UGA is being forced to look at a possible $60 million budget cut for 2011, in addition to the $100 million reduction already taken over the past 2 years.
A budget cut of that size impacts every student, and as the primary clientele of this University we find these cuts to be unbearable.
As a student at the University of Georgia, you can make a bigger impact than you may think. The history of our university has shown that when students speak up, change happens.
During desegregation, the Governor nearly closed the University to enforce a state law mandating segregation at all state institutions. It was UGA students that personally convinced him to do otherwise.
When Georgia needed a forestry school in the thick of The Great Depression, a junior forestry major convinced Governor E.D. Rivers to build it. Even within the last six years, our SGA joined others from around the state to prevent mid-year tuition increases and a toll booth on GA-316. We need your help to continue the tradition.
SGA will host an emergency information session, tonight at 7 in MLC 148 to discuss the student response to these proposed budget reductions. On Friday, UGA and Georgia Tech’s SGA will meet with state legislators in Atlanta to express our concerns. The Student Government Association invites you to join us and students from every state public college and university as we rally at the Capitol in Atlanta on Monday, March 15. We want our legislators to hear us, loud and clear. If you’d like to travel with us, please sign up at www.uga.edu/sga.
More than $20 million will be cut in academic programming, including the elimination of all part-time and temporary faculty positions, according to the Board of Regents’ proposed cuts released Monday. It is estimated this action would reduce faculty, cutting the size of the incoming freshman class by 500 students and transfer students by 1000.
Additionally, the lack of faculty could force up to 500 students out of their current major, resulting in students having to change majors or transfer to another institution altogether.
And the list doesn’t stop at academic programs — more cuts could significantly affect our quality of student life. The proposal calls for the elimination of 12 positions within the Office of Vice President for Student Affairs.
Furthermore, according to the proposal summary, “[t]hese reductions would force the elimination of many recreational sports programs, including intramural and club sports. It would also force the loss of the only sign language interpreter on UGA staff, possibly jeopardizing students’ ADA rights.”
In total, the proposed cuts by the Board of Regents would eliminate 1,418 currently filled positions at the University of Georgia.
Being a student at the University of Georgia is indeed a privilege, yet these cuts significantly hinder the type and the quality of education that we receive.
We understand the state’s financial difficulties during this time and that cuts will undoubtedly happen.
However, we will continue to work closely with state legislators, the UGA administration, and the Board of Regents in managing these cuts to be as fair as possible without completely jeopardizing our academic experience.
In the meantime, we need your voice now. Please join us for the discussion tonight and sign a petition against the budget cuts at http://www.petitiononline.com/georgia1/petition.html.
Contributed by: Katie Barlow, SGA President
No comments:
Post a Comment