Self cutting
Sunday, 22 April, 2012 — government education
If you haven’t heard, the University of Florida has proposed cutbacks in its Computer Information Science and Engineering department.
Essentially, the department is being broken up and moved into other departments at the university as part of a budget cut. From the above-linked Gainsville Sun article by Nathan Crabbe:
Lawmakers have slashed state university funding since 2006, making $300 million in cuts to the system as part of the budget that Gov. Rick Scott is expected to sign today. While lawmakers made cuts in part with the expectation that universities would tap reserves, UF Provost Joe Glover said last week that university officials don’t believe these are one-time cuts.
“Some believe that the Legislature will restore that money next year,” he said. “We don’t agree with that belief and we don’t think that it’s prudent to bet on that.”
I have the bias of being part of the industry, but of any degree program to cut, computer science is one of the last. I’m at a loss to explain how it makes sense to cut academic programs while expanding athletic programs. Without getting into whether sports at universities are worthwhile, I really have to wonder about prioritization when an academic program that could easily expand to fill a skills gap faces cuts, but student athletes don’t.
I’m sad that legislatures seem interested in divesting state institutions from research specifically and cutting back on support for higher education in general.
This is very unsettling and likely damaging move.
Update: Rafe Colburn points out that the Gators athletics program is self-funded. So, it would not be a matter of sliding dollars over. I should know better than to assume or imply that the dollars are fungible from one area to another. They’re not. Still, it’s telling that state-financed academic programs are at risk and cartel and market-supported athletics programs are not.