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Guest opinion: Workforce-only focus shortchanges University of Montana students
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Cruelly adding insult to injury, as if what recently happened to "the Ivy League of the Rockies" was not enough, it seems that, if "financial destiny" has its way, UM will have to slice $16 million from its 2014 operating budget — with a projected $5.6 million cut from an already strained to the limits College of Arts/Sciences budget. It will negatively affect the number, variety and quality of courses offered in the humanities and liberal arts.
By MICHEL VALENTIN – Michel Valentin is a professor at the University of Montana in Missoula. His guest opinion was co-signed by 22 other UM faculty members, including Maria Bustos, Paul Dietrich, Linda Gillison, Jody Pavilack and Tim Bradstock.
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Chopping block: Longtime UM faculty, staff among those already being cut
On the morning of Friday, April 12, University of Montana President Royce Engstrom addressed a lecture hall packed with College of Arts and Sciences faculty and explained why the university is facing budget cuts. Engstrom showed graphs and pie charts, some of which depicted UM’s shrinking enrollment. He pointed out that after the Department of Justice opened its investigation of UM last year, about 200 non-resident students withdrew. Other charts delineated Montana State University’s budget surplus and UM’s projected $17 million shortfall.
CAS faculty listened quietly as Engstrom explained the university’s situation, before he moved to a graphic that divided UM’s spending into general categories, including “Research,” “Institutional support” and “Student services.” The largest slice of the pie represented nearly 50 percent of the spending and was titled “Instruction.”
“That’s our biggest expenditure. That’s what pays your salaries,” he said as faculty members began to whisper and raise their hands. “That’s the biggest piece.”
by Jamie Rogers
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