Student needs should shape budget
Campus Times
April 23, 1999
The tuition increase of 2.89 percent, or $450, sounds
like the faculty and departments at the University of La Verne will benefit
from it. However the truth is that if this budget proposal going to the
Board of Trustees on May 8 succeeds, equipment money for different departments
and other departmental essentials will inevitably be cut.
According to Vice President of Academic Affairs Phil Hawkey, the revenues
that the University receives are coming in slower than expenses. As a result,
department demands for equipment will not be able to be met. They will not
be able to afford to fund or support the majority of the departments. The
only departments that will benefit from the increased tuition are the School
of Education and Learning and the College of Law, those that are self supporting.
The School of Education and Learning, earlier this year found a home
in the newly-constructed Roger Barkley Building located on D Street. The
University also has to hire a dean for the school.
Tuition for the ULV College of Law has also been proposed for an increase
to 11.11 percent, and 27 percent for new students. The money collected from
that will go toward obtaining American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation.
The main reason for the central campus increase is to raise faculty
and staff salaries, which Hawkey says "has not been increased in the
past."
To fund their needs, the new Tier program, has been proposed. Under
this program, money will be awarded as it comes in rather than all up front.
Department Chair of Communications Dr. Goerge Keeler said, "There
is no sense, under the Tier program, in giving equipment money at the end
of the school year. We need it at the start of the school year, so the students
can benefit from it."
With money not being given at the beginning of the school year, departments
cannot function and students will suffer in the development of their education.
For instance, Communications Department -- home of KULV, LVTV, Campus
Times and La Verne Magazine -- was originally going to be wiped
out as far as requested funds are concerned. Instead, it may possibly be
given half of what it requested at the end of the school year. Still, how
it is supposed to function?
Communication, journalism and broadcasting majors revolve around the
three student-run programs and without the necessary equipment, have nowhere
to turn. Other programs also require equipment such as biology or movement
and sports sciences and these programs will also go without.
It is fine if the University feels the need to raise the tuition, as
long as it will be toward the students' advantage. It is the students who
are paying for an education and should be the top priority in any consideration.
Technology and its devices are a major part of many students' education,
and money is practically mandatory.
Faculty and staff deserve a higher salary because they are the ones
shaping student lives, but the school should seek another way toward doing
so.
