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| T-P: UNO plans to cut some academic programs; ...and re-invest in others | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 14 2014, 08:11 PM (351 Views) | |
| Privateer6 | Jun 14 2014, 08:11 PM Post #1 |
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http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/20...e_academic.html "Peter J. Fos, the president of the University of New Orleans, announced plans Friday (June 13) for cutting certain university programs and re-investing in others to improve the school's financial stability." "To carry out the plan, Fos has assembled a working group of UNO faculty, deans and administrators. The group will assess which of the 84 degree programs fit the university's long-term growth plans, and which do not." . . . "Since the Louisiana Board of Regents raised the statewide admission standards in 2012, UNO has lost about 700 freshmen a year, Fos said." . . . "He noted that the state provides just 28 percent of the university's budget, the rest of which is funded through tuition, fees and philanthropy." . . . "UNO has undergone a series of belt-tightening measures, including about 30 layoffs earlier this year in order to cut $3 million from a $5 million deficit." "The school cut its budget by $12 million and reduced its workforce by 130 in August 2012 to deal with state budget reductions. That round included terminating 16 staff members, leaving 30 faculty vacancies unfilled, eliminating assistantships for 26 graduate students and cutting the travel budget almost in half." |
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| reduno | Jun 14 2014, 11:14 PM Post #2 |
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I'm afraid that the UNO we used to know is gone for good. |
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| Unofan | Jun 15 2014, 06:34 AM Post #3 |
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Thanks to Katrina, that goes for a lot of things. |
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| Unofan | Jun 15 2014, 01:33 PM Post #4 |
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As a side note to this, Tulane seemed to flourish after Katrina under Scott Cowen's leadership. UNO, not so much. However, Tulane also didn't have to suffer through year, after year, after year in budget cuts from the state of Louisiana. |
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| Tpstr | Jun 15 2014, 03:28 PM Post #5 |
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My oldest will be a senior in HS this year. One of the things that keeps me up at night is can I, in good conscious, send my child to where we sweat if the lights in the library will stay on each semester, or do I send him to the mosh pit of overwhelming options in Baton Rouge, where they always seem to find money to a/c the Tiger cage. Or, do I send him to Hammond High, which seems to be bursting at the seams. He's qualified through the ACT to enter any of them, but his GPA is poor enough to make me plan for not having TOPS available. The constant budgetary pressure is beyond annoying. How can the state expect me to commit to a 4 to 5 year cash outlay, if they cannot tell me the program will still be there when it's time for him to finish. |
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| NSPRIVATEER | Jun 16 2014, 09:37 AM Post #6 |
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Saturday night I was at a large wedding and there were several UNO graduates there along with several families who have UNO students at the university now and one whose son graduated in the fall. I brought up the article from Saturday's Advocate and not one of those people had any idea about the massive budget problems at UNO. Several didn't even realize that the large decline in enrollment. Everyone of the families who have students at the school presently and the one whose son graduated in the fall had nothing but great things to say about the education there kids were. I was amazed. The family show son graduated in the fall and is sending there youngest son to UNO in the fall. It appears that the university is still providing a good and challenging academic experience. |
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| secoer | Jun 16 2014, 10:30 AM Post #7 |
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I can say that those at the University seem to be challenged like we were, just differenlty is many cases. We had the LSU system on our throat and now they have the governor and legislature doing it to us....and other members of the higher ed community. It pains me when someone tells me that they think they should send their kid to another university to get a good education. I am not saying there are not better individual programs at other schools but I would put the education, business, science, engineering and HRT programs up against any in the state and region and they can and do hold their own. Needless to say the Film, Naval Arch. and Jazz programs are in a class of their own. That gives kids a lot of choices when it comes to UNO. Dr. Fos walked into a minefield and it is not getting any easier on him or the University. We may be smaller than it was pre storm and may get smaller yet, but UNO still provides a good educatioin to its students. |
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| secoer | Jun 16 2014, 10:33 AM Post #8 |
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That dealt with leadership and apparently UNO didn't have any at that time. Some people flourish when challenged and others just hunker down and stay out of the way. Unfortunately we didn't have a real leader. He took the federal money and didn't try to find money from the private sector like Tulane did. They are better off and we aren't.......what a pity. |
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| Tpstr | Jun 16 2014, 04:56 PM Post #9 |
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I'm with ya, but I'm just seeing the flip side of it too. As a parent, with a kid that's not very focused or motivated, it's tough to recommend my alma mater as a starting point sometimes. The continuous budget knife hampers everything. The professors I had back in the day are all now either retired, or very close to it. The replacements worry me. Then again, waking up tomorrow worries me too. ![]() On a side note, anyone else notice UL-L got permission to offer a Masters degree in Accounting? When's the last new graduate program we offered? That's where I also see future trouble. We can maintain somethings, but not all things, at current student levels. But we need all things to give a true collegiate experience. Otherwise, we're (no offense to their fans) a Nicholls/SUNO/LSU-Shreveport instead of the "Heartbeat" of America's most vibrant city. I've got stop writing these posts. Just makes me more depressed. Or else it's going to lead to my threatened future banning. ![]() Thanks for letting me rant. Bring on Footb...I mean, next fall's Basketball schedule.
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| Privateer6 | Jun 18 2014, 07:01 AM Post #10 |
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"Over the past five years, UNO’s state funding has dropped by almost half, from $56 million in 2008 to $32 million for the current fiscal year. Over the past decade, enrollment also has fallen by almost half, from 17,360 students registered in 2003 to just 9,323 last year." http://diverseeducation.com/article/64894/ |
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2:46 AM Jul 11