Tag: budget cuts

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Bible Department Adjusts to Cuts

With recent budget and staff cuts, every academic department essentially feels the weight of such changes and the restrictions that often follow; the Bible department specifically is struggling with current academic burdens.

The aforementioned budget cuts elicited the elimination of the adjunct professor position in the Bible department, a person previously depended upon to take up some of the load of teaching classes. The result, along with a current professor’s absence due to a year of sabbatical, created a deficiency of course offerings within the Bible major this semester.

Sarah Derck, Old Testament, acknowledged the restrictions applied to the department due to the budget cuts. One result is, she said, “for this academic year we had to rearrange the offerings, and not have quite as many upper level Bible courses available.”

From the perspective of a current senior Bible major, such a deficiency comes as a sudden inconvenience. The majority of seniors in the department accepted independent study courses this spring as a means of meeting course requirements in order to complete their degrees.

Billy Marshall, senior Bible major, expressed his frustration in this current lack of course offerings. He said, “The lack of courses being offered for Bible majors is more than a simple inconvenience–it’s frustrating beyond belief…. As a Christian college we shouldn’t just offer Bible courses that cover the fundamentals.”

As Biblical Literature remains a required introductory-level course for all graduates, the remaining Bible professors, namely Sarah Derck and Terrence Paige, now must dedicate more of their time teaching that specific class this semester. The remaining few upper-level classes are currently offered every year, and as a result senior Bible majors find the classes offered those already taken, and therefore must resort to independent study courses.

BibleDept_2Unlike Marshall, other students see an independent study course as an opportunity to study something they find specific interest in.  One such senior, Christine Brienen, spoke of her experience within the Bible major.  While expressing disappointment in the fact that the Bible department withdrew a two credit, upper-level course on the book of Psalms due to lack of staff this spring, Brienen said, regarding her current independent study course, “It’s an opportunity I wouldn’t have had if Psalms would have been offered, and it’s a more focused course in what I want to be doing after school.”

Although the department faces these cuts and lack of course offerings, Derck places emphasis on the future.  Concerning the shortage of upper-level courses, she said, “It’s a temporary thing… and it’s actually a great opportunity to think creatively and strategically.”

Such creative thinking resulted in Derck’s anticipation of a “broader range of Bible courses” in the coming year.  The normally offered courses, such as the Pentateuch, will be offered every other spring, as opposed to every spring, leaving room for new course offerings in the semesters its absence leaves.

The department also plans on offering some future classes as two or three credit courses, in order to create flexibility within the major.

One consolation found amid the current deficiencies and frustrations of the department is the fact that these issues are not unique to the Bible department.  As Derck said, “Going forward we are engaging in what folks all across the college are doing, and that’s trying to figure out how to balance the offerings that our students need, and create a way that allows us to move into the 21st century of higher education, which is, as everybody knows, a totally new ball game.”

 

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Update on Student Government Activities

Recently, Houghton’s student Senate has been focusing on issues smaller and less apparent than in semesters past, but the work they have been doing and the conversations in their Tuesday night meetings are still relevant, and, arguably, increasingly more so, to the entire campus.

1452019_10152015908004173_341939960_nPresident Benjamin Hardy said one of “the most important things the SGA has done this semester [is] helping to distribute information about the recent budget cuts via word-of-mouth communication by senators and cabinet members to their peers.” This is one of the essential functions of the Senate: to distribute information on a personal basis, and increasing the amount of actual face time between students serving as senators and their peers was one of the goals of the restructuring of the Senate, which happened last semester.

Since, nothing quite so large or cumbersome has taken place, but Senate had been engaging in conversations about SPOT, the potential dropping of the Islamic Studies program, and, as stated above, the budget cuts that the college has been both contemplating and enforcing. These issues have come up during the open floor portion of Senate meetings, which is a time when any student may bring a concern or question to the SGA.

Though the student Senate cannot make the direct decision to, for example, keep Islamic Studies as a program, the members can engage in conversations with concerned students and then take those concerns into committee meetings.

President Hardy stressed the roles of students on committees. He said “[Senate has been] electing students to college councils and committees which service the present needs of students and help speak into the changes that are happening in meaningful ways. I think that a lot of students, even, sometimes, the students on committee, don’t realize how important this function is. Organizations are run part by committees and part by administrators and many of those administrators are closely advised or informed by committees.” Essentially, any student from the general population at Houghton can be a part of a committee, and they range from dealing with Houghton’s care for the environment to working with administrators in Student Life on concerns voiced by students.

Miriam Harms, a senior senator, feels that her involvement with Senate has made her better informed about the conversations and changes happening on campus. She participates on the Creation Care and Academic Council committees, and also thinks that Senate’s talks with President Mullen are educational and helpful. The President visits Senate once a month, and Harms said “You can really ask her anything you want. She explains what the college is doing, and we can even give her questions beforehand from students and senators so that she can prepare information for us.”

In the coming semester, SGA will be working with the Student Programs Office to streamline the event proposal process and forms for students. President Hardy explained the intended benefits of SGA’s work in this area. He said, “This will enable [students] to have a ‘one-stop-shop’ experience when coordinating their event, as the [potential new form] will be designed to forward relevant information to, for example, the person who coordinates the Houghton fleet, persons who manage room reservations in the intended building, or the custodians to be aware of chair or table needs.”

Other plans of the SGA include creating some sort of central, physical calendar, which should cut back on the amount of emails, posters, and slips in CPO boxes as advertising for events.

In addition to helping better organize, advertise, and support events, SGA has been working to negotiate a deal with Sodexo for a discounted price on coffee for student-run events. Java 101 and SGA had an agreement which allowed for student organizations to have coffee at events for a good price, and Sodexo has been convinced to work with students in this way.

Vice President Andiana Sidell said, “The accomplishments of Senate have been more laidback in terms of importance, but are working towards a more unified and complete support of what programs we do run … See You at the Pole and Operation Christmas Child were a hit this semester and Blood Drives continue to be something that students and Senate alike puts time into.”

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College Announces Significant Academic Budget Cuts for 2014-2015

Faced with an unbalanced budget and two years of low enrollment, President Mullen and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dean Mills Woolsey, announced significant cuts in academics for the 2014-2015 academic year. The information was first announced to faculty and staff on Wednesday morning and then made publicly available on the Houghton website for alumni, students, and parents soon afterward.

“I resonate with the agony of this process,” said President Mullen referencing her own experience as an educator.

The cuts include program eliminations, faculty reductions and cuts, academic administration restructuring, deferred hiring, and significant curricular reorganization.

Luckey_1The main aim of the recent budget decisions are to stabilize the economy of the college. According to Mills Woolsey, the college was forced to cut at least 10-15% of the academic budget due to several issues, the chief of which is declining enrollment — an issue that has plagued the college for the past two years. In addition to this, a deficit budget from last year, rising healthcare costs, the issue of faculty salaries, and added debt from the Kerr-Pegula fieldhouse also contributed to Houghton’s financial difficulties and prompted the cuts.

Among the programs proposed to be eliminated are the French concentration and minor, the informational technology management major, the Islamic studies concentration and minor, the psycholinguistics concentration, and the visual studies major. The elimination of these programs was judged based on the level of appeal and student involvement. “We have a number of good programs,” said Mills Woolsey, “but some of them didn’t take off or appeal to students.” Students currently enrolled in any of the eliminated programs can expect to have a way to complete their work. Along with program eliminations, others, such as the Greatbatch School of Music, are being asked, in Mullen’s words, to “creatively scale-back” their methods of operation in order to help relieve the college budget.

Faculty will also be experiencing reductions and eliminations. The Dean hopes to speak to the faculty that have had their positions reduced or eliminated by November 15. In addition, though hiring will not be completely frozen, some key hires in sociology, finance, web media, and chemistry will be deferred. Many currently vacant positions and positions lost through attrition are also not expected to be filled in the near future.

Academic administration will also be changing as a result of the cuts. The Dean hopes to move the seven academic areas to four and reduce the 18 departments to 11 or 12. This is not expected to have much of an impact on students, though it will affect the faculty.

