On April Fool's Day...a few of us students became aware of a legislative update that read: 
"The Senate committee included a number of reductions in its version of the FY 2010 Budget. For example, the committee eliminated funding for:
The Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia ($2.23 million)..."
At first we thought it was an April Fool's joke and then soon realized it was legitimate. The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended that the entire line item budget (consisting of faculty and staff lines, and all administrative expenses of the program) for the Institute be eliminated, not reduced, not cut...but completely eradicated. We tried not to freak out, but how can you not feel a little anxiety when your existence at the University of Georgia may be cut short due to policymakers making haphazard budget decisions? I found myself not only looking for jobs on the Vail Ski Resort homepage, but dreaming of their tag line, "Like Nothing on Earth." Becoming a ski bum and a yoga instructor suddenly had a sweet ring to it. As I fell asleep that foolish night my breathing was shallow, but my sweet dreams took me immediately to the Rocky Mountains. PhD vs. skiing?!
On April 2, we received this email message from the Director of the Institute: "Some of you may be aware that the Institute of Higher Education (IHE) was caught in the budget cuts in the senate higher education committee earlier this week. Evidently, there was a misunderstanding regarding our role (instruction and research, plus service) and placement in the system; consequently, in the rush to reduce the USG budget, IHE was affected."
Finally, on April 3 the Director of the Institute sent this email, " I just received the news, and I am pleased to let you know that the IHE budget was restored by the conference committee."
2 comments:
Uh-OH! This has not been rectified YET:
According to the April 7 legislative update, "However, the Conference Committee on the FY 2010 Budget did not restore funding for several
items, including the budgets of... the Institute of Higher Education at the University
of Georgia...
“This is very disappointing,”
said Chancellor
Erroll B. Davis Jr. “We will need to review all of these functions carefully to determine what action must be taken.”
I could envision a cut in a program, but not an elimination. Wow, you could have been a ski bum. Not sure that is really what you want, although you look good in ski clothes wearing ski boots and your skis. Well, all sounds like you are safe.
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