<p>Maybe my little advice about looking at budgets was prescient. From another poster dstark:</p>
<p>William and Mary is a good case in point.</p>
<p>The Virginia Gazette - News - Profs say cuts affecting classroom</p>
<p>"Even before Fridays announcement that cuts in state funding will force 12 layoffs among 31 jobs to be eliminated at the College of William & Mary, two professors told the Board of Visitors this week that the effect of dwindling budgets is already being felt in the classroom.</p>
<p>We really are pushed right now to the limits because of these cuts, Biology Department chair Lizabeth Allison told the board on Thursday.</p>
<p>Allison noted that the cancellation of tenure-eligible faculty searches has forced the college to bring in adjunct professors, or hire professors on one-year contracts to fill in. That, she explained, results in a loss of mentoring, loss of faculty committee work and an overarching concern about the quality of specific majors or academic programs.</p>
<p>History Department chairman Phil Daileader agreed.</p>
<p>William and Mary is simply not the school it was two years ago.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t really see what can be done here. It’s sad that the states can find no better cuts than education, but that’s the states for you.</p>
<p>Everything goes in a cycle. As the economy gradually recovers, so will the colleges. Gradually being the keyword here.</p>
<p>And unfortunately, the new high school graduates finally achieving their college dreams are the ones who will get hurt here, along with the teachers and staff trying to muddle through pay freezes and layoffs.</p>
<p>But unless some multimillionaire donors come along within the next few months, I don’t really see what we can do besides mope. The state has already made its decision.</p>
<p>An increase in alumni donations is helping though too. This past year was the best fundraising year for the College - ever. Relative to national universities, I don’t think W&M is moving much. Relative to other instate institutions, W&M is better off than most.</p>
<p>To add to the optimism: the construction of the new “Tribe Square” and established joint-degree program with St Andrews could be sources of increased future revenue as well.</p>
<p>You’re right, soccer guy. Plus it’ll take a lot more than a couple of tough budget years for William and Mary’s academics to slip to the level of UW-Madison. Princeton Review’s academic rating for William and Mary is at 92, for example, while UW’s is at 79. William and Mary’s financial aid rating (84) also remains significantly higher than UW’s (a shameful 75).</p>
<p>I note that things can’t be <em>that</em> dire when they’re increasing the financial aid budget, opening new facilities, like the School of Education, the Career Center, and Small Hall, and, as has been mentioned, breaking ground for Tribe Square.</p>
<p>The question regarding how much tuition should be subsidized by those who’ve never attended attended these colleges and who never will, will always be up for debate. Despite the increases, the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition still represents a pretty sizable subsidy.</p>
<p>Certainly W&M is feeling the pinch of the economy as are all public institutions (and many private ones as well). Even though there are certainly unfortunate happenings such as layoffs, use of adjunct faculty, etc W&M tries its utmost to make cuts/changes that affect students minimally if at all (with the exception of tuition increases). Essentially, W&M tries to make the cuts invisible to students (i.e. cutting 12 faculty or substituting 12 adjuncts on a campus with nearly 700 faculty is pretty minimal). No undergraduate programs have been cut nor have any residential or campus organizations been cut.</p>
<p>Certainly W&M is making tough choices that affect students and employees alike but so far, the cuts have been as kind as possible. And it says something about W&M profs and administrators that most have stayed with W&M despite not having raises in 3 years due to budget cuts.</p>