Volume 67, No. 11
THE PAN AMERICAN
November 18, 2010
Graduate school expects to avoid cuts By Roxann Garcia The Pan American
With the state’s projected budget shortfall for 2012-13 soaring by the month, higher education institutions across Texas are getting to be experts in cutting the fat off their expenditures. This week it was announced that beyond the 10 to 15 percent cuts already requested by the UT System, another slice of up to 10 percent will have to be pared from budgets like the one at UTPA over the next two fiscal years. As the amount of money to work with gets smaller and smaller, it’s no wonder programs are shuffling to hold onto what they can. However the Graduate Studies Department is optimistic about the 57 master’s, three doctoral and two cooperative doctoral degrees housed within the seven colleges. The hope is that as the university looks for things to cut, grad school will not be a target. But every program is going to have to provide a justification for what it produces in the way of grads and grants. The race is on for efficiency. “Currently the state is looking at programs that don’t meet the threshold or are low-producing,” said Cynthia Brown, vice provost for Graduate Studies. The best way for programs to survive is to be relevant and productive, meaning that departments that respond to the needs of the American workplace and Valley community will be in good shape, Brown continued. Currently no plans have been made to cut any graduate programs but there are alternate options such as folding one program into another if the two are related. Another is a streamlining idea which would recommend cutting back on electives offered per semester. “We may look into offering fewer options for graduates as far as electives go,” Brown said. “Every semester students might not have as many offered as the year before.” One thing is for certain: brand-new programs will likely not be touched during the winnowing process, Brown continued. A beginning operation is given time to develop, because an entering graduate takes an average of two years to complete and it will take a few more years to tell the relevance and productivity of the program in terms of jobs gained and services provided by grads. Such nascent programs recently implemented on campus include experimental psychology, engineering management, and physician’s assistant studies. The recent recession has affected people nationwide, including job-hunting college grads. According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Em-
Page 2 - Big business Student sharesmight have packed their bags, but border they never left woes
Tammy Ayala / THE PAN AMERICAN
GRADUATE SHUFFLE - Ubaldo Delgado and Amanda Luevand listen to UTSA presenters at a Graduate studies fair Tuesday evening at Renaissance Casa De Palmas in McAllen. ployers, the number of 2010 U.S college graduates who had already landed jobs upon graduation rose to 24 percent this past spring, compared with 20 percent last year. There also seems to be an extreme note of pragmatism in the search. Graduates are strolling into the Graduate Studies office and are not attracted to challenging career opportunities, but instead start by asking about dollar figures, says graduate recruiter Sergio Palacios. Grads are looking for fields that have not suffered as much during the downturn, and ones that offer the most lucrative opportunities. At the forefront of the group of programs are occupations in the health sciences, says Brown. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, health care is a field where significant growth is being tracked. Jobs are expected to increase by 20 percent, amounting to 35,100 new positions, by 2018. For now, the graduate world at UTPA might be able to avoid being a major casualty of the next round of
Page 3 - Jobsstudent after Current graduation becoming scarce
strives for excellence
chops, especially if individual programs can show they are productive and not low-performing. Still, there will definite-
ly be some tweaks made to try and save money and be more efficient. “There is always a need for restructur-
ing or an increase in skills for the workplace because of the changing nature of jobs,” Brown said.
Graphic by Kevin Stitch
Page 11 -over Holiday guide ‘Get it,gift Potter-
heads’
SAMS ayudando a la Page 14 - Q&A with volleyball player Rebecca Toddy comunidad de bajos recursos
Broncs celebrate Senior Night at final volleyball game