Faculty ponder effects of cuts, hiring freeze

Some worry changes may alter students' experiences, make programs less effective

Recent state budget cuts have hit JMU hard, forcing the university to place a temporary freeze on hiring, salary increases, equipment purchases and travel.

Facing a revenue shortfall of $3.5 billion in the next two years, Governor Mark Warner has modified former Gov. James Gilmore's 2002-'04 proposed budget by freezing salaries for state employees and teachers, according to a Jan. 23 Washington Post article. The cuts also allow Virginia public colleges to raise tuition by as much as 5 percent, a move that could generate $29 million for the state.

In addition, Gov. Warner has recommended cutting the 2 percent salary increase promised to teachers, professors and other state employees by Gov. Gilmore, The Washington Post said.

The sting of these budget cuts has not gone unfelt at JMU.

Janet Daniel, assistant professor of biology, has taught at JMU since fall of 1999 and said she is uneasy about how she and other instructors will be able to run their programs and teach their classes effectively.

"The hiring freezes and budget cuts concern me because of the threat they pose to our mission in higher-education teaching," Daniel said. "In this way, the ones who are most at risk are our students. With only four years here, if two or three years are tight, it can change the flavor of a student's experience here."

The hiring freeze has already affected Michele Russell, an SCOM instructor who was applying for the job at JMU just last year. "I had gone through the interview process, but then the university told me the position was frozen," Russell said. "The department couldn't offer me a position."

During the five weeks that JMU kept her on hold during the freeze, Russell began to look for teaching jobs in other states. The SCOM department finally offered a job soon after.

"We have a kind of ‘this sucks' attitude," Russell said of her department's opinion about the cuts and freezing process. "I have a problem in general with freezing money in education where it's most needed."

SCOM professor Phil Emmert is particularly unhappy with the state's decision to cut university funding.

"Higher education is the first place the government has tried to solve its financial problems every time," Emmert said. "They make up for mistakes of the governor and legislature by asking state employees to bear the burden."

As direct results of budget cuts, Emmert said, many classes are unavailable to students, major and minor restrictions have become common and large, impersonal lecture classes have increased.

Faculty members may not be able to travel to conferences where they can interact with colleagues, and according to Emmert, "recharge our intellectual batteries," because of traveling freezes.

"The last eight years have been devastating for Virginia schools," Emmert said. "All of these problems are results of inadequate budgets and cuts, not just from this year. They're results of lots of years of neglect of the need of state universities."

Additionally, faculty members may look out of state, like Russell did, for better job opportunities if state budget conditions worsen or remain the same.

A young faculty member told Emmert recently, "Everyone below the age of 50 is looking for another job."

Emmert responded that everyone above the age of 50 was contemplating early retirement, including himself. "We will lose some of our finest young faculty members to other universities and the older ones to early retirement," he said. "The faculty that remains will be demoralized."

Other faculty members have taken the cuts in stride.

Merle Mast, associate professor and interim nursing department head, said she views the budget cuts as part of an inevitable downtrend in the economic cycle.

"I won't speak for other faculty members, but the impression in my department is that my faculty is pretty accepting and very pro-active about it," Mast said. "We do have to tighten our belts, and it's not fair. But the administration is committed to seeing our programs run successfully and that the quality of our programs is maintained."

Brian Charette, a part-time instructor and interim director of human resources, acknowledged he is concerned about the cuts but "is pleased that Dr. Rose has gone out of his way to ensure that cuts have as little effect as possible in the classroom. This reflects Rose's vision to guard the student's experience."

Although a hiring freeze exists, the university will take care of any holes left by departing faculty. "If there were a critical position (vacated), we would fill it," said Fred Hilton, director of University Communications. If a position needed to maintain the academic program was left vacant, exceptions to the freeze policy could be made by the president's office, Hilton said. Conversely, if a position becomes vacant that isn't crucial, it won't be filled right away, he said.