Mass Media (Newspaper) - March 20, 1979, Boston, Massachusetts Arts Supplement centerfold Albion Angels and Blake University of Massachusetts media March King cuts SI 2M from UMass et proposes tuition increase On March 1 the King Administrations fiscal axe fell on the UMass budget as the Democratic governor slashed over million from the requested allotment add implored officials of the states public colleges and universities to raise tuition rates by as much as per student for the 1980 academic year The governors message as part of his budgetary plan which is intended to roll back property taxes for Massachusetts residents King told a joint session of the legislature that property taxes have been our primary goal from the The governors bare bones budget also freezes scholarship funds at the present 1979 level and calls for an extensive reorganization of the states higher education system Budget Cats and Tuition Hikes Kings total allotment to the University of Massachusetts is million substantially below the schools budgetary request of million submitted earlier this year In a recent interview King took his cutbacks of higher education a step further warning that if tuitions are not raised budgets may be trimmed to even smaller dimensions If the increase in tuition does not go through there will have to be budgetary control on the expense King said If were not able to affect the is a function of the well have to do on the expense side what were able to The future of higher tuition at UMass now ties with the King Administration the state legislature and the Board of Trustees Many Board members have expressed concern over the proposed tuition hike fearing that sparing tuitions will decrease the availability of the school to poor and working class students i Essential Minimum According to UMass President David Knapp the original million budget press presents by Mary Shaughnessy Michael L Trainor The University of Massachusetts at commanded a attention from the loal press The Boston Globe The and The have all published articles concerning the state of UMK The coverage which has for the most part reflected an extremely negative image of the university at Boston has outcries of protest from students faculty and administrators Boston Globe reporter Muriel Cohen in an article entitled Report Scores strongly implies that accreditation for the university at Boston is shaky Out of a 22page report compiled by an accreditation team from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges she extracted the following statements time has clearly arrived when the university must resolve com tensions narrow the focus and sharpen the clarity of its missions and goals and be ruthlessly selective in establishing priorities and directions needs unity har mony and cohesiveness It needs ad or of resources in some areas It needs a satisfied and productive faculty It needs to explore how and to which clienteles it can provide maximum service the university fails to do the lat ter current problems of decreasing enrollments level of en tering students preparation and high attrition rate will highly qualified well trained faculty members hold traditional academic values and the other hand many of their students are slightly older more urbanized and tes academically prepared than on some campuses has able leadership a weu curriculum and a vigorous and creative internship program The remainder of her article was a paraphrased version of the confidential report which in the estimation of those students faculty and who have read the report is a distortion of the actual document Cohens opening statement in the Mar ch 8 article states A combination of low faculty morale high administrative turnover and a student body generally un prepared for rigorous academic challenge undermines the stability and threatens the future growth of the University of Massachusetts at Boston according to a confidential report to campus officials The report was made by an ac crediting team from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges The association will make a decision by April on whether to con the accreditation of UMass in Boston A statement by Chancellor Claire Van Ummersen published on March 9 in the Herald confirmed what The Mass Media was told last November by members of the accreditation team The chairman of the team told me there is no question of continued ac said Van Ummersen said loss of accreditation was never in her mind nor in the minds of any of her team members The chairman told me the team will recommend continued she said Cohens article prompted a number of letters to The Globe editor in rebuttal from a number of members of the UMass com munity including UMass President David C Knapp from members of the editorial board of The Mass Media and other students The Globes article on the ac teams report about the University of Massachusetts at Boston demonstrates the wisdom of the policy of accrediting agencies that such reports be considered con to the institution Its far too easy to distort grossly the tone and content of a complex report ty quoting small portions out of con text At the risk of such distortion I would quote three sentences not reported by the Globe Nevertheless despite non of projected request was an essential minimum needed to maintain the durrent status of the institution Knapp said that the newly slashed was needed to honor recent collective bargaining agreements to cover inflation in the cost of maintenance and the continuation of vital academic programs The UMass president also stressed that the full allocation was essential so that new campus chancellors are not faced with fiscal crises as soon as they enter their new The funds are short of what weve estimated we need to operate the Knapp said Were now having to assess what well do if held to the governors budget how many students faculty and staff members well have here next President Knapp echoed he fears of many supporters of higher education when observing that increased tuitions possibly as much as a 60 per cent hike Knapp said with level scholarship funds The chairman of the team told me there is no question of continued said Van Ummersen growth UMB is today a busy thriving institution It is as a mater of fact better than its internal or external image Its potential is great its achievements are substantial and its problems and needs are not The report is a balanced thoughtful evaluation of both the strengths and the weaknesses of the University at Boston Though the Globe article does not say so the report acknowledges that the campus and university administration and faculty are actively working to solve the problems it identifies President David C Knapp If your readers were to rely upon Ms Cohens assessment of the accreditation report they could only reasonably assume that the University is on its last legs taking one last gasp of breath before crumbling into the sea Her article strongly suggests that loss of accreditation is an imminent possibility for the University Had she taken the trouble of speaking with any members of the accreditation team or carefully read the document she so selectively quoted I daresay the tone of her article would have been far less menacing The Mass Media I do not know why the Boston Press coverage to page four If the increase in tuition does not go through theyll have to be budgetary King said would unfairly burden less affluent students He emphasized his hope that the state legislature would see the need for the original budgetary request The UMass president implied that without the full allocation cuts at the school are imminent Budget to page three CAS axes parttime faculty by Michael L Trainor According to a recent estimate 40 College of Arts and Sciences CAS part time faculty will not have their contracts renewed at the end of this semester Many faculty members feel that this action is the result of a policy decision on the patt of the administration to phase out faculty In a meeting with the Faculty Staff Chancellor Claire Van Ummersen said that no policy decision has been made regarding a phase out of parttimers and that CAS Dean Michael Riccards would not make such a policy decision without consulting the faculty The chancellor also said that CAS department chairs in consultation with the dsan were given a choice they could either continue with fractionalized part time slots or they could reconsolidate these fractions into fulltime slots Currently as many as six parttime faculty share one fulltime line normally held by one fulltime faculty member Sociology which will lose twelve out of fourteen parttimers will be the department most drastically effected Psychology and Economics will also lose parttime faculty members while Politics and Black Studies also be effected 1 acre is disagreement about who made the decision to fire the parttimers and whether the firings are necessary According to Chancellor Van Ummersen there are three factors which will effect the distribution of faculty lines in CAS The first factor is the institution of core courses which will cause drastic shifts in the allocation of CAS faculty lines faculty to page three i i i r
