The Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana system approved a new set of rules that will shorten the required period of notice given to tenured and non-tenured faculty members who are dismissed after their academic programs have been eliminated, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Due to the state's unstable finances, University officials must ensure that the budget can be quickly adjusted, Louisiana representatives said in interviews with The Chronicle. Faculty members have expressed concern that the new policies do not sufficiently protect tenured professors and may discourage young individuals from entering the profession. Although the original plan called for the Board of Supervisors to review termination-related appeals, the current rules mandate a University-wide committee to examine such complaints, a practice that professors argued will be more impartial, The Chronicle reported.
Concerned about the rising administrative costs at public universities, Gov. Dannel Malloy, D-Conn., proposed a new policy that will require all "non-teacher hiring" at colleges and universities to be approved by the state budget office, The Connecticut Mirror reported. Colleges have controlled hiring since 1991, after a government report determined that budgeting by the state legislature was "ineffective and overly restrictive," The Mirror reported. Since then, however, th e growth of non-faculty staff has outpaced the growth of faculty members. Malloy hopes to ensure that the maximum amount of funding is spent on teaching rather than on administrative positions, he said in an interview with The Mirror. Critics expressed concern that the new policy will unnecessarily delay the hiring process, while supporters maintain that the revisions will ensure that universities hire the most effective number of individuals for each position. Before the state legislature votes on Malloy's proposal, university officials will be able to provide feedback at public hearings beginning Thursday evening, The Mirror reported.
Although many states continue to face decreases in higher education funding, Gov. Robert McDonnell, R-Va., proposed the establishment of a committee to advise the state's General Assembly on what percentage of the public college system's future funding should be financed by the state rather than increases in tuition, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The proposal is intended to help achieve McDonnell's goal of graduating 100,000 more Virginians from college over the next 15 years, particularly from science and technology degree programs. College officials and higher education experts widely support the plan because it will ensure that the state's contribution to colleges remains stable regardless of the state's financial situation. The advisory committee, however, can only make recommendations to the legislature, so the bill does not guarantee state funding, The Chronicle reported.
