LONDON – DECEMBER 1: A student studies in the main library at the University College London on … [+]
As students and faculty prepared for the start of the new academic year this month, the president of West Virginia University, Gordon Gee, made a startling announcement: he’s eliminating 169 faculty jobs, about 16% of the full-time professors, and dropping 32 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, including all of its foreign language programs.
No foreign language classes? No French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, anything other than English? Apparently not–and in response to questions, the university suggested that students might be offered an online app instead. It’s not just humanities, either: WVU is also getting rid of its graduate program in mathematics.
These cuts came as a shock to the students and faculty of WVU, who are understandably dismayed. The university administration says it’s just about money, as they face a $45 million deficit that they must do something about.
I’m not buying it. What really seems to be going on (and this is not unique to West Virginia), is that the state has steadily cut its support for WVU over the years, creating ever-larger deficits. The problem now is that the current president, Gordon Gee, seems to be saying that’s all fine with him. He didn’t even ask the state if it could help before he imposed these drastic cuts: as quoted in the Washington Post, Gee said “If I had gone down and asked for $45 million from the state legislature, they would have thrown me out.” Perhaps, but did you even try?
In the same article, State Senator Eric Tarr (R) also said he “wholeheartedly” believes that WVU president Gee is doing the right thing. And yet in the same interview, Sen. Eric said “We have never not supported WVU.”
Hmm, really? Over the past decade, the state has cut its support for WVU by 36%, or nearly $100 million. So it’s pretty clear that the legislature is not supporting WVU, at least not like they did in the past.
With support like that, who needs detractors?
According to one analysis, if West Virginia’s legislature had simply kept WVU’s funding flat for the past decade, WVU’s deficit right now would be far smaller, just $7.6 million rather than $45 million.
President Gee, did you ask the legislators about that?
I can’t help noting that WVU just renewed Gee’s contract for another year, at $800K per year. So they do seem to be able to come up with money for administrators. Gee’s only the 4th highest-paid WVU employee, with the football and basketball coaches each making over $4 million. I wasn’t able to find out how much WVU paid the consulting company rpk Group, whom Gee hired to come up with these severe cuts, but I’ll bet they weren’t cheap.
The state of West Virginia has only one R1-class research university, West Virginia University, with some 25,000 students on its main campus in Morgantown. If this trend continues, the state might no longer have even one major research university. That’s too bad.
And despite what WVU’s Gee and the consultants he hired might claim, this is not just about money; it’s about priorities. Currently, only five states don’t have an R1 level university: Alaska, Idaho, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. Does West Virginia want to join that club?
It’s true that West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the U.S., with a poverty rate of 16.8%. But can it really not afford even one major university? For West Virginia residents, WVU is the only R1 university that most of them can afford, because in-state tuition is far cheaper than out-of-state tuition at any other state university.
The way to fix this problem isn’t to eliminate the core elements of a college education, which include foreign languages. The fix is simple: the legislature should step up and say they truly support WVU, and cover its deficit without eliminating any programs. Then they should find a university president who is willing to ask for the funds that a major university needs. I’m sure they can find someone willing to do the job, maybe for even less than $800K per year.