Does anyone ever worry about budget cuts?

[robot_hamster]

Just a hypothetical question. I was just wondering if anyone was ever worried about budget cuts: potentially losing funding, classes one was wanting to take, or even their department. I've heard some universities have been struggling and cuts are being made that affect graduate students. Is this something to worry about?

[fuzzylogician]

In a sense that's something you should worry about when you choose where to apply and when you're choosing between offers. Once you've accepted an offer and you're committed to a school, it's beyond your control. I guess I'm one of those people who doesn't see the logic behind worrying about things I can't change so I don't spend time thinking about those things. But that's part of human nature, I know some people can't help but worry. If you anticipate budget cuts or that some professor might leave, take that class with them now, not later. Even if there are no cuts, a professor might become ill or accept a job elsewhere or just not offer the class you're interested in next term. If there's ever a class you have to take, get it done as soon as possible. But normally there will be more than one way to satisfy a requirement and the department will not punish students for things that are beyond their control. In general, though, I think it's better to worry about things you can change, not things you can't.

[husky]

I'm worried that the budget cuts will effect NSF awards. I don't know if they will take them back if funding is cut or if cuts would only affect future awards.

[msafiri]

In a nutshell, yes. I'm at a state university and the state is continuously chopping the budget for higher education. I warned visiting prospective grad students of this. Right now, our department is doing quite well but, after spending a year doing dissertation fieldwork, I plan to find a way to be self-funded so I'm not dependent on the whims of the state legislature to be able to finish my degree.

[robot_hamster]

I also worry about professors being let go and the other professors having to pick up the slack. That means less time for advising or working on research-related stuff.

[Tall Chai Latte]

At one point I was worried that I wouldn't be able to join the lab I wanted. This created much stress amongst the first-years in some departments, as PI losing their grants and positions were cut down. Some students have to compete for a spot in the lab....

[WornOutGrad]

My department is tiny, so I worry about this a little, but since it is the only department of it's type in the state, there is some reassurance

[zengazenga]

In a nutshell, yes. I'm at a state university and the state is continuously chopping the budget for higher education. I warned visiting prospective grad students of this. Right now, our department is doing quite well but, after spending a year doing dissertation fieldwork, I plan to find a way to be self-funded so I'm not dependent on the whims of the state legislature to be able to finish my degree.

In the same boat. I'm finishing up fieldwork and just got word I'll probably not be funded for my writing year. No TAship, no RAship, nada.

I'm wondering if I should just take a leave from school next year so I don't have to pay tuition -- just get a part-time job and write the rest of the time.

Any thoughts? I'd welcome any ideas/brainstorming on self-funding. Maybe we can start a new thread for that if one doesn't exist...

[StrangeLight]

robot_hamster, they won't fire any professors who have tenure and (this is harsh, but reality) you shouldn't be working with any professors that don't have tenure, so that shouldn't be an issue.

to answer the OP, yep, i'm worried. i'm lucky, because i've secured multi-year funding from the canadian government, but i know things are going to get ugly for the rest of my cohort.

my school's semi-public and the state just cut half of our budget, $80 million. students with guaranteed funding (either through TAships or department fellowships) will get paid less, but they'll still get paid. it's the students that ran out of their 4-5 years of guaranteed funding (because no one finishes a history degree in less than 6 years) that are hoping to pick up a TAship that are screwed. there's also the chance that our benefits will get cut or dropped altogether. the school gives us tuition remission for 15 credits a semester and a number of students actually have to use all 15 credits a semester (don't ask), so if the school decided to reduce the tuition remission credits, lots of people would either pay out of pocket or be out of luck. the school also offers a number of dissertation research fellowships that students need because their archives are out of town, so they can't be TAs and get their work done at the same time. these fellowships will be reduced in number and i wouldn't be totally shocked if some are cut altogether.

the real burden is going to fall on the undergrads and unfunded grad students, though. i'd be surprised if tuition didn't go up 50% next year.

[robot_hamster]

robot_hamster, they won't fire any professors who have tenure and (this is harsh, but reality) you shouldn't be working with any professors that don't have tenure, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I'm not worried about a professor with tenure being let go. I'm just saying that they may have to pick up some of the slack if a lot of non-tenure professors are let go and they won't have as much time to focus of their advisees.

[StrangeLight]

professors have contracts that state how many courses they teach a semester. you can only change that number on contract renegotiations or if the prof feels like taking on more teaching (most of them don't). when they let go the non-tenured instructors, they'll just hire adjuncts for $2000/course. again, the budget cuts won't affect the tenured profs.

[ZeChocMoose]

robot_hamster, they won't fire any professors who have tenure

This is not necessarily true. Universities try really hard not to fire tenured professors due to budget cuts, but sometimes if the circumstances are very dire then they will have to let go of professors with tenure as well. There is a lot of great research on this in the higher ed realm about how administrators make these hard decisions and what are the repercussions to the university for having to go this route.

I agree with whoever said it up thread that once you sign on the dotted line, I stop worrying about what could happen. Although I suppose it never hurts to start gathering information for internal and external fellowships that you can apply to.

[robot_hamster]

professors have contracts that state how many courses they teach a semester. you can only change that number on contract renegotiations or if the prof feels like taking on more teaching (most of them don't). when they let go the non-tenured instructors, they'll just hire adjuncts for $2000/course. again, the budget cuts won't affect the tenured profs.

The announcement that went out at my school said specifically that X number of courses would need to be absorbed by the remaining faculty.

[rising_star]

robot_hamster, they won't fire any professors who have tenure and (this is harsh, but reality) you shouldn't be working with any professors that don't have tenure, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Florida State University fired tenured professors. See here: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/11/fired-tenured-faculty-members.html and Here: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/11/fired-tenured-faculty-members.html

[StrangeLight]

holy crap. well, i know a ton of tenured professors that need to be fired, but they're dead weight. 1-1 teaching loads and no research to speak of. this is still pretty upsetting.

[neuropsych76]

I do! My program explicitly told me the school was going through some tough financial times. However, they said this will mostly affect undergrads...

[ktel]

I know the Canadian government has certainly cut funding and a lot of the universities are struggling. You used to be able to receive NSERC funding for two years of your Master's (or so I'm told), but they cut it down to only one year, which is unfortunate.