Why Retrench at ESU?

BY ASHLEY CHELL

SC Staff Writer 

When I heard about the effects of the retrenchment that will be possibly taking place at ESU, I became very confused.

It is very unsettling for me to hear that courses, and even entire departments will be cut and faculty members will be laid-off. .

There are less and less students deciding to attend ESU. It does not make sense for the administration to cut certain courses, faculty members, or whole academic departments.

I keep reading statements about how ESU’s administration, in creating a balanced budget, is looking out for ESU’s long term financial plans. I think that doing this will harm them.

If whole departments are cut and if professors are laid-off, then academics at ESU will become substantially weakened.  This will not lead to an increase in enrollment.

There are thirteen departments that could be cut down, some of these include chemistry, physics, philosophy, and political science.  These are major departments that are crucial to a functioning university.

I think that by cutting courses, faculty, and especially entire departments that it will lead to a further decrease in enrollment and will inevitably harm any long term financial plans that ESU may have.

I am not the only student who believes this, there are many others as well.

One student, who wishes to remain anonymous, said, “I am against it. My major is on the chopping block because it is too expensive and not enough people are coming for chemistry. Well if that’s the case, spend more time making ESU more appealing for chemistry students”.

Another student, Kate Dow, a senior, said, “I was kind of disappointed when I heard that ESU was cutting courses and teachers.  Doing this could really hurt the school in general”.

I also continuously hear other students in the halls and in other places outside of the classroom who disagree with how the retrenchment will be affecting ESU.

Although I am not a member of ESU’s administration and I do not know the specifics of ESU’s budget, I am hoping that cutting courses, entire departments, and laying-off faculty members is a very last resort in making up for the approximate  $3 million budget defecit.

I think that if ESU does this then the university itself will be weakened as a whole, and that it will not benefit the university in a positive way.

Email Ashley at:

achell1@live.esu.edu