Proposed UGA Budget Cuts Prompt Student Reaction
Posted on Mar 10, 2010 by Whistlebury Properties
Severe budget shortfalls at the state level could lead to severe and serious cuts to the University budget.
According to the Athens Banner-Herald, the University of Georgia would lay off 1,418 people, including 543 non-contract faculty slots, eliminating not just jobs but entire departments under a draconian budget-cutting plan submitted to state legislators this afternoon.
UGA financial planners also propose to reduce the size of the student body by 1,500 next fall, cutting the number of freshmen admitted next fall by 500 and incoming transfer students by 1,000.
Slated for closing: 4-H programs, half the Cooperative Extension offices in the state, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and public radio station WUGA-FM (91.7).
These proposed cuts have prompted much debate, particularly from the student body. Student leaders have been holding meetings and organizing the state’s largest college campus to fight back.
In fact, the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech’s Student Government Associations are combining to organize a visit to the state capitol building in Atlanta on March 15th. The purpose of this trip will be for students to meet with Senators and Representatives on the Higher Education Appropriations Committee and to lobby them on the student perspective of budget cuts.
Everything from raising student fees to raising taxes is being considered as alternatives to the drastic proposed cuts. UGA students realize that cuts may be necessary and seem to accept that, but what they can’t accept is having no seat at the table.
The UGA Student Government Association (SGA) is the organization which serves as the voice for each student at the university, serving as a liaison between students and administration and advocating students’ welfare. SGA President Katie Barlow wrote an article for the AJC entitled “Cuts Threaten UGA’s Mission” in response to the proposed cuts. In it she cites, “Students recognize the severity of the budget crisis and understand cuts must be made. We have priorities, however, that must also be preserved: jobs, classes and the integrity of our degrees. The UGA administration does not give equal consideration to these priorities in its proposal.”
Stay up to date with the most recent happening on the proposed budget cuts and student involvement at UGA’s SGA Facebook page.
Tagged: uga, university of georgia, proposed university of georgia budget cuts, uga sga, katie barlow, red and black, ajc, uga tuition
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