CoLA CTBAC Submits Budget Recommendations to Dean

Published: March 24, 2011
By Michael Morton

With college-wide cuts expected to be announced soon by the College of Liberal Arts administration, the CoLA College Tuition and Budget Advisory Committee submitted its preliminary budget recommendations to Dean Randy Diehl on Thursday, March 10.

After taking into account the results of a college-wide student survey and hosting an open meeting and a town hall forum, the CTBAC sent the following budget recommendations to Diehl:

1. Preserve the existence of all centers and departments and do not make any decisions based on assumptions
2. Prioritize funding for teaching and research over outreach
3. Reevaluate merit pay increase
4. Encourage efficient use of resources and begin conversations about a responsibility-centered budgeting model

The recommendations are based on student input, including results from the CoLA CTBAC issued student survey. Undergraduate and graduate students from more than 30 departments and centers took part in the survey and answered questions about the largest areas of waste they see in the college and the most valuable resources provided to them.

In the survey results, the CTBAC found that students value all of the courses, research, outreach efforts, resources and facilities currently offered by the College of Liberal Arts. By percentage the largest areas of waste students saw in the College were: utility expenses, paper usage, the salaries of upper administration, the construction of a new building and some of the required classes in the Liberal Arts degree plan. Students indicated the resources they value the most are: advising, career services, faculty and professors, TAs and funding for graduate research programs.

After submitting its recommendations to Diehl, the CoLA CTBAC now plans on investigating the feasibility of moving certain courses to an online form, evaluating which departments and centers share common missions and resources and could be more easily combined, working with CTBACs from other colleges to pressure the university to move to a responsibility-centered budget model and begin gathering student opinion on tuition policy.

In addition to its most recent recommendations, the CoLA CTBAC has made two advisory recommendations since the Council formed in December 2010.

The first advisory recommendations were sent to Diehl on Feb. 7, 2011 and called for:

1.      The Dean’s office to send direct updates to students periodically, particularly when new information arrives regarding college budget cuts

2.      The Dean’s office to notify CTBAC and students at least two weeks before a decision is to be made regarding cuts to the College’s budget

For more information regarding the CoLA CTBAC, visit www.utsenate.org/colactbac