Under-funding hurts JMU

Substantial increase in total enrollment at JMU in recent years, along with a lack of funds could create more problems in the future for the university’s faculty and administration.

The Office of Institutional Research distributed a study this year showing the continuing student history between 1992 and 2003. Between these years, total enrollment increased from 11,343 persons to 16,203 persons. Undergraduate degree-seeking enrollment by itself grew 50 percent, from 9,787 persons to 14,685 persons.

Frank Doherty, director of the Office of Institutional Research, said a lack of funds provided by the state has led to a shortage of faculty and an increase in programs with special admissions criteria.
Doherty said, "We’re not where we’d like to be with funding."

Doherty also said JMU was brought to the attention of the Virginia General Assembly as one of the most under-funded institutions in the state. Prior to 1992, special admissions criteria existed for majors in music, art, theatre, dance, nursing and social work. By fall 2003, 15 additional majors required special admissions criteria. These majors included the School of Media Arts and Design, eight Bachelor’s of Business Administration majors in the College of Business, communications studies, computer science, political science, public administration, international affairs and psychology.

Douglas Brown, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the under-funding of JMU has been a chronic problem. The combination of this plus the increased total enrollment has created a greater need for faculty, but the goals have not been attained.

"Our analysis indicates that we’re about 100 faculty [members] short of where we should be," Brown said. The number of full-time faculty at JMU is more than 800 persons.

Other departments on campus are also concerned with the issue of a faculty shortage. The Faculty Senate, which is a part of the university government, deals with issues such as budget considerations in Richmond and various academic policies. English professor Cynthia Gilliatt, a member of the Faculty Concerns Committee in the Faculty Senate, said the committee addresses issues such as how big the university should be.

"We’re concerned about having enough sections for our classes for our majors and other students," Gilliatt said.

Gilliatt said in recent years, the English Department has been replacing people instead of adding new positions.

Despite cuts in funding, tax increases passed by the Virginia General Assembly last year have helped fund the university more. Doherty also noted that despite the fact the student body has substantially increased, graduation rates have remained steady.

Some other trends the Continuing Student History study showed gender diversity has decreased among undergraduates, with female enrollment increasing almost twice as much as male enrollment. While racial and ethnic diversity decreased in the undergraduate enrollment, it increased in graduate student enrollment from eight to 12 percent