Revised German Termination Analysis

The original German major termination analysis considered Humboldt State University student fees as $3,843 per year and full faculty salary levels. Since then student fees have increased to $4,026 per year and faculty salary levels have decreased by about ten percent. Considering these new fiscal developments a revised termination analysis shows that the loss to the institution is estimated in the range of $20,319 to $189 per year rather than the original analysis result that showed a range from a loss of $12,005 to a gain of $7,250 per year depending on differing termination scenarios. This result shows that the cost to the institution has turned out to be much worse that originally expected. One hopes that the current approach to saving money by cutting programs as reported in the local media will be subject to the same rigorous analysis. This appears doubtful.

HSU Faculty Votes No Confidence

The Humboldt State University faculty cast a vote of no confidence in the HSU president Tuesday, May 12, 2009. The group cited "a pattern of failed leadership" and asked him to step down within the next two months. The discussion was triggered by the president's decision to appoint the interim provost as permanent without a national search. The general faculty president indicated that "it's been building up for about three years, and" the provost's appointment "was just the last straw." In my view the decision to terminate the German major made last summer in opposition to overwhelming faculty and student support and in spite of credible analysis that terminating the major would cost the institution money instead of save money was one of the events that led to the vote of no confidence.

It is interesting to note that one administrator said that the vote of no confidence "is purely symbolic and an unnecessary use of faculty time." This says it all with respect to the administration's attitude towards the faculty. The faculty governance committees and organizations such as the General Faculty Organization and the Academic Senate might as well disband. They have no role at this institution under the current administration.