A student walks by Brooks Hall located on north campus at the University of Georgia. Brooks Hall is one of the main buildings for the business school.
Evidence of the economic recession has infiltrated practically every aspect of current events, including the education. Budget cuts have been implemented throughout the University’s many departments.
“They are trying to do the best they can,” said Mike Hill, a graduate student of Terry College who works as a teaching assistant for the Management of Organizations and Individuals course.
“Terry is managing,” Hill said. “We’ve had to make adjustments.”
Hill, who graduated from Terry College in 1998, points out that the biggest change is the increase in class size, specifically in the upper level classes.
Students entering a university as large as the University of Georgia expect to face congested lower level undergraduate classes. But with the recent budget cuts, even upper level classes are pushing their capacity.
For Hill, senior level courses had 30 to 40 students at most. Many upper level management courses this semester seat up to 52 students.
Melenie Lankau, a professor of management for Terry College, worries about the effect these larger classes will have on both her teaching style and her students’ education.
“It’s discouraging.” Lankau said. “It’s not the direction that I want to go. I don’t want my students to be a number. I want to know them.”
Whether or not the increasing size of these classes is negatively impacting the students of Terry College is debatable.
“It depends on the student,” said Neil Meredith, a graduate student for the economics department in Terry College and an instructor for macroeconomics course. “Some [students] thrive in smaller classes while others prefer the anonymity of larger classes.”
Still, smaller classes have advantages for students, Meredith said.
For example, students have more direct access to their instructors. For many students, having more one-on-one time with professors and student teachers allows for better learning.
“Some students come in on a weekly basis,” Lankau said. “It’s really beneficial to them. They build confidence when I am able to coach them.”
Jimmy Barrett, a student who plans to apply to Terry in the spring, prefers smaller classes for this reason.
“I think smaller classes are more effective learning environments,” Barrett said. “It’s more interactive with the teachers. It’s harder to get in touch with and arrange meetings [in larger classes].”
“Personally, I don’t mind large classes,” Barrett added.
Budget cuts have been largely responsible for the increase in class size. Restrictive funding makes hiring new professors difficult for Terry, said John Bundy, another graduate student and a teaching assistant for a Management of Organizations and Individuals class. Instead, hiring new faculty has been primarily for refilling teaching vacancies and maintenance.
“We offer fewer sections now with fewer faculty resources,” Lankau said. “We can’t go out and hire.”
With fewer faculty to teach the increasing number of students at Terry College, Lankau struggles to keep up with the packed-on responsibility.
“It’s a byproduct [of the budget cuts],” she said. “It’s draining with more students to keep track of. I get burned out. It’s too hard to manage.”
While the budgets cuts have been making an impact for the department in the last few months, these changes in the university system have been manageable, Bundy said
Both Meredith and Bundy, who previously attended the University of New Mexico, were, in fact, pleasantly surprised by the amount of resources Terry College has administered for the graduate students.
The university has provided plenty of resources for graduate students such as books and statistical software available through the library.
Research funding has been hit hardest by the economic downturn, though.
“While it was small to begin with, funding for research and travel has been significantly slackened,” Bundy said.
Professor Lankau and many of her colleagues are very involved in research. But with the budget cuts, their experience and reputation as professionals are beginning to suffer.
“The issue is burnout,” Lankau said. “Something will suffer if [funding for research] doesn’t get better soon. Research will die.”
Terry College does have one large advantage over many of the other colleges at the University of Georgia: fundraising.
“Terry receives a sizable amount of donations,” Meredith said. “Business students give more back to the school.”
“[Fundraising] is a fact of life now,” Lankau said. “Historically, the college hasn’t tried to have a big donor base. We’re state supported.”
But with only 40 percent of the school’s budget coming from state and federal aid, according to the 2008-2009 report to donors, donations are needed in order for the college to thrive.
“The school doesn’t provide us with much,” Lankau said. “We work hard to bring in more resources.”
Because Terry College is such a large school, many students who graduate and become successful are more inclined to give back to the school, Bundy said.
“The new dean does an excellent job of recruiting fundraising,” Meredith said.
“[He’s] been active in reaching out to the alumni and developing relationships,” Lankau added.
And Terry is continuing to thrive, despite the current conditions, Hill said.
“The college of business is growing significantly,” Hill said. “They are trying their hardest to meet the demand.”
Terry College supports around 60 to 80 master students. These students will likely give back to the college after graduating, Hill said.
“More students mean more money.”
“We’re optimistic,” Lankau said.
Overall good work, Jenna. There are still a few lingering wordy areas. For instance, in your lede you could say "Individuals associated with Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia are adjusting to the constraints of budget cuts and limited funding." It's a bit tighter. Also, the second graph needs a bit of fine tuning. For instance, you might say: "Terry College, like other schools across campus, has not been shielded from recession triggered budget cuts." Otherwise, great work. I really think that the interview with Lankau improved the piece. I appreciate your persistence and tenacity.
ReplyDelete