Avoiding a Climate of Fear?
Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: Opinion
By Ben Byrnes
Rotunda Reporter
President Patricia Cormier said in 2002, "We must remain true to our core mission of education." That was the year Longwood College laid off 43 staff members (not faculty). A lot was at stake then, but more is at stake now. We now face a similar climate, where I fear that staff members will again be laid off or programs will be cut. We are facing a $2.8 million budget deficit next fiscal year alone, and that money needs to come from somewhere. If Cormier stands by the claim she made then, faculty will be protected, but some staff will not. However, Cormier will no longer be in charge as of July 1, 2010. This problem will be the burden of the new president, just as it will be the burden of the Bob McDonnell in Richmond. The university is in another pivotal year where they face either raising tuition to the point of causing some students concern to re-enroll or enroll at all, or they face cutting programs, staff or faculty to keep the costs from being placed on the students. Either way, it's a lose-lose situation, and schools across the state are facing the same thing.
Longwood has a legitimate reason to be concerned about enrollment. This year's class essentially mirrored the size of last year's class with maybe a small increase, but nothing quite like the numbers we've seen in past years. For the past few years, we've opened the year with record enrollment; however, this year's numbers weren't so record-setting. Maybe they were once again high, but not a record. The Longwood press release didn't give a number like they have for the previous years. All the press release said is that the number "exceeds 1,000 students." Either they were pressed to get information out before deadline, or Admissions was reluctant to release specific numbers because of the significant drop in enrollment. In fairness, the number last year was too high and housing and other departments were not ready to handle such a high increase (and no one expected such a high number). This year admissions knew they needed to scale back and did so out of necessity.
Rotunda Reporter
President Patricia Cormier said in 2002, "We must remain true to our core mission of education." That was the year Longwood College laid off 43 staff members (not faculty). A lot was at stake then, but more is at stake now. We now face a similar climate, where I fear that staff members will again be laid off or programs will be cut. We are facing a $2.8 million budget deficit next fiscal year alone, and that money needs to come from somewhere. If Cormier stands by the claim she made then, faculty will be protected, but some staff will not. However, Cormier will no longer be in charge as of July 1, 2010. This problem will be the burden of the new president, just as it will be the burden of the Bob McDonnell in Richmond. The university is in another pivotal year where they face either raising tuition to the point of causing some students concern to re-enroll or enroll at all, or they face cutting programs, staff or faculty to keep the costs from being placed on the students. Either way, it's a lose-lose situation, and schools across the state are facing the same thing.
Longwood has a legitimate reason to be concerned about enrollment. This year's class essentially mirrored the size of last year's class with maybe a small increase, but nothing quite like the numbers we've seen in past years. For the past few years, we've opened the year with record enrollment; however, this year's numbers weren't so record-setting. Maybe they were once again high, but not a record. The Longwood press release didn't give a number like they have for the previous years. All the press release said is that the number "exceeds 1,000 students." Either they were pressed to get information out before deadline, or Admissions was reluctant to release specific numbers because of the significant drop in enrollment. In fairness, the number last year was too high and housing and other departments were not ready to handle such a high increase (and no one expected such a high number). This year admissions knew they needed to scale back and did so out of necessity.
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