In the decision making process, the President and the Academic Dean were presented with the decision to declare financial exigency, a condition that could have made the options for cutting costs much simpler, but it was not a route that they thought was appropriate for Houghton’s current predicament. “We don’t want to do that because it says the wrong message,” said Mills Woolsey, “We’re not at the brink of financial disaster, although we’re at a really challenging spot.” Mills Woolsey continued to cite examples of sister Christian colleges who were able to turn their situations around without declaring financial exigency.

Mills Woolsey and Mullen remain hopeful and see these cuts as an opportunity for future growth. While the primary motivator of the cuts is to balance the budget for the next academic year, a secondary motivator is “also to use the moment of cutting to get ourselves in a good position to be a strong college to meet the needs of contemporary students,” said Mills Woolsey. The task will be painful, though, said Mullen, and it will certainly “require ongoing creativity and grit.”

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College Golf Teams Eliminated

Due to the enrollment shortfall this year, many Houghton departments and programs have had to trim their budgets significantly. One of the cuts directly impacting students is the elimination of both the men’s and women’s golf teams.

The golf teams were informed on September 10 that their teams had been eliminated from the athletics program. “I showed up for practice on Tuesday and our coaches were waiting there… I thought that maybe a tournament had been canceled – but it was actually the entire team,” said the women’s captain Hannah Fink, junior.

GolfThe decision “came out of the blue,” according to the men’s captain, Evan Castle, junior, “Basically we had two matches and were completely into our season – nobody knew that this was going to happen – and we showed up to our practice on Tuesday and we get the news from our coach.”

According to Dr. Robert Pool, Vice President for Student Life, the reason that the teams were informed in the middle of their season was due to the unexpected drop in enrollment in the beginning of the school year. “We thought – up until the end of July – that we would have been higher [in enrollment] than what we actually came in at. So it was, to many of us, a big surprise when we got to August and realized where we were with enrollment in terms of deposits.” This required the college to make emergency cuts for this fiscal year. “We had to cut somewhere,” said Pool, “A small piece of that was in athletics.”

The elimination of the golf teams is part of a larger amount of cuts that Athletics are being asked to make. In total, Athletics were asked to cut $60,000 out of their budget this year – the golf team taking a significant percentage of that number. According to Athletics Director, Skip Lord, “In a nutshell, every area on campus has had to make hard decisions relative to budgets this fall. That included athletics. This decision, along with other significant, but less visible cuts in athletics, were carefully weighed to accomplish the goal.”

One of the factors leading Student Life and Athletics to cut golf particularly is the relatively small number of students that it will affect. Both teams have about a dozen players combined, though this number varies between the fall and spring due to several players already involved in other seasonal sports teams. Another factor influencing the decision to cut the teams is that both the coach, Thomas Kettelkamp, and the assistant coach, Richard Halberg, are already employed as faculty members – so no jobs will be cut as a result of this decision.

Houghton introduced the golf teams last year when it made the move into the Empire 8 Athletic Conference, along with introducing other sports teams such as lacrosse, tennis, and baseball. The elimination of the golf teams should not impact Houghton’s NCAA D-III or Empire 8 standing.

Coach Thomas Kettelkamp and Coach Richard Halberg both expressed their dismay at the elimination of the teams.

“Personally I am a full time faculty and will not be impacted by the decision to cut the golf program but it was very, very difficult to tell the players that we are done,” said Coach Kettelkamp. Coach Halberg echoed Kettelkamp’s statement and said that he felt, “badly about ending our relationship with a great group of students.”

According to Kettelkamp, there were three prospective students looking into enrolling at Houghton to join the college’s golf teams, but he had to write to inform them that they should “look elsewhere for a college golf program.” Additionally, he believes that no one on the golf teams is currently intending to transfer as a result of this decision, but he said “if they ask me to help facilitate transferring to another college, I will certainly do so.”

Fink and Castle both lamented that they had not been able to complete the season as captains, the first time in these positions of leadership. “I had hoped to improve our record from last year. Individually, we all wanted to get better. Basically, improve,” said Fink. Castle said, “It’s a big bummer because I spent a lot of time with my teammates and my entire summer planning for this year. And it’s gone.”