State budget cuts at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry could impact future graduate research funding and extracurricular programs to prevent overcrowding in classes.

While other public universities across the nation have faced overcrowding and had to cut classes to reduce costs, ESF has not. But some graduate students said they are worried funding for their research and for other campus organizations could be cut in the future.

Throughout the past few years, ESF and the entire SUNY system have faced decreases in state funding, the latest being a $170 million reduction that forced a tuition increase for out-of-state students.

The pattern of budget cuts could have negative effects at ESF, including tuition hikes, crowded classes, reduced financial aid and dropped programs, said ESF President Neil Murphy in a Dec. 10 article in The Daily Orange.

To avoid those negative effects, ESF has made changes in less noticeable areas, such as reducing travel expenses and activity on campus during breaks and cutting back on energy and maintenance costs.

Despite the potential for overcrowding created by the cuts, many professors at ESF said that hasn’t been the case.

‘ESF is among the nation’s leading universities in classroom size,’ said Arthur Stipanovic, chemistry professor and department head, in an e-mail.

Small departments have also fared well alongside chemistry and other large departments that have not experienced overcrowding.

‘Our incoming class of freshmen and transfers was 29 this year, so crowding definitely isn’t an issue for us,’ said Linda Fagan, a paper and bioprocess engineering professor.

Most upper division classes have no more than nine students, and those within the department joke about classes feeling like home school due to size, Fagan said. Because of the rigorous demands of the major, the already small classes become less crowded as students get closer to graduation, with as few as five students graduating per year.

‘By the time our kids graduate, we know their names and everything else about them,’ Fagan said.

Students said they haven’t noticed an increase in class sizes, either.

‘I haven’t even heard about overcrowding here. It doesn’t seem like a big problem at all,’ said Mark Leopold, a fish and wildlife biology and management graduate student.

Although the budget cuts haven’t caused increased class sizes, their effects have been felt in other areas at ESF.

‘As a grad student, it’s always been hard to get funding, and it’s even harder now,’ said Susana Del Granado, an environmental and natural resources policy doctoral candidate.

Some campus organizations have seen such dramatic cuts in funding that they have considered firing staff or not hiring new staff when necessary, Del Granado said.

While the reduced funding has affected research funding, it could have serious implications in the classroom if the cuts continue. If ESF continues to experience drastic budget cuts over the next few years, teaching and research assistant positions could be cut, she said.

Faculty and students could also see a reduction in educational opportunities, such as seminars and research conferences, she said. Budget cuts have made it more difficult to obtain funding for field trips, seminars and social events on campus, Del Granado said.

‘It was hard before,’ Del Granado said. ‘It’s almost impossible now.’

jlsiart@syr.edu

 

Published on October 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm