Discontinuing programs would hurt students
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We all came to MSU with the idea that this university would propel us into the professional world equipped with the best tools available. We would head out into the world with knowledge from the smartest professors and experience from the best available internships. After all, we are Spartans.
Now, as students, we find ourselves questioning the values of our university as budget cuts loom overhead.
Recently, MSU announced there will be program cuts in at least 10 different colleges, including doctoral and master programs, with 19 possible undergraduate discontinuations. Geological sciences, communicative sciences and disorders, veterinary technology and general business administration are just a few listed on the chopping block. These programs add value in many ways and contribute to MSU’s reputation.
MSU is known as an agricultural school. When the world around us is promoting sustainability, for MSU, which ranks in the top five for an eco-friendly campus, cutting science programs only depletes our chances of further research. It seems odd that we find ourselves facing the guillotine in areas that focus on land grants and research — areas that define MSU in the first place.
Being a research university is a point of pride for MSU. However, while the university questions the effects that these cuts could have on the reputation of our school and debates the overall outcome of its decisions, the students enrolled in majors that could be cut or downsized are left standing in a gray area. When it comes to these inevitable cuts, students already enrolled in these programs will question the university’s plans for accommodation.
Let’s say MSU eliminates the communicative sciences and disorders major. Students will have no concrete answers as to their remaining future at MSU. What will happen to those credit hours already received? Will they transfer into a different major offered? Will students be forced to commit to more school than their budget allows? In a worst case scenario, they might even transfer schools, taking with them the much-needed money promised to MSU.
In this day and age, students already are strapped for cash and can’t always depend on their parents’ support — switching majors and taking extra credit hours required of new programs is a luxury many students cannot afford. It’s not fair to students who want to continue their chosen path — the path that encouraged them to choose MSU in the first place.
But what about those who did graduate from a place that eradicated their program? For example, MSU is planning to entirely cut the music therapy program. Companies and other organizations hiring music therapy students might not think much of a graduate who studied at a university that no longer saw the importance of such a program, and thus eliminated it. These graduates could find themselves in jobless situations. A rather risky endeavor in an already wavering society.
MSU has plenty of options to explore when considering cuts. Programs that will be discontinued shouldn’t place students in a murky situation when considering their future.
Spartans trusted MSU to give them the best — to make them the best. Now, MSU is saying some of their major programs won’t even make the cut. We guess this isn’t the Sparta we had in mind.
Commentary
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meg
(11/03/09 11:51pm)Report
As I understood it, these were only recommendations at this point. Did they announce cuts? Or did they announce suggestions for cuts? Big difference.
jill
(11/03/09 11:56pm)Report
“We guess this isn’t the Sparta we had in mind.”
Sparta was a militaristic state. Per wikipedia:
From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars. Helots were the majority inhabitants of Sparta (over 80% of the population according to Herodotus). They were ritually humiliated and during the Crypteia they could be legally killed by Spartan citizens.
Is THAT the Sparta you have in mind?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta
MSU Grad '09
(11/04/09 1:13am)Report
Some of these cuts by MSU don’t even make sense considering that the state is supposed to be leaning on universities to provide talent for high paid positions in the medical field.
Music therapist and speech pathology both deal with helping people with medical disorders, and the amount of money they make is equal too (music therapy) or above (speech pathalolgy) the national average for salaries.
Music Therapist $43,323
http://flahec.org/hlthcareers/music.htm
Speech pathologist $57,710
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos099.htm#outlook
Gutting useful programs that will supply the state with qualified graduates in high paid and demand fields is the exact opposite of what needs to be done to better the state.
tgl
(11/04/09 8:02am)Report
“Companies and other organizations hiring music therapy students might not think much of a graduate who studied at a university that no longer saw the importance of such a program, and thus eliminated it. These graduates could find themselves in jobless situations”
That’s just a silly thing to say.
Clarity
(11/04/09 8:40am)Report
A little research is needed before writing this editorial. If the university cuts these programs, students who are currently enrolled majors will be allowed to finish their degrees in these majors. They will not be put out in the street.
Its easy to complain about cuts, but difficult to find answers. The fact is that the state allocation for tuition has been shrinking for years. This is going on at all public universities across the country. When the state cuts millions of dollars from the budget, the university must make cuts also.
Additionally, the costs for running the university are going up. Medical costs are increasing at a high rate each year. Technology, that didn’t exist 20 years ago (e.g., computer labs) needs to be replaced regularly. Do you want old computers in the labs? Library costs are out of control due to increasing journal subscription costs.
So revenue is going down and costs are going up. More pressure is being put on faculty to bring additional money into the university.
If you have an idea for fixing this that does not include cuts, please let everyone know.
mvt
(11/04/09 8:47am)Report
You are right, tgl. And the farther you get away from college the less the school you graduate from matters. What’s also not stated here is that NOT cutting programs hurts students, too, through higher costs.
It would be nice to see some students show some maturity and realize that the current circumstances are exceptional and require more than a nibbling response. There is no way to do that without program cuts. It is not the end of the world and the affected students will adapt, either changing their major (perhaps only slightly) or switching schools. Lots of students do that every year and don’t end up on public assistance.
student
(11/08/09 4:11pm)Report
Cut the freakin educ dept. There are no jobs for educ grads….this dept runs on the false hope of students getting a job….which are not there.
12Perfectroses
(11/14/09 7:27am)Report
I am an MSU Alumnus and my daughter recently received her letter of acceptance for Fall 2010 Broad College of Business. We were very happy that she had chose MSU. The ONLY reason she chose MSU was because of a specific program being offered at MSU -General Business Administration –Prelaw which is now the only program in Broad that is being considered to cut. This is very disheartening. MSU is one of FEW schools in the country that offers such a program. Yes she can go to any school and say she is pre-law, but to actually be in an official program, those options are NOT available. If MSU cuts this program, I am afraid that my daughter and many other students who chose MSU as their first choice may decide to go somewhere else.