When Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates reported last month on the state-mandated budget cuts, he promised in his Feb.10 press release that the “process of dealing with the cuts will be open and your questions will be answered as best we can.” However, each college has yet to explain to the students how they will be affected, and direct answers are far from accessible when one does attempt to find them.
A clear possibility is that the $23 million that A&M will no longer have threatens to affect students negatively. One thing students would hope for is that the budget cuts would follow practicality and eliminate unnecessary or marginal spending instead of eliminating anything that would contradict the central purpose of A&M: educating students. Gates maintained that “the fundamental missions are teaching and research,” in his press release.
However, the shaving of the budget will be left to the deans of each college within the University, and cutting costs will be left up to them. A looming possibility could be the reduction in the number of summer school classes offered to compensate for the high spending from the fall and spring semesters.
Although numerically, the educational sector has more money to spare, the overall result of the decrease in summer school classes would have an adverse domino effect.
Summer school classes are not only part of the central mission of education at A&M, but hold many components and implications that could create problems if diminished. Many students depend upon classes offered in the summer to graduate on time, and make living arrangements based on their summer schedules. Furthermore, should any drastic measures be taken that would cause numerous students to abandon the prospect of summer school and return to their own hometowns, the economy of College Station during the summer might worsen.
The deans of each college must find ways to cut funds that deal with other areas, such as unnecessary programs or additional research. A&M’s purpose is to educate its students, and although other components hold their own importance, the central mission should be to provide courses for students.
Dealing with the change in the budget is a balancing act, and determining which areas deserve money is a difficult one. However, the importance of education should not be overlooked by the various deans at the university.
Offering the standard amount of classes in the summer session equivalent to years past is the only action that is true to A&M’s mission. During the upcoming weeks, as the deans begin to cut programs or spending, they must remember this mission and keep funding for summer courses the same.