Volume 113 Issue 3 Sept. 19, 2013

News........................2Community.............4A&E.........................6Lifestyles................9Voices....................11Sports....................14

Index:

www.edinborospectator.comedinboro.spectator @gmail.comadverts.spectator@gmail.com

Photo by Morgan Sasser

Ghosts return toConneaut Lakewith added levelsof fear.See more on Page5.

Scots lose inhome opener. Seemore on Page 16.

Photo by Maggie Portzline

Progression andanxiety fill thisweek’s Bate’sGallery. See moreon Page 7.

Miley Cyrus ‘can’tstop.’ See moreon Page 9.

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IInnssiiddee tthhiiss iissssuuee:: Edinboro plans retrenchment, cuts

Amanda CuteriManaging Editor

Edinboro University President JulieWollman delivered her State of theUniversity address at the annual FallCampus Gathering held on Friday, Sept. 13,in the multipurpose room of the Frank G.Pogue Student Center.The gathering honored more than 40

faculty, administrators and staff memberswith new job appointments and anadditional 40 individuals who receivedpromotions or position changes for theupcoming school year.A reception followed.“I know that this has been a very trying

week for everyone on our campus,”Wollman said. “Never the less, I do want totake this time today to recognize the goodwork of our very talented faculty, staff andstudents. “She explained that she plans to execute the

upcoming year with a new strategic planthat “is a beacon of hope for the long termfuture of the university as a leading 21st-century institution.”Interim Provost and Vice President for

Academic Affairs Michael Hannan statedthat Wollman has already started a numberof new things at the university.“In just a little more than 15 months,

(Wollman has) led a number of initiativesincluding new mission, vision and values

statements for the university and a new 5-year strategic plan that sets aggressive goalsand objectives for the university,” InterimProvost and Vice President for AcademicAffairs Michael Hannan said. “That planprovides a blueprint for action and resultsthat we hope to sustain and enhance theexcellence that we have at the university.”Wollman explained that she and her

colleagues are making decisions strategicallyand these decisions will then bring a focusto ensure excellence throughout theuniversity. “The new strategic plan includes an

imperative for quality. Every interaction onthis campus must involve dedicatedattention to individuals to provide thehighest level of service in a culture thatshows we are here solely to help you,” shesaid.Since entering the presidency just last

year, she stated that she has constantly beenasked if she was aware of the budgetchallenges she would be facing upon comingto the university.“The honest answer is no and yes. It’s

never simple, is it? No, I did not know theextent of the problem that was forming andyes, everywhere in higher education now,there are budget challenges due to majordemographic shifts,” she said.She explained that, nationally, college

Wollman delivers address Students voice concernover potential budget cuts

Gathering continued on Page 2 President’s Hour continued on Page 3

Meagen FinnertyEditor-in-Chief

President Julie Wollman has released herOperations and Workforce Plan to address the $5.5million deficit currently facing the university. Herplan would save the university $1,376,294 duringthe fiscal year of 2014.“Each year, the financial picture looks worse.

And we’re kind of at the point now that we havebeen pulling from some financial reserves that theuniversity had accumulated in the past and we’re

getting close to exhausting those reserves and sowe can’t continue to not take some action,” saidInterim Provost and Vice President for AcademicAffairs Michael Hannan.Five programs will be placed on moratorium

beginning in the 2014-2015 academic year if theplan is enacted. These programs include: German,music, music education, philosophy, and worldlanguages and cultures.“The programs that are listed, I think there is a

good likelihood that they would go away,”Hannan said, explaining that he and the deansspent more than 40 hours in meetings thoroughly

discussing each program.According to Wollman, as majors, these

programs generate “so little student interest.”If placed on moratorium, Wollman explained

that popular classes in the department, as well asgeneral education classes, will still be offered andcurrently enrolled students would be offered allnecessary classes to complete their degrees.More than 40 full-time-equivalent (FTE) faculty

positions have also been identified for possibleelimination, pending discussion with the facultyunion, APSCUF. Jean Jones, the president ofEdinboro’s APSCUF chapter, said she wasshocked at the number of cuts and the manner inwhich faculty were notified of the cuts, which wasdone via email on Tuesday, Sept. 10. “Imagine you’re a professor and you’re home

and you’ve had a nice dinner and then you openup your email and you basically find out thatyou’re probably going to be laid off,” Jones said.Names of faculty members were not released on

the list, but Jones explained that faculty memberswere able to easily figure out if they were at risk ofbeing retrenched.“If you’re a new professor, low on the seniority

scale and … say three people in your departmentwere going to be cut, you know that’s you,” shesaid.While the collective bargaining agreement

demands that APSCUF be notified first, Jonesexplained that the university did fulfill thatobligation, but the information was sent outcampus-wide very shortly after on the same night.“It was sent to APSCUF and then it was sent to

Photo by the SpectatorThe music department is proposed to retrench 6.41 tenure-track faculty members.

