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SU observes King holiday. PG. 4
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Remembering MLK
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SU women roll; men fall
estABLished in 1928
WWW.SOUTHERNDIGEST.COM
TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2010
VOL. 55, ISSUE 1
SU suffers more budget cuts University slashes nearly $1.5 million in state-mandated midyear cuts BY NORMAN J. DOTSON JR. DIGEST EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
PHOTO BY WIL NORWOOD/DIGEST
Southern University Provost Mwalimu Shujaa and university officials told faculty members of a state-mandated midyear budget cut of approximately $1.5 million in a meeting earlier this month. Reductions in classes and athletics funding are among those cuts.
During a budget meeting earlier on this month Southern University Chancellor Kofi Lomotey, along with other administrative staff members, presented faculty and staff members with budget plans for the upcoming year. At the end of last semester administration put a freeze on university funds in order to better prepare for this years upcoming mid-year budget cut which could be anywhere between $1.5 million to $3 million. With this freeze the university anticipates that it will save approximately $400,000. The freeze was just one option administration decided to take. Course offering reduction was another avenue decided upon by the university. “We are also looking at reducing course offerings in the spring semester by about a hundred, assuming that those courses cost us about $2,750 each on average whether they are taught by adjuncts or by regular faculty members as overloads.” Lomotey said. Lomotey went on to say that they are anticipating six layoffs and three unfilled positions that will be eliminated, which should save about $230,000. Also, there should be a reduction in summer salary expected for faculty that will be based on a flat rate. Through increased care in utility usage the campus will save around $150,000 and a decision
to reallocate funds to other non-general fund areas that should save an additional $104,000. “We currently provide the athletic department $375,000 a year and we are going to reduce that by $75,000 as well. Finally we intend to extend the furlough of employees earning $75,000 or more from 4.6 percent to 6 percent. That will bring us an additional $54,000.” Lomotey said. Provost Mwalimu Shujaa spoke to the faculty on the number of credit courses offered by each department. “Last fall we began a process of attempting to budget allocation of the cost of instruction over and above the teaching capacity of departments, schools and colleges. What we meant by teaching capacity is the number of credit hours that a department could offer if all of its faculty were teaching a full load which is twelve credit hours,” said Shujaa. “Then we looked at adjustments to that teaching capacity for reassigned time and other aspects of work that would justify not teaching and the difference between what the fulltime teaching capacity was and what the release time was for various reasons would determine the amount of money needed in order to meet instructional needs that would have to be made up through hiring adjunct faculty or overloads for See BUDGET page 3
SU community to help quake victims BY MARY DAVIS DIGEST MANAGING EDITOR
The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that rocked Haiti last week has claimed over an estimated 200,000 lives so far with many more injured, homeless and searching for relief. was devastated when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, the worst the world has seen in over 20 years, struck the country less than 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince. The earthquake sent approximately 33 aftershocks throughout the country, is estimated to be as deadly as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed an estimated 230,000 people in a dozen countries. Many relief efforts have been made in the United States to
assist citizens of the country. According to the Washington Post, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced early Monday that over $10 million dollars through text messaging in this country ( the U.S.) alone, has already been raised to donate to Haiti. To make a $10 dollar donation to Haiti by using your cell phones, citizens are asked to text HAITI to the number 90999. Southern University is also finding ways to assist those devastated by the earthquake. Warner Anderson, Kristan Gordon, and Ernest Pierre started “Southern University Haiti Disaster Relief”, where
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See QUAKE page 8
INSIDE S O U T H E R N
PHOTO BY APRIL BUFFINGTON/DIGEST
Boxes of donated goods and supplies line the halls of T.H. Harris Hall around the door of the International Education, Continuing Education and Service Learning office. The supplies are being collected to send to earthquake victims in Haiti.
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