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Art department hangs tough

Eve Bruntlett
The Commuter

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Art classes are being targeted for more budget cuts than other classes: true or false?

For the next two years, the 17 community colleges throughout Oregon were given approximately $100 million less for operation than they were originally told. As a result, budget cuts had to be made, and there has been talk of the art department being hit harder than any of the others on campus.

In the past, the community colleges of Oregon were given around $500 million biannually to cover costs of operation. At the beginning of this year, the estimate in funds landed at $550 million. That estimate fluctuated over the year causing worry among the staff about the safety of their jobs. At one point, the estimate given went as low as $410 million. This was not quite the case, and they were given $443 million to cover them for the next two years.

The drop in funds meant that the administration needed to find a way to decrease expenditures at LBCC or to increase revenue. The entire staff received salary cuts in order to prevent having lay offs. “LBCC has been very thoughtful with their decisions,” said Beth Hogeland, the dean of the art department.

Last year, the photography department was shut down. This caused quite a bit of distress among students, especially those who were taking part in the program. Hogeland explained that there still were photography classes, but they just no longer offered classes that held college credentials. The digital imaging program also was halted this year but will return soon if everything goes as planned. The instructor is doing a tour in Iraq, and to save money while he was overseas, they simply didn’t fill the position.

“There were a lot of rumors running around, such as that the art department was going to be closed down entirely,” said last year’s Art Dean Gary Ruppert. He confirmed that such rumors were indeed false.

“The administration spoke to us about developing a solid curriculum in the fine arts,” said Gary Westford, art history instructor.

He went on to explain that classes were moved around and new ones were added, such as watercolor. They’re now offering more art-based classes at the Benton Center as well.

Westford feels the art department is part of what we are. “Student involvement is important,” he said. To have an art department healthy and strong, students need to take a step in helping it stay that way.

Comment

Perhaps if the entire organizational structure of LBCC was examined one can see where the money is actually going…17 full time, full benefit managers with packages averaging well over 100K per year…how many vice presidents, program coordinators, deans, directors and department chairs does one need to run an institution…how many “adjunct” managers are there at the college? Since the focus seems to be moving instruction towards the lower cost adjunct…why not do the same at the management level….it is clear that a new structure is needed…the private sector educational arena is moving towards a hybrid model…where teachers manage and managers teach…in a unified effort moving money and decision making down to the lowest level possible in the organization…the days of a top heavy community college structure are numbered…insist that LBCC looks at every management position from a new persepective…and insist that LBCC re-organizes to meet the current, not past, marketplace.

— Jamison Lee · Oct 28, 12:54 PM · #

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