Times are tough, but they just got tougher for ASU.
The University announced a proposal to disestablish four schools at ASU and cut staff positions in response to the Arizona Board of Regents mandate, which has ordered each of the three in-state university presidents to cut their salary budget by 2.75 percent.
The Department of Kinesiology, the School of Health Management and Policy, and the School of Design Innovation would all be affected.
The fourth school affected under this proposal would be the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and the Graduate School of Education. The schools would merge to form the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.
The University administration has made it their priority to make sure this round of cuts does not affect students; the administration has put them first. Care was taken to ensure that academic programs remained intact and that faculty was retained.
“Students will be largely left untouched. The degree will continue to be offered — Master of Health Sector Management. We are admitting a new class of students in the fall,” said Marjorie Baldwin, director of the School of Health Management and Policy.
“The faculty will be redistributed around the business school,” she added. They will still offer the degree even though they are located in different places.
But this doesn’t mean jobs won’t be cut. Administrative overhead will be eliminated, ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler said in an e-mail.
An employee who has worked at ASU for eleven years, at one point in the kinesiology department, and wished to remain anonymous, expressed nervousness and the proposal. Last April, she was laid off due to budget cuts and given six months to find a new job.
“Some people were walked, meaning they were paid to be at home and look for a job. Some people, including me, were required to come in everyday for the six months and still look for another job,” she said.
She was unemployed for two months. During this time, she was not able to collect the unemployment checks the state owed her. She estimated the state owed her $2,000.
Eventually she was rehired by ASU in a different department.
“I interviewed 80 times for various positions at ASU. I wanted to stay here because of the benefits,” she said.
This round of cuts has her anxious. Before she was laid off, she employers assured her that her job was safe. Obviously it wasn’t.
“You felt that you were safe the first time, but what’s to say that you are this time?” she said.
While students will continue to pursue majors from the schools that are being disestablished, administrative staff is nervous. And considering the impact they have on us, that’s something that should make students nervous too.
Andrew can be reached at andrew.hedlund@asu.edu
