Cut If You Must -- But Make Those Cuts "Fair and Balanced"

One problem at the forefront of my mind, because it is at the forefront of me eating and I love my food, is funding for higher education in Louisiana. As many of you know, there have been substantial budget cuts from the state for higher education in Louisiana over the past eighteen months. The main reason is that because of protected funding either in statutory law or in the Louisiana Constitution, the only two areas open to discretionary cuts in times of crisis are higher ed and health care.

Currently, my institution, Bossier Parish Community College, is having to deal with record enrollments at the same time as substantial, bordering on 25% from peak levels, cuts in state funding. Certainly, there is a great deal of self-interest in this for me, it is my main livelihood. But it goes deeper than that, I chose to return to education after working in other fields. I believe public education is the foundation for a successful society and is key to building a stronger Louisiana. In the current circumstances, I can see that foundation as being at serious risk. So, I’ve got a few thoughts.

First, let me emphasize that there is clearly waste in higher ed and many ways money can be saved. Duplication of services, particularly at the four-year level is rampant and inefficiencies can be found everywhere in the various systems. Of course, those things need to be fixed, but they need to be fixed in a context where all areas of state government are equally at risk, not where the burden will be disproportionally borne by only two segments of government.

I truly worry about the quality of service we will be able to offer our students in light of these cuts. And before someone says that money doesn’t solve all problems or suggest I’m saying teachers won’t “teach” to their full capabilities because of pay issues, let me provide two concrete examples that trouble me.

The first is in service provided to students. Now, my classes are pretty much “snaps” for students. My office contact with students usually comes in the form of students dropping by to “shoot the bull” or similar situations. That is not true for many other faculty members, particularly those in areas such as math or accounting, where being able to meet with the instructor during office hours is vital to student success. At present, the financial realities of budget cuts, combined with the requirements for face-to-face classroom time mandated for accrediting purposes, has made the only area open for cuts the hours in the office. Last fall, in order to cut faculty expenses, we at BPCC had an additional course added to our basic classs load. In order to meet the contract requirements for contracts already in place the only way to balance the additional classroom time was to reduce our office hours by four per week. While the faculty bore the burden of additional class preparation and management time for the extra class, the students had their chances to meet with faculty reduced by 40%.

In the next few days, we will learn how many days it will be necessary for faculty to be furloughed – off work without pay – during this semester. Once again, you cannot furlough classroom time. So, the answer pnce again will be faculty absence during those important office hours. Now, some might say faculty should show up for work, even without pay. Perhaps that’s true, but would you show up for work without pay?

Even more significant is the impact on the quality of faculty members that may occur with cuts in pay. Once again, this doesn’t really impact me. First, (although I hope my Chancellor doesn’t see this) I think I may be overpaid. I still find it difficult to believe I’m paid as well as I am to teach subjects I love. I’m also not a “high-demand” instructor. I’m fifty-one years old without a terminal degree and my writing and research is largely limited to Louisiana. You won’t lose me to another state, but that’s not true for all faculty members.

Last fall, I applied for three different faculty positions at schools similar to BPCC in Texas. If I had been hired for any of those jobs, my base pay would have increased by 40%. History teachers are a “dime-a-dozen”, but the fields such as math, science, nursing, etc are different. If our pay levels remain stagnant or in some cases drop, how long will be able to keep the excellent faculty members we have today. And if we lose the “best and the brightest” among our faculty, the quality of education in Louisiana will slowly drop.

So, I urge each of you to speak to your state legislators, to speak to Governor Jindal and simply ask this. Please, as the legislative session begins, prove to us that the talk of higher education being a priority and vital to the success of our state is not mere lip service. In this upcoming session take some concrete steps to correct the current situation where the brunt of budget cuts hits only two areas of the budget. Spread the necessary cuts to all areas and preserve the possibility of quality higher ed in Louisiana.