Budget cuts should
not affect summer course offerings, Assistant Director of Summer
Sessions Gail G. Hauser said Friday.
The summer schedule of classes is now available through AppalNET,
and course booklets should arrive in student mailboxes early next
month, Hauser said.
“I have had no problems securing [that] the classes I need
are being offered, but I am also a semester ahead,” senior
elementary education major Lindsey N. Boop said Monday.
Although budget cuts will not directly affect courses, faculty,
supply and equipment budgets will be reduced, Provost and Executive
Vice Chancellor Harvey R. Durham said Tuesday.
“The departments’ and colleges’ cuts came in the
allocation of funds for supplies and equipment … not in courses
[for last year’s summer school],” Hauser said. “This
will affect courses that have labs. This will affect internship
travel for faculty.”
Durham said whereas last year’s summer school had cuts in supplies
and equipment, this year the cuts will also affect salaries.
“It’s not just faculty salaries; it’s non-faculty
salaries as well,” Durham said. “We gave up $200 million
in faculty salary money; we didn’t have to lay anybody off,
but we didn’t hire any part-time faculty.”
“As a result of budget cuts, we’ve been told we have to
offer the same number of sections of all entry-level courses,”
Chair of the department of political science and criminal justice
Dr. Ruth Ann Strickland said Thursday, referring to changes students
can expect to see this summer.
This is good for freshman and/or sophomore students who need the
entry-level courses, but it creates a faculty allocation problem,
Strickland said. Teachers may have to teach up to four courses.
Strickland said the previous policy required departments to offer
the same number of seats for a class, rather than the same number
of sections. This new policy does help to make classes smaller and
more personal, but is more demanding on teachers.
Problems may arise for exiting undergraduates trying to fulfill
high-level courses.
“The [chairs] were encouraged by the dean not to offer courses
that were low-enrollment,” Strickland said.
“Even two years ago [I] could set up any summer school course,
and if it had one student in it we’d teach it,” Strickland
said, “Now, I don’t think that is going to be possible
anymore. We have to have good enrollment.” |
