top
Santa Cruz IMC
Santa Cruz IMC
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Budget Cut Impact Survey Assesses Effects on Education at UCSC

by via UCSC Faculty Association
In winter 2014, deeply concerned about the effects of UC-systemwide and campus budget cuts since 2008, the Santa Cruz Faculty Association sponsored a program of Small Grants for Creative Response to the Crisis in Education. One of the awards was granted to conduct a Budget Cut Impact Survey to assess and evaluate the particular impacts of those cuts on faculty teaching and morale at UCSC. This report contains the results of that survey (see PDF). These results seem particularly timely given current discussions about budget cuts we may be facing again in the near future, and the impacts those would likely have.
budet-cut-survey-report-4-20-15.pdf_600_.jpg
The survey addresses UCSC faculty experiences of the budget cuts that began in Fall 2008. This is the first study of the budget cuts’ impact on faculty, i.e. on our teaching, service, research, and morale. The study offers information about those impacts generally, as well as addresses how these impacts affected faculty differently across divisions.

This study is especially timely, given warning that further budget reductions will be imposed for the coming academic year. At this point, there is little left to cut but bone, and the negative consequences for undergraduate education at UCSC and for staff and faculty work lives will be marked. Here are a few responses to some of our questions:

I am extremely concerned about how this budget-cutting climate promotes the bottom line over learning. The institution seems more concerned with getting students through than with providing them with a top-notch education. UCSC is adopting market-oriented values at the expense of our students. (Social Sciences).

More than taking time away from other job duties, increased efforts in teaching and grant applications have taken time away from eating, sleeping and seeing my kids. The workload just keeps increasing, and why not? Faculty can not be paid overtime, and MUST perform to survive the job. Great deal for the university. (Engineering)

Students, who are less prepared than in the past in any case, are now working sometimes two or more jobs to pay their tuition. This means worse classroom results, more time spent correcting papers, doing remedial work in class, etc. The general level of instruction suffers. (Humanities)

Loss of core facilities, which directly support our research goals, has been SEVERELY hampered by budget cuts. I now have to contract many services outside that used to be present on campus, and these off-campus services are more expensive. (PBSci)

[In my department] cuts have slashed the core curriculum far beyond what it could absorb, so the remedial classes that allow students to prepare for the major have been watered down… (Arts)


http://ucscfa.org/2015/04/report-on-the-scfa-budget-cut-impact-survey/

U.C. Santa Cruz Faculty Association
http://ucscfa.org/
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network