| NEWS
| October 9, 2003
Hard
Times, Hard Choices
Administrators: Hike is needed
to attract, retain quality faculty
 |
| Photo illustration: The Shorthorn
staff |
| Administrators have proposed a tuition
increase — $15 per credit hour next spring and an
additional $20 per credit hour next fall. Administrators
say the increases are necessary to retain quality faculty
to teach the rapidly expanding student body. Students
will pay more in tuition, but faculty will not receive
raises without it. |
|
By Josie
Garcia
The Shorthorn staff
When biology freshman Ryan Thames went to his first day of chemistry
class, he may not have realized how lucky he was to get a seat.
He does now.
His instructor told his class all the chemistry sections and labs
were full.
“I really didn’t think about it until he said that,”
Thames said.
Thames registered during his freshman orientation, securing a seat
early in the summer before the registration rush. Other students
were not so fortunate.
Some administrators said if proposed tuition increases are not accepted
for the spring and fall of 2004, even lucky students like Thames
may have a lot to think about — they won’t be able to
register for certain courses. Interim Provost Dana Dunn said a lack
of funds is already impacting how many tenured and tenure-track
faculty the university can hire — and keep — limiting
the number of seats available to students in a time of enrollment
growth.
Dunn said more than 100 tenured faculty have found jobs elsewhere
in the last five years.
The designated tuition increase would also be used for financial
aid, new faculty start-up funds, debt service reserves and higher
staff salaries and benefits.
Administrators expect the proposed increase to generate $21 million
by fall 2004. The largest chunk — $8 million — is designated
to increase faculty and staff salaries and benefits. Dr. Dunn has
proposed a $15-per-credit-hour increase in the spring and an additional
$20-per-credit-hour increase for next fall. Students taking upper-
and graduate-level engineering and nursing courses would pay extra
for those courses.
The Tuition Review Committee is reviewing the proposal and will
make a recommendation to interim President Charles Sorber by Nov.
1. He will send a final recommendation to UT System Chancellor Mark
Yudof, who will present it to the UT System Board of Regents to
set new tuition rates at its Nov. 18 meeting.
Dunn said the proposed increase would fund 50 tenured and tenure-track
faculty. Each school and college would gain, she added.
The Science, Liberal Arts, Business Administration and Engineering
colleges would receive the most tenure faculty, she said.
Science Dean Neal Smatresk said his college needs to hire more tenured
faculty. He said enrollment has increased more than 50 percent in
the past three years.
“We are filled almost to capacity at this point,” he
said. “If we don’t get new faculty in here, our students
will be the ones to suffer,” he said.
Lower division classes such as biology and chemistry were full by
early August, Dr. Smatresk said. The college had to scramble to
open additional sections, he added.
Smatresk said that without the tuition increase, students may not
be able to enroll in some classes they plan to take.
“If we fail to fully fund the tuition change, students will
be turned away,” he said. “I will be forced to close
class sections next fall.”
He said the college could hire up to eight faculty if the proposed
increase is approved.
Engineering Dean Bill Carroll said the proposed tuition increase
would also help buy equipment, maintain programs and improve research.
Without the increase, Dr. Carroll said, he doesn’t think his
college can stay competitive. That directly affects students and
alumni, he added.
“The value of the degree decreases for everybody — people
who got our degree today, people who got our degree 20 years ago,”
he said.
Rusty Ward, interim vice president for business affairs and controller,
said the tuition increase would keep the university at a competitive
level. Due to cuts in state funding, the university has already
lost $10 million for this fiscal year and will lose an additional
$10 million for the next as it stands now. He said the proposal
would make up for a portion of what the university has lost. The
increase is necessary to maintain the university’s momentum,
he added.
“If we don’t go up, then we are not going to keep pace
with universities like North Texas and UT-Dallas,” he said.
“The recommendation we made is what we know others have done
and what others would do. We don’t want to price UTA at the
bottom of the pack.”
Dunn said she could not say definitively if tuition would continue
to increase after fall 2004, but it is likely.
“It’s very difficult for us to project ahead. This is
a new scenario we will have to study very carefully,” she
said. “My crystal ball is not good enough to predict.”
Ward agreed and said more changes would depend what legislators
decide at the next Legislative session in 2005.
“I imagine it would,” he said. “It would be much
more of a modest increase. If they cut us any further, we will have
another tough decision to make.” |
|
