The next blogger for Amarillo College, that's who.
My name is Brittney Richerson. I'm a native Amarilloan and a journalism student here at AC. I'm sure that you will gather little snippets of information about me here and there as I attempt to amuse and inform you throughout the semester, so I won't bore you with an autobiography now.
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As most of you probably already know, Texas community colleges are in a little bit of a bind thanks to the statewide budget cuts.
I know, I know. My first blog post and I'm already boring you with something so bland. Bear with me for just a moment and really think about this. It's important.
AC is facing an 11 percent budget reduction over the next two years. That amounts to a cut of about $3.75 million.
Not exactly a small ding in the door. A little bit more than an injury-free, "we'll all walk away without a scratch" kind of accident, too.
Who got hit the hardest? Hmm...
Students will be facing a "minor" tuition hike, as President Matney describes it. A few dollars per credit hour. Eh, not bad. Say the tuition goes up $5 per hour, that's only 60 extra bucks a semester.
So we students are in the clear. We walk away unscathed.
Of course not.
Three main areas that will feel the cuts:
1.) Funding for faculty and staff travel. Students travel should be okay, at least for the time being.
Students, try to think of it this way:
If our instructors aren't traveling to conventions and conferences to further their own education as technology continuously advances and the world around us continues to evolve, how can they give us the best education possible? It's through no fault of their own that they will be at a disadvantage when educating us.
Instructors, what do you think?
2.) Hiring freeze. Or a partial hiring freeze. Freeze.
Enrollment is up (again). Loads of new students + no new faculty/staff members = an issue, eventually.
No one has said it yet, but what happens to those working in smaller departments or with only part-time jobs here? Are they in the clear? I don't know the answer. That's why I've been asking these questions.
3.) Those darned "capitol expenditures" are gonna have to be looked at again...
The primary thing that will be problematic in this category is the purchase of new equipment. AC has a lot of nice things to offer...but what could be better? What do we need? Want? What would make the AC experience more exciting and enriching?
Well, it's going to have to wait. Sorry.
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Apologies again for the boring post. I've just been engulfed in this stuff lately and thought I would throw it all out there for everyone else to see. (I'm so generous. I know.)
Pardon my sarcasm.
Just think about it, though. AC is a community college. We're all going to feel something as a result of the budget cuts.
What do you feel?
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I promise that I'm not completely boring. I will do my best to come up with something fun and exciting for my next post.
If there is anything in particular that you are interested in reading about, just let me know! I just ranted and babbled away at you, so feel free to do the same at me.
Welcome :)
The blog's been silent for more than a month. Thank you for posting this :)
You asked for what instructors think about the lack of travel. I can't speak for us all, but I can give one faculty member's viewpoint.
I wish we could travel this year, but of all the cuts the college has to make, travel is probably the least painful, especially in the information age. Yes, it's helpful to go to conferences, but many of us take courses, subscribe to journals in our fields, read books, and otherwise invest (at our own expense) in keeping up-to-date in our fields. I have even attended online conferences, and although I missed some face-to-face conversations with colleagues, I still learned a great deal.
Despite travel cuts, students don't have to worry about AC faculty being outdated in their fields of expertise.
The other cuts and the probable tuition hike are more troublesome, but we have to do what we can to keep Amarillo College moving forward. Let's just hope that when the current budget crunch has passed, the state will take care of its responsibility to fund community colleges adequately.
Welcome, I look forward to reading more of your work.