During the past year, the Utah State Legislature has been hesitant to subsidize budget cuts in higher education with the surplus Rainy Day Fund. Lawmakers might be right—it isn’t raining at the U; the sky is falling.
During last year’s session, the Legislature cut the U’s budget by 9 percent, which resulted in a 9.5 percent tuition increase in addition to an array of departmental cuts. This year, President Barack Obama’s stimulus package softened the blow, but it was only a one-time deal.
In the absence of stimulus money, the Legislature is considering a 17 percent cut from the U’s 2010 budget. The 9 percent budget cut strained the U to its limits—a 17 percent cut might split it at the seams.
Before the 9 percent budget cut, the history department employed four assistant professors. This year, the department employs only one. If a 9 percent budget cut can cause the elimination of one-fourth of a department’s assistant professors, the repercussions of a cut nearly twice as drastic are hard to imagine.
How do you cut even more funding from a department with just one assistant professor? Many departments would have no choice but to eliminate assistant and adjunct professor positions, and pay cuts are not unlikely. In the event of pay cuts, retaining qualified faculty members will become increasingly difficult. The domino effect would continue, damaging both the availability and quality of U courses.
Last fall, the English department offered six class times for its high-volume English 3700 series. This fall, the number was cut in half, leading to larger class sizes or forcing students to procrastinate taking the course. With another 17 percent cut on the horizon, what course offerings can students expect in 2010?
The U’s research programs would not go unscathed. If the U is unable to pay core facilities employees, many research labs would not survive, sending research money elsewhere.
In a radio interview last month with Jeff Robinson on KCPW, U President Michael Young correctly said further budget cuts would no doubt impact the quality of education at the U. Not only will tuition likely undergo a drastic increase, students will be paying significantly more for fewer professors, fewer course offerings and larger class sizes.
Gov. Gary Herbert’s calls for “efficiency” in higher education fall on deaf ears at a university already spread thin. Herbert’s concept of efficiency is a pleasant euphemism for financial and educational inadequacy. It is cruel irony that such detrimental higher education budget cuts are being discussed during the tenure of a governor who didn’t complete college.
the Legislature approves a 17 percent cut to higher education, it will stretch departments to their breaking points. Not only would the U’s growth be handicapped, but it also wouldn’t be able to prevent a regression in educational standards. It is time for the Utah Board of Regents and Young to draw a line in the sand.
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Maybe the legislature should consider boosting the math department's budget ...