Join us on UNO's campus Aug 8th at 9:45 a.m. Building 12 Earl K. Long Library
Are you upset about budget cuts at The University of New Orleans?
Demand President Fos reveal UNO budget cuts and all administrative salaries!
OCCUPY NOLA demands the University of New Orleans
· Publicize list of budget cuts
· Publicize all administrators' salaries to show that administration is bearing its proportion of the cuts
· Stop utilization of the budget cuts for political ends
· Publicize a list of all new administrative positions (including salaries) created by President Fos
See the following links for details:
Driftwood
Institutional Research & Data Management (IRDM)
Petition
Facebook Event
UPDATES: This dilemma is receiving national attention. Read more:
Another Press on Chopping Block
Director of U. of New Orleans Press Loses Job Amid Budget Cuts
Amid growing furor, UNO spokesman assures: 'UNO Press is not being closed'
Responses posted on Facebook Event Wall (note, we did not post anyone's names here in case anyone was concerned about his or her privacy. Please Contact Us if you would like to be quoted or would like to have your quote removed).
Things seem to keep getting worse. Now, we've been told by Bill Lavender that his last day is Wednesday (and not at the end of the month as we were originally told) and today I see that UNO has an open position posted for an Assistant Professor of English who will be responsible for "the direction and reading of MFA theses."
Perhaps I am jumping to conclusions, but it appears like the individual who will be directing and reading my thesis hasn't yet been hired. I am supposed to turn in a draft of my thesis on the first day of the Fall Semester. It's extremely distressing to me to think that I don't have a contact in the Low-Res Program.
I expect to graduate this December. I have worked very hard over the past 2 years to get to this point and I am very concerned about how this will impact me and the other students in the program, especially those who, like me, are on the cusp of graduation.
Again, I certainly realize that things like budget cuts have an impact on programs and institutions. However, it seems disingenuous to dismiss the elimination of Bill Lavender's position as a "budget cut" while hiring for a strikingly similar one simultaneously.
Today, I am an embarrassed student of UNO. As I watch this situation unfold, I am truly heartbroken.
At this point, short of reinstating Bill Lavender, I'd recommend an honest and clear communication with all Low-Res MFA students that clearly outlines both the situation and the plan to move forward, including a contact person who will be available and knowledgeable to help us through this tough time. This should have already been done.
Thank you for taking the time to hear my ongoing concerns. I wish that I hadn't felt compelled to write again. Unfortunately, as the situation deteriorates, I felt it necessary.
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I think it's important, "closed," "on hiatus" or whatever, that the administration and the governor see that the press has support and is an important instrument. Too often arts and "liberal" studies get the shaft when budget cuts happen. You should see the shakeup in the Talented Arts programs of the state's school boards. The one thing this state has been doing right-- supporting kids who are "good at art" who otherwise might not get personal attention from a good artist-- and the state is making it increasingly difficult for them to do their jobs. The squeeze is on.
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Now the MFA program is being disassembled! Who is calling the shots? Is the new chancellor just another flunkie for Jindal just so the chancellor can keep HIS LOUSY job? Come clean on it all if Mr. Chancellor you are really serving us in the New Orleans Metro area, no denials, just come clean show all or it will be time to go to court!
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It's happening all over. Cut the budget, slash the humanities, raise the tuition, cut the teachers, increase administration. Education becomes big business. Students become consumer at the beginning, product at the end, deep in debt and have to take whatever job they can get. All of this to increase the wealth of that same small percentage of the population.
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For an interesting timeline, read
The Curious Timeline of the Bill Lavender Case
Expect Us!
~ Occupy The Stage