Faculty Senate Meeting 11-23-2009
To adjust to the end of federal economic stimulus funding to the states, WSC projects a need to cut the E&G budget by 5% in 09/10 and by another 5% in 10/11.
The meeting began with an opportunity for the Senator's to relate ideas submitted by their departments for cutting costs. We also looked over papers that showed how much money the college spent on various areas. It was evident that if every area other than salaries were cut to zero, the college's budget would still be in the red.
John Sowell presented the Administration's assessment of the college's looming budget shortfall. Since wages account for about 70% of the college's E&G (Educational and General) budget, there will need to be a certain number of positions eliminated. Not all departments will take the same hit. Attrition will make the process a bit easier, but not entirely. Departments that loose critical faculty through attrition will be allowed to hire new faculty. Other departments will be able to survive without replacing faculty who leave. The administration believes that cuts of 10% over two years must be made to what is budgeted for salaries. Although the Senate discussed salary cuts for faculty, the Administration has no plans to cut salaries to individuals. All cuts to the salary budget will be made by eliminating positions. The number of positions to be cut from each department will be determined before the end of the year. Future faculty staffing targets for each department will be revealed in Jan., 2010. Once these levels are known, some cuts will be required for the 2009/10 school year and others for the 2010/11 school year.
Mr. Sowell's comments were met with some consternation or distress on the part of various Senators who expressed the belief that it would be impossible to deliver courses to larger classes without a complete revamping of their curricula. Mr. Sowell sympathized with these concerns and said that his greatest fear was faculty burnout. He said that changes to the way classes are taught must be made in order to avoid faculty burnout. These changes will not be temporary, but permanent, since there are no indications that the State of Colorado's financial support for higher ed will be restored in the foreseeable future. Larger WSC class sizes will still be smaller than at many other Colorado colleges.
Although not finalized, the Administration is planning to increase tuition each of the next two years. A figure of 5% increase for each year was mentioned. WSC's tuition rate would remain lower than other Colorado colleges, especially since they are planning tuition increases that are higher than what WSC is anticipating.
At least one faculty member, it is reported, told a student that WSC could be closed down. This unknown faculty member was vicariously upbraided by some Senators. Everyone was encouraged not to make such comments to students because they are not true. Such talk is self-defeating because it could have a negative effect on enrollment.
The Administration said that the current economic reality has caused them to focus on cost cutting, rather than revenue generation, since this is the only area over which the college has control. This statement met with opposition by Senators. A resolution was created requesting that the Administration also focus on revenue generating ways to balance the budget. The resolution was voted on and passed unanimously.
