Cutting programs and laying off staff is one of the hardest parts of a community college president's job. Not only is it emotional for everyone involved, but the political fallout can be damaging as well. How campus leaders arrive at the difficult choice to cut staff and programs, and how they communicate their decision to stakeholders, can make a…

This article explores the closing of the Howard Ross Library of Management at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. We hypothesized that closing a branch library would result in a decline in the use of library services. We measured library service using circulation statistics, library instruction workshop statistics, and data from the online survey…

Attendance is down at many academic and professional conferences in higher education this year, and next year's numbers are expected to be far worse, as campus budgets take further beatings. With many colleges limiting travel to professors or administrators who are speaking at events they are attending, will anyone be left in the audience? A new…

Economic downturns can lead companies doing business internationally to cut costs by reducing staff and/or closing subsidiaries. Efficiency in downsizing can put people and capital to their most effective use. This exercise educates students about country differences in labor termination practices, costs, legal requirements for downsizing, and…

When Dr. James Ammons took the helm of his alma mater, Florida A&M University (FAMU), he inherited a nationally recognized school facing numerous crises. Ammons, who served as provost of FAMU during its heyday in the 1990s, knew the school was mired in trouble with the state, having accumulated dozens of state auditor questions about its…

Across the U.S., colleges like Anne Arundel Community College (Maryland) are devising strategies and designing curricula to meet the demands created by the substantial troop shifts. They are adding degree and certificate programs and refashioning or expanding others, in areas as diverse as network security, procurement and contracting, and…

In this article, the authors describe a case in which school district officials used state regulations for new teacher mentoring programs as justification to cut funding and incrementally dismantle a model program. (Contains 1 table.)

The White House's FY 2005 budget request released February 2nd includes severe cuts to career and technical education (CTE) programs that, if enacted, would prove devastating to education and training programs in American high schools and postsecondary institutions. In the $2.4 trillion federal budget request for FY 2005 (school year 2005-2006),…

Begins with a general discussion of downsizing and its outcomes, then offers an analysis of downsizing in higher education with an emphasis on three points: the factors causing universities to consider downsizing, the special nature of universities that makes downsizing particularly difficult, and the downsizing methods used by universities. (EV)

A freeze on $3.28 billion in requests for aid under the federal E-rate program has left hundreds of school districts scrambling to pay for their technology needs--and, in some cases, crippled classroom instruction. The E-rate program, which has disbursed more than $8 billion since its inception in 1997, helps link public and private schools as…

Two surveys of educators examined the status of gifted programs in Connecticut during 1989 to 1991. The 1991 results indicate that increasing numbers of programs for the gifted are experiencing jeopardy resulting from the state's fiscal crisis. The number of program eliminations increased by 63% and program reductions rose by 11%. (Author/JDD)

Instead of shielding the public from the effects of budget cuts by making small across-the-board cuts on many programs, school administrators should slash whole programs. This will maintain the system's overall educational effectiveness while making clear the consequences of the public's political actions. (Author/RW)

Six college advancement professionals respond to a hypothetical case of across-the-board cuts in nonacademic departments by telling how they would make budgeting choices. The strategies used include involving senior advancement managers as a team, cultivating consensus, preserving priority projects, sharing responsibility among departments,…

The director of the College of Continuing Studies at Towson State University (Maryland) describes the college's experience of downsizing during universitywide retrenchment. She offers advice for continuing educators facing budget cuts. (SK)

One of the greatest challenges to comprehensive school reform (CSR) is sustaining reform over a period long enough to produce substantial effects. This article highlights the importance of studying sustainability as well as the importance of being clear about what is being sustained, distinguishing between a sustained reform relationship and…