Budget cuts lead to faculty vacancies

With more than $11 million being cut from IU's budget this year, the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education have been forced to cut faculty positions and decrease the number of course selections, making class sizes larger and providing fewer course sections for students.\nWith more than $4 million cut from the school, COAS was hit the worst. Executive Associate Dean of COAS Joseph Steinmetz said a total of 23 faculty positions and 35 assistant instructor posts that were vacated last year will not be filled this year. \n"This fall, we are offering about 30 sections less than last year," Steinmetz said. "Given the 3,500-plus sections offered by the college, this is a small decrease, but a decrease nonetheless."\nThe School of Education also was forced to cut a significant number of faculty positions this year by choosing not to fill 10 vacant openings, just as COAS did with its faculty and AI positions that retired or left the campus. \n"Because of the budget situation, we have to hold them vacant until the economy begins to stabilize," School of Education Dean of Gerardo Gonzalez said. "So there are several courses where we eliminated small sections or combined sections."\nGonzalez said the school was forced to cut sections of multicultural education, learning theory and learning methods, resulting in larger class sizes and fewer section times for students to select from. \n"The times for the courses may not be ideal," Gonzalez said. "And some courses that students take that are specialized in their fields may not be available. Also some of the sections may be larger than normal."\nThe budget cuts come from two major financial hits Bloomington sustained last year, said Neil Theobald, the vice chancellor for budgetary administration and planning. First, Indiana cut Bloomington's state appropriations by $4.5 million for the 2005-06 school year. Second, Theobald said problems with the PeopleSoft software that prevented IU from sending out financial aid awards was the overwhelming reason for the 606-student shortfall in enrollment last year. \nWhile the faculty cuts are causing minor problems currently for students and faculty, the condition may get much worse in the future. COAS is expected to eliminate approximately another 17 to 27 faculty positions for the next year, Steinmetz said. \n"I can't emphasize enough the future negative impact that the reduction on faculty through non-replacement and decreasing the number searches conducted this year will have," Steinmetz said. "I predict fewer offerings, larger sections and longer waitlists if we continue to lose faculty and not replace them. As we hire fewer faculty members, we simply will not have enough instructors available to teach what is needed in the college."\nSteinmetz added this problem can be avoided by more funds through private sources, higher state appropriations or increases in tuition.\nGonzalez also recognized long-term problems down the line, adding if the trend continues, the school will be forced to cut classes and "take other measures."\nMany other schools within the Bloomington campus were hurt by the budget cuts. Only the School of Library and Information Science, School of Journalism and School of Informatics were spared of major reallocations.