Doing more with less.
It?s been the motto of the College of Veterinary Medicine for the last few years as a result of continuous reductions to the school?s budget. The college has lost positions on all levels ? faculty, staff and graduate students.
The University?s Rose Creek Farm located in Oconee County could shut down due to lack of funding. Photo by AJ REYNOLDS
?I think one of the biggest impacts is on morale because not only are the faculty and staff having to work harder, but they haven?t had raises in a couple of years and they?ve been furloughed,? said Sheila Allen, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. ?They?ve actually had a pay cut in addition to having to work harder.?
In fiscal year 2007, the college had a $50.3 million budget with 54 percent of that total appropriated by the state. The college has now expanded to a $61.4 million budget with only 46 percent of it funded by the state.
?My worst fear is that they?ll cut more funding and that we?ll have to lose more faculty, staff and graduate student positions,? Allen said. ?Some of our programs have been cut back so much that we are fearful that they?ll have to be closed and discontinued.?
To meet the FY12 reduction, the college plans to eliminate operating support to its Rose Creek Farm in Oconee County, according to the University?s budget narrative.
The farm is used for giving students hands-on training with beef cattle and horses.
?If we have further cuts, we may have to partially or completely cut down the operation,? Allen said. ?That would, of course, have a very serious effect on our students? abilities to practice veterinary medicine when they finish because they?ll have less hands-on training with animals.?
Since FY09, state support for the Veterinary Teaching Hospital has declined by nearly 24 percent, according to the budget narrative.
In that period, the hospital had six veterinary technician positions vacant.
The technicians served as nurses and instructors to veterinary students.
Allen said the college has cut back on several academic programs, but none that are part of the core teaching of veterinarians.
?We?re still teaching all of the classes that we taught before, but I think the students do perceive more stress on our faculty and staff because everybody?s having to do more with less,? Allen said.
Mark Shumake, a veterinary student from LaGrange, said he?s aware professors in the college are dealing with the reductions, but it does not change the way they teach their students.
?They mentioned to us at some of our class meetings that the budget cuts will affect what professors are able to do,? Shumake said. ?They?ll have to do the same amount of stuff with less help, but they all seem to be trying to make sure that they prepare us as best they can.?
Shumake couldn?t think of specific ways in which the budget reductions? have affected his college experience so far.
?It?d be hard to say that I?ve directly felt anything other than the tuition increases,? Shumake said. ?But they certainly have been trying to make sure the cuts they have to make don?t adversely affect the essential aspects of teaching us veterinary medicine and what we?ll need to know.?
But the budget cuts may not be as noticeable to students as they are to faculty.
?I think that it?s difficult for the students to see sometimes because we really are trying to carry on business as usual and yet what the students see is that their fees and tuition are going up,? Allen said. ?And I recognize that it?s a burden on them and their families as well.?
But it could be difficult to carry on business as usual because ?students want to learn from mentors who are at the top of their game,? according to the FY12 budget planning document.
And Allen thinks qualified faculty will leave if the University does not give them enough of an incentive to stay.
?My hope is that we will stay where we are now and not deteriorate,? she said. ?But when you have less faculty, you?ll have less research funding and everything starts to fall down. My biggest fear is that we?ll start losing the faculty we still have because other institutions will hire them away.?
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EDITOR?S NOTE
Each week, The Red & Black will focus on one college within the University for a closer look at how the FY12 budget cuts affect its faculty, staff and students. Next week, we will focus on the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.
Vet Med budget narrative
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