemic failure of an inherently flawed system of government and economics. Until we as a society are willing to abandon a system that accepts greed and personal gain for a select few as the normal state of affairs, one which is allowed to take priority over a true representative democracy and the needs of the many, we will continue to see the violent expansion and contraction of these bubbles. What we are seeing today is the redistribution of wealth unlike any since the period of 1923 until 1929. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) It should not come as a surprise to any educated person. It should instead be a rallying call for revolution, a non-violent one, but a revolution all the same. If we are not will to stand against tyranny, we deserve everything we get.

FrankC

Sat Feb 27 2010 13:48

Ellis, you have a point. But I hope you recognize that a program in an academic institution is much more than just a piece of paper. Colleges (and departments in them) are much more than a tunnel for students to get a degree to get a job. They are a vibrant community of learners, teachers, and others who work very hard to support and teach students important skills and worldviews, such as critical thinking (or learning how to learn). They work in the community too, and help create a culture of learning that helps support Carrollton and the region as a whole. (They are also individuals with families who contribute to their communities in their own ways.) When a program is cut, it's more than just the piece of paper that disappears. So does the inherent wisdom, passion, service, and community that students and the culture at large otherwise can not participate in. In most cases, programs that might be cut were build and developed over decades, in some cases 100 years. A quick decision to save a few dollars this year can not bring that long history back once it's gone. Extinction really is forever.

KH

Sat Feb 27 2010 11:49

You make a good point there, Ellis.

FrankC

Sat Feb 27 2010 08:06

Just for some perspective here. 8 million is a huge cut. Draconian. The typical faculty member here makes something like $60,000 per year. After the current furloughs, that's more like $55,000. Cutting tutoring, services, etc. won't save as much as laying off untenured faculty and firing entire departments (which is what a programmatic change is.) 8 million is something like cutting 145 faculty positions. That would be most of the College of Arts and Sciences! The first departments to go will likely be the small programs that don't graduate large numbers of students. Departments like anthropology, geography, geology, etc. Yes, they might not graduate many majors, but there's still a huge impact. Everyone needs science courses for the CORE. Imagine if biology, chemistry, astronomy, or physics are the only ones you can take to graduate. And with cutbacks, there will be many, many fewer courses offered each semester. If tutoring's cut, there will be even more students failing, which makes it even harder to get into a course the following semester.

Those students who have a hard time getting into a CORE class now will find it very, very much harder with these cuts. Even if your major isn't cut, you may not be able to get into any of the CORE classes you need to graduate in your major. And you'll be taking much harder core courses, where the competition to get in and pass will be harder. This one-time budget cut will dramatically change the face of UWG for decades to come!

Anonymous

Fri Feb 26 2010 17:42

Maybe if the state would stop spending money prosecuting and housing prisoners convicted of possession of small amounts of marijuana they might could keep the universities funded. They could also save money by not executing people in a act of vengeance and instead just keep them incarcerated for life it's cheaper.

Sean

Fri Feb 26 2010 13:45

Here is a better idea: Cut the sports program, at least until they are off probation (2014, I believe).

Let the ones running that soup sandwich pay for their sins, instead of making our professors (and US!) pay the price.

Anonymous

Fri Feb 26 2010 12:22

If this happens...every incumbent just lost my vote.

Ellis

Fri Feb 26 2010 10:20

Good luck UWG. This sucks for you, but remember that a degree is just a piece of paper, what's important is the experience you get for yourself. If your major goes away, that doesn't mean you have to stop learning and working to achieve your goals.

Maggie

Fri Feb 26 2010 08:35

While your comment is comical, I just want to point out to other readers it isn't Sethna or the Chancellor that wants to make any cuts, it's the Ga. Legislature. Sethna and the Chancellor just have to follow orders.

Sabihando

Fri Feb 26 2010 00:32

Okay, first let's get rid of History; everyone knows it's nothing but old news. Then we can lose all the of Business programs, because with the economy in the toilet there aren't any lucrative corporate jobs available. Next, let's do-in the Education majors since the state can't afford to hire any new teachers. Political Science can go, too. After all, nobody needs a degree to be a politician or a government worker. We can drop Psychology, too; it's just folk medicine. Let's see... oh yeah, let's trash Mass Communications and get rid of this rag. If that's not enough of a savings for us, Dr. Sethna and Chancellor Davis would surely give us a year pro-bono, wouldn't they?