PA Budget Impacts on Campus
The 2011-12 state budget cut funding for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education by more than $90 million -- resulting in a 7.5 percent tuition hike for students. The 14 state-owned universities have also seen larger class sizes and fewer faculty and staff this year.
- Here's a report from a student at Lock Haven University:
I have seen larger class sizes (didn't affect me in my personal tiny classes), I have heard of our scene shop paying student workers fewer hours, and I lost a professor in my department due to the cut. Now I must return back to learning under a professor who is not able to help me become a better musician. (I'm a music ed/theater performance major)- And here's another one from Clarion University:
- Students at Cheyney University reported that classmates would be unable to return for the fall semester because of the increase in tuition:
- “My friend from New York, she went home,” said Burnett, 21, a hotel and restaurant science major from Philadelphia. “(She) said she owed Cheyney so much money, she couldn’t afford it.” Burnett said about 20 out-of-state friends’ faces would no longer be seen on Cheyney’s campus, due to tuition hikes.
- A student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania mentioned that several classmates were taking off a semester or more to avoid additional college loans:
- Shippensburg is seeing larger class sizes:
- Class sizes are a particular concern, Finucane said. In the past, SU has had a reputation for keeping classes smaller, he said, until last year. "To get one more section - this was like squeezing blood out of a turnip." Finucane said. A section costs about $5,000, he said, and they were "doled out one at a time." Finucane estimated more than 150 classes were overloaded, and that almost all of them served freshmen.
- Edinboro will be cutting faculty and staff positions -- which will likely result in larger classes for students:
- Edinboro officials expect to save about $1.8 million after cutting 11 vacant positions, hiring 10 employees at lower salaries than their predecessors and not filling 17 positions until the spring. Those positions are a mix of faculty, staff and administration. The university employs about 850 people. Herbst said the cuts won't mean eliminating programs, but could mean larger classes for some of the approximately 8,700 students at the school.
- Kutztown University eliminated 47 positions, including 11 furloughs:
- Budget reductions included eliminating the 47 positions ($1.9 million), lowering expenditures through retirements ($700,00) and savings from previously announced academic reductions ($1.2 million). The 47 eliminated jobs included the 11 furloughs, 25 vacant positions, six from last year's academic program reductions and five employees transferred to other positions, said university spokesman Sean Dallas.
- IUP is also making cuts -- 52 positions, including 10 furloughs:
- Indiana University of Pennsylvania will eliminate 52 positions - most through attrition but 10 through furloughs - to help the state university reduce a $7.75 million budget deficit in the 2011-12 fiscal year. Ten managers and staff members - five full-time and five part-time - have been furloughed through the process, said IUP spokeswoman Michelle Fryling.
- The English department chair at Slippery Rock, Dr. Jace Condravy described how the university has eliminated a writing course from its graduation requirements, cut the time students spent in science labs and cut back on funding for professional development.
Dr. Paul Quinn is a physics professor at Kutztown, and he explained how his university has cut an advising center for undeclared students and increased class sizes, which means less one-on-one time with students.
As the English department chair at Clarion, Dr. Elizabeth MacDaniel expressed her concern with cancellations of upper-level classes, which are important for majors to complete their degree on time.
- Dr. Pablo Delis, a biology professor at Shippensburg, described how budget cuts have made it more difficult for students to get hands-on experience in science.
- Mathematics professor Marc Sylvester explained how the loss of tenured faculty and their replacement with temporary faculty affects students' educational experiences.
