Some professors forced to pay out of pocket for required research
The faculty scholarship fund for professors has already been claimed for the semester after being cut half.
At the beginning of the fiscal year, professors were told in an email the faculty scholarship fund had been cut from $80,000 to $40,000. The scholarship fund is used by professors to fund their research, which is one of the ways administrators evaluate each professor’s job: the other two being teaching and service. The professors normally send in requests for a maximum of $1,800 to fund their trips to conferences, fund their research and cover their publishing costs if they are writing books.
Dr. Jake Johnson, assistant professor of musicology, said the email from the Faculty Scholarship Committee that relayed the information to the professors said there was no money left to be claimed.
“The email that came from the committee said ‘we know it’s just October, but we are out of money,’” Johnson said. “‘Please send in applications for money just to justify that we need more, but don’t expect to get it.’”
Johnson has made several posts on Facebook arguing for the university to restore the fund back to where it was in the previous year. Johnson also said the money the faculty was receiving was already low.
“It was already a very modest amount of money that was given anyway, which was not nearly enough to begin with,” Johnson said. “It really makes it to where if I want to produce any scholarship, it is really on my own dime.”
Johnson said he is disappointed in the university for making these sorts of budget cuts.
“Part of our job is to create knowledge, and that is measured in a lot of ways, but the university measures it for tenure and promotion. So, we do have to produce some kind of scholarship,” Johnson said. “It almost always involves traveling and using resources to do that. By eliminating almost all opportunity for doing that, it really put faculty in a crunch; how do we actually do our job if we don’t have funding to do that?”
Dr. Tracy Floreani, professor of English, said the cuts to the scholarship funds are unfortunate for professors who need it for projects.
“We assume that it was done for urgent budgetary needs and that it’s temporary,” Floreani said. “We asked if it was going to be reinstated at full amount, and we were told it was under consideration. That’s all we know.”
Floreani said the cuts do pose an issue for the future of the university.
“The effects are going to be indirect in the way students see it, at first, and it could have a gradual effect,” she said. “It is certainly going to be an issue. If it is a long-term problem, it would be an issue for faculty retention. If we cannot participate in our national organizations, then we can’t advance our careers, and we can’t pay for that all out of pocket.”
Dr. Lisa Wolfe, professor of Hebrew bible and president of the American Association of University Professors, said the cuts were made at the last minute.
“From what I understand, the faculty scholarship fund was cut in half very much at the last minute,” Wolfe said. “And so, the Faculty Scholarship Committee, which is tasked with approving requests for funds, really had no opportunity to determine the most equitable way to distribute what funds they had, other than to just say ‘first come first serve.’”
The Faculty Senate Executive Committee sent out an email on Oct. 18 disclosing their stance on the issue.
“The Oklahoma City University Faculty Senate Executive Committee vehemently supports the importance of research, scholarship, artistic, and creative activities in faculty life, in contributing to the mission of the University, and the broader contributions of faculty scholarship to society,” the email read. “Our diverse academic units and their faculty deserve the full support of the University in their research, scholarly, creative, and artistic endeavors.”
Jason Foreman, head of design and production and chair of the FSEC, said he met with President Martha Burger to discuss future plans.
“President Burger acknowledged that faculty scholarship is really important, that the administration values it and that she is going to try and help expedite getting the funds restored as soon as possible,” Foreman said.
Natalie Gregg, English/secondary education senior, said she is confused that no one informed students about the issue.
“You’d think that, I don’t know, we would have gotten maybe an email, or somebody would have said something to us.” Gregg said. “I don’t have specific information, but I know we have been having finacial troubles as a university. We have seen the effects of that. It doesn’t surprise me, but it is obviously concerning”
Foreman said he hopes these scholarship budget cuts will not negatively impact the future of OCU.
“Hopefully, it won’t have an effect, if I wear my optimistic hat,” he said. “That we’ll be able to get some funding restored this year, perhaps, and that the funding restored 100% for next year, and then, hopefully, it’s just a little roadbump.”
David McConnell, interim chief financial officer, was unavailable for comment.
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