Retrenchment continued on Page 3

Kaytlyn SmolenNews Editor

In light of the backlash surrounding theannouncement of proposed cuts released by theuniversity, President Julie Wollman held her regularlyscheduled listening hour on Tuesday, Sept. 17, in theCrawford Center conference room speaking to a roomfull of students and answering questions that they hadregarding those proposed cuts.For this listening hour, Wollman was joined by

Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic AffairsMichael Hannan, Vice President for UniversityAdvancement Tina Mengine, Dean of the College ofArts, Humanities and Social Services Steven Combs andDirector for University Communications JeffreyHileman.Wollman started the forum by providing students

with background information to help theirunderstanding of the university’s budget.“You have probably heard that enrollment in higher

education is going down across the country, so there arehalf a million fewer students in college this fall thanthere were last year,” Wollman said.She added that this is partially because the number of

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high school-age students thatare eligible for college hasdecreased. Wollman stated that since fall

of 2010, enrollment at Edinborohas decreased by 1,364 students.She also added that full-time-equivalent faculty have onlydropped about 6.5 percent since2010 while the amount ofstudents has dropped 16percent.“We have too many teachers

for the number of students(that) we have here,” Wollmansaid.Wollman added that part of

the problem is that 75 percent ofthe university’s budget used tocome from the state and that theamount that they currentlyreceive is at the same level thatit was 16 years ago, in 1997. Shesaid that if one would adjust forinflation, the amount should be

42 percent higher than itcurrently is.“Tuition only went up three

percent, that doesn’t cover thatbig gap that’s left there,”Wollman said. “That’s good foryou because we don’t want it togo up too much for you to (not)be able to afford it.”According to Wollman, 80

percent of the budget goestowards the cost of personnel. “If we didn’t make any

changes in the number ofpeople (that) we have here …we are going to have a budgetshortfall of around $7 millionthis year,” Wollman said.She added that administrators

anticipated a shortfall but that itwas larger than they expectedbecause enrollment hasdeclined again this year.She included that the

university has unrestricted netassets, which is an account thatwas described as a type ofsavings account.

“We have enough money tocover (the shortfall) for this yearbut we won’t be able to affordthe shortfall that we would havenext year if we kept all (of) thesame people,” Wollman said.Multiple students addressed

concerns that they had offers togo to other schools with partialscholarships but chose to go toEdinboro because of specificprograms and that they felt as ifthe quality would decrease asthey finish out the remainder oftheir degrees. Concerns were expressed that

if faculty in the musicdepartment were to be cut,other faculty may not know asmuch about a specific specialty.“There is not one teacher in

that building that is not there fora specific reason,” saidsophomore music educationmajor Beth Jerome.Wollman said that there is no

plan to eliminate all faculty atonce and that it will occur over

time.“There would absolutely be a

teach out plan for every studentin every degree program thatwould be eliminated,” Hannansaid.He explained that they would

look at what each studentwould need to graduate withthe program that they arecurrently in.“We understand that all of

you are not going to be able tograduate this May,” Hannansaid.He said that he would work

with the music department tosee what courses currentstudents will need to graduatewith their degrees.“When you came here, you

came here under a cataloguethat had that particular programin there,” Hannan said. “ It’s ourobligation to make sure that ifyou want to stay in that major,that we need to finish you out.”Another student said that he

was concerned that he wouldnot have the fundamentals to bean effective teacher because theproposed cuts could possiblykeep him from learning aparticular instrument or skill.“All of you who are in the

music program will be takencare of,” Combs said inresponse to the concern. “Wewill uphold our commitment toyou.”He added that the people

who will be affected will be theones who want to come to theuniversity in the next severalyears when there is no longer amusic major. Combs stated that there is not

as high of a demand across theK-12 system for music teachersas there used to be. He said thathe hopes that the demand willreturn and that they will be ableto rebuild the program.“Right now there is a problem

and right now this is how weneed to address it,” Combs said.

the campus community because it impactsmore than APSCUF,” Wollman said.The departments with the biggest faculty

cuts, both tenure-track and temporary,include art, music, early childhood andreading, and nursing. Hannan explained that these departments

were cut for a variety of reasons. Because artis the largest department on campus witharound 50 faculty members, it would have toabsorb some cuts, he said. The nursing program was restructured by

those in the department who worked toeliminate some costs.Hannan explained that even though a

department may not be listed for cuts, it isn’tan impossibility. “If a faculty member has a master’s degree

outside of where they’re currently teaching,they may have seniority over another facultymember or temporary faculty member in awhole other department, in which case, theywouldn’t be the ones that would beeliminated,” he said.Hannan and the deans are beginning to

evaluate faculty credentials and resumes thisweek to decide who will receiveretrenchment letters. However, the universitywill continue to look for other options

throughout the academic year.“The fact that someone gets a letter, I mean,

there’s a pretty high probability that they willbe eliminated, but there is certainly thepossibility that they would not be,” Hannansaid.Wollman met with APSCUF

representatives on Friday, Sept. 13, to discussthe Operations and Workforce Plan. Whilethe university expected to discussalternatives suggested by APSCUF, therewere no alternatives presented.“I think that we still are waiting for

