- . - . - - . -. CUTS budget cuts were not enough, word of pendtnq iederal-leie reddct~ons asso wll h8l PSL Oregon s one of 25 States ~ h l c hwould be naraest nat by proposed reductions in federal stu- dent aid programs, according to the American Assoc~ationof State Colleges and Universittes. The Reagan administration oroooses reducing funds available in . . some grant an9 loan areas Con- current y 11plans to I ghten down on income requirements needed to qualify for that financial aid. Students hardest hit will be those from so-called middle income families (those with combtned in- comes over $24,000, including the student's wages). Last year. 21 per- cent of the students at PSU who were in that type of grant program came from fam~lreswith combined incomes over the proposed minlmum. Families with incomes between $15.000 and $24.000 will have thelr grants reduced next year. constttut~noanother thtrd of PSU's flnanc a ao; app cants Seventy-sx percent of PSU s StLoentS work at least pan-trme wn,le attenolng scnoo many of Inem at,oos i ~ n d e oinrouqh College Work Study programs. These programs, too, are slated for cuts by the Reagan admlnistratlon. PSU also stands to lose 35 per- cent of its federal contribution to the direct student loan program which allows a student to borrow at low In- terest rates. During the 1979-80 school year. 1.160 students received these loans. Even though the current financial picture at PSU is bleak. President Blumel says. "We must not accept it as tnevitable. But we must bring these facts to the pubilc's awareness." A group of alumni has organized the Alumni Public Service Com- mittee to encourage alumni and friends to contact legislators and in- form them that there IS suppon for the revenue proposals made by the Governor in his budget proposal. The committee believes that without the revenue provlded through those proposals PSU faces a future of limited enrollment and function. Business, engineeringstudents compete for limited class space & w e ' v e stretched and stretched, and we can't stretch any more," says Donald Parker, dean of PSU's School of Business Administration. "We have to preserve educational quality, and we can no longer serve our students on a strict first-come. first-served basis." commented Chik Erzurumlu, head of PSU's D~visionOf Engineering. Due to sharply increased demand for education In Business Adminis- tration and in Engineering, at a time when further budget cuts for PSU loom large. the two disciplines are proposing the establishment of new rules requiring formal admls- ston to upper-division study. Under th~sproposal, enrollment ceilinos would be out Into effect this te;m If the probosal s approued. and Inere are more elgtble Lpper- divlsion students who wish to con- tinue pursuing degrees in either of these majors than can be accom- modated at that time, students will be expected to compete for the l~mitedspaces available. A continuing problem for the two hlgh-demand disciplines has been that certain of their eiiaible students who have fulillled couke prere- qulsltes for Lpper-(1.vIson work. have been crowded 0.1 of needed classes by others who have not yet fulfilled thelrs. The preclse effects which the new Selective admissions policies will have on students thls fall is un- known. But memories of what happened last fall are still fresh. when an est~mated1.000 students In Business Administration, and another 700 in the D~visionof Engineering,found they were unable to aet the courses thev wanted. vtnelher or not the prosoect ve or cont ndng "pper-dlv son students agree w 11 the nen enrollment ceilings, at least guidelines may be in effect this fall which everyone can follow. In Engineering, students wishing to be adrnltted to upper-divislon standing next fall may have to prove thelr eligibility to do so prior to June 15. Commented Errurumlu. "We Observing the engineering depart- ment's computer facrl~beswas one achvilyset up lorpmspectrve students vrsitmg lrom area h ~ g hschools at PSU's lntro '81 in early March. Greatest interest was in the alreadv- hrgh-demand schools of busrness admrnistration and engineering. Budget cu faculty rec One aspect of the news sur- rounding Oregon's budget problems and thelr impact on Portland State is that thev oresent added obstacles 3 7 for academlc off~c~atlos surmount In recrulttng potenttal faculty Even with budget cuts, there are academic areas In which some positions must be filled and academic recruiting is a constant process at PSU, even if the tempo varles. One of the key people in the recruitina orocess at PSU is John Gr~oerc.fcePres dent lor Academlc Aifa rs Gr~oenr unselfwas recru led to the Portland area last year, just prlor to the onset of the ~mmed~ate budget problems. "Certainly." he says. "people may not be anxlousto come to a situation where it is unclear what the ftnanclal resources will be to help support need to serve the students who have the best preparation and background to pursue upper- division course work In engineering." In very general terms, the pro- posed eligibility requirements for both dlscipltnes mean that prospec- tlve or continuing upper-division majors must achieve a mlnimum grade point average of 2.5 in a desianated set of courses and crea ts on Bbsrness Adm nlstrat on In Eng neerfng,a mtn mum GPA of 2 25 In Eng ncer~ngcodrses iw th no grades lower than "C") must be achieved, plus a minimum cumulative GPA of 2 0 In a designated set of mathematics and science courses. In both disciplines, provision is being made for students who, for a variety of reasons, cannot meet a riold aDolication of all of these selec- t re admlss on proced-re5 S L C ~ S'U~P'I~T may pet tlon romm tle~s wn cn are belng set up n eacn s ~ b - ject area to evaluate each student's total record, to see if it justifies granting admission. research and scholarly activities." However, he adds, theexact effectof the state's f~scalproblems on a potential faculty member's decision is impossible to guess. "We still hold to the belief." Gruber says, "that the long range OoDortunlties at Portland State are fiv'orab e ' rle a so po nts 0.1 that b ~ o g~ntcenalnets are a lact of academic life nationally, not just in the Northwest or at Portland State. TWOacademic areas In which there 15faculty recr~ltmentact vlty are eng neenng and OLsfnessao. ministration. "We do see concern with finances there." Gruber says. "but to what extent, we can't say." The University also is conducting a national search for a Dean of the College of Sc~ence.
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