[HERITAGE-LIST] FYI: CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION article RE: budget cuts at Berkeley

[Scott G. McGINNIS]

Good day again, all,

Further information RE: the East Asian Studies budget cuts at UC-Berkeley.

Best to all,
s.

Scott McGinnis
Academic Advisor and Professor
 
Defense Language Institute, Washington Office
201 12th Street South, Suite 507
Arlington, VA 22202-4306
voice:  703-604-0464                fax: 703-604-0466
cell:    571-268-2144
e-mail: Scott.McGinnis at us.army.mil
 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu [mailto:owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu] On Behalf Of Harold F. Schiffman
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 10:56 AM
To: Language Policy-List
Subject: Berkeley to Halve Its Offerings in East Asian Languages

May 8, 2008
Budget Crisis Prompts Berkeley to Halve Its Offerings in East Asian
Studies

The California budget crisis has taken a toll on the University of California at Berkeleys department of East Asian languages and cultures, which has announced that this fall it will eliminate classes for 1,500
students to make up for an unexpected financial shortfall.

The cuts are a response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggers proposed state budget, which would reduce spending on Berkeley by $30-million to $40-million, the Daily Californian reported. The university has asked
several academic departments to make cuts to courses and faculty members to close the gap, but hardest hit will be departments that employ many adjunct lecturers and graduate-student instructors.

As a result, the East Asian department, which expects to lose $300,000 in support, will cut 40 percent of its courses in Japanese, 54 percent of those in Chinese, and 66 percent of those in Korean. It will also not renew contracts for 13 lecturers. According to a notice on its Web site,
the department will restrict enrollment in its courses to students in the College of Letters & Science.

The English department, which faces a $400,000 cut, has appealed to faculty members with endowed chairs to donate a portion of their private research grants to the department.

Berkeley students have organized an afternoon rally today to protest cuts in the East Asian language programs. An online petition asking university administrators to reconsider the cuts and to provide emergency funds for East Asian languages has collected 900 signatures so far. Paula Wasley

http://chronicle.com/news/article/4458/budget-crisis-prompts-berkeley-to-halve-its-offerings-in-east-asian-studies