APSCUF,” Wollman said. “Because thecontract … it says that they are to proposealternatives, so that’s what we’re waiting for.”Jones left the meeting concerned about

how retrenchment is being viewed as theonly plan by administration.“It was the first and only thing they were

talking about doing,” Jones said. “They hada very simple proposition.”Jones explained that she asked to see the

university’s budget that outlines the deficitbut it was not shared with her because shewas told it was still being worked on. Becauseof this, Jones said, it is impossible for her toanalyze their numbers. “Teaching faculty represents 63 percent of

our personnel budget and we can onlyachieve necessary expense reductions if we

address academic expenses as well as otherareas on campus,” the plan states.According to APSCUF’s records, as of Sept.

13, the faculty at Edinboro was down 34positions from last year and that losing morefaculty members would only hurt theuniversity. “No one here is talking about our students

and I’m a teacher, I care about students,”Jones said.Retrenchment would result in bigger

classes, fewer classes and fewer programs.“I find it very distressing,” Jones said.As far as APSCUF’s role moving forward, it

is to question the administration’s plan tomake sure what they’ve presented isabsolutely necessary.Jones explained, though, that it wasn’t the

job of APSCUF to balance the university’sbudget.“The burden is not on us. The burden is on

the president and her team to manage thisuniversity, to manage this budget, and bytheir own admission, there’s been a realbreakdown in that,” Jones said.There are also several new or revised

programs that are being considered forinvestments of resources.At the undergraduate level, these

programs include: animation and digital arts,forensic computing, industrial psychology,

integrated media production, leadership,water resource management, andintercultural and international studies.Graduate programs under consideration

include animation arts, business, criminaljustice and information technology.“What we don’t want to do is just

continually cut. You can’t have anorganization that’s going to be strong in thefuture and grow if all you do is cut it,”Hannan said.These programs are still in the planning

stage, however, and need to be furtherevaluated for cost and potential revenueintake.A webpage on Edinboro’s website will be

active for the community to suggest cost-saving ideas. Wollman explained that anemail would be sent out when it wasavailable. Jones encouraged students toattend the budget forums and respectfullyvoice their concerns to Wollman.

President’s HourContinued from Page 1

RetrenchmentContinued from Page 1

NEWSPage 3 Sept. 19, 2013

Kaytlyn SmolenNews Editor

With the help of the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry“Bucktails,” the history, anthropology and the worldlanguages departments will bring living history to campus onTuesday, Sept. 24 through Sunday Sept. 29 while honoring the150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and the signingof the Emancipation Proclamation.

The event will feature lectures from members of thevarious departments as well as Civil War era music and aCivil War encampment by the "Bucktails." The "Bucktails" are a group of individuals from nearby

areas who preserve the historical aspects of the Civil Warthrough activities like reenactments, demonstrations, displaysand historical dramas.Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Michael Hannan , whose office is helping sponsor the event,explained that he hopes this event will be an additionallearning opportunity for students.“I thought this was a good opportunity for the whole

university community to take some time to focus on lifeduring that period and the impact of these events on ourcountry,” Hannan said. “The university is a center of learningso it is my hope that events such as this will allow studentsand others to learn and discuss topics that they may otherwisenot studied in their regular classes.”Hannan added that events like this add a different aspect of

the learning culture to the university. “I think that it’s important for the university to offer special

learning opportunities like this event since it provides adifferent venue to learn about significant periods in ourhistory. This is also an opportunity for students and thecommunity to benefit from the expertise of our faculty inthese special areas,” he said. “I am strongly indebted to ourfaculty from the history, anthropology and world languagesdepartments for embracing this idea and coming forwardwith interesting and exciting topics.”Lenore Barbian, acting chair, said that her department

would like this event to bring people to the university. “Part of (the event) is to be an outreach for people who are

interested in history and to bring attention to the university

and the expertise that we have, especially in the history,anthropology and world languages (department). They willcome and hear the talks and it will be a great event for that,”Barbian said. “We are hoping that it will help us recruit somestudents, potential students that will come because it will bethis living history event and then they’ll see how greatEdinboro is and they’ll want to come here.” Barbian said that bringing a living history event to campus

will help increase the understanding of history. “Even though I’m an anthropologist, I’ve worked a lot with

historical associations ... and I think that living history reallyhelps people understand history better,” Barbian said. “If theycan see reenactments, if they can see what it’s really like, itmakes it kind of more personal and I think that it helps peoplewho might say ‘Oh, I’m not really interested in history,’ realizethat they really are interested in history. I think that it’s aneasy way for people to be introduced to things.”All events of "Remembering Gettysburg and Beyond" are

free and open to the public. A full schedule of events can be found at

edinborospectator.com

‘Bucktails’ participate in ‘Remembering Gettysburg and Beyond’

To read an extendedversion of this article,

visitedinborospectator.com.

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