News
2.92011 I The Blue Banner
University eliminates 29 positions
Ashleigh Joyner
amjoyner@unca.edu
Editor-in-Chief
Recent layoffs of seven
UNC Asheville employees
proved part of the difficult de
cision process in dealing with
budget cuts, according to Pro
vost Jane Fernandes.
“Any choices that we make
will be painful and I know that
all of us involved in discontin
uing people in positions are in
grief over the need to do that,”
she said.
Chancellor Anne Ponder in
formed the campus communi
ty in an e-mail last Wednesday
that seven filled positions and
22 vacant positions would be
laid off or eliminated.
Of the seven filled positions
laid off, three are in finance
and campus operations, one is
in student affairs, one in aca
demic affairs and two are in
the chancellor’s division. The
22 vaeant positions eliminated
were in facilities management,
the Arboretum and student
affairs, according to John
Pierce, the vice chancellor
for finance and operations.
Those employees laid off
were notified of the layoffs
prior to the message being re
leased to the community, and
some are effective immediate
ly, according to Pierce.
“(The layoffs and position
eliminations) will reduce next
year’s expenses by $2.5 mil
lion,” Pierce said.
The process of deciding bud
"Having gone through that very
detailed process we still had some cuts
to the academic core, particularly in
adjunct professors and one time
lecturers."
John Pierce
Vice chancellor for finance and operations
get cuts began in the fall when
the UNC General Administra
tion asked the university for
cut plans of 5 and 10 percent,
according to Pierce.
“Five percent on our $40
million state appropriated
budget comes to $2 million,”
he said. “Ten percent comes
to $4 million.”
Deciding cuts at the uni
versity happens through a
process involving the univer
sity planning council, which
consists of faculty members,
two students, several staff and
administrators, according to
Fernandes.
“The university planning
council developed a resource
allocation model for us to use
during this time of budget cuts
that spells out what the uni
versity’s priorities should be,”
Fernandes said. “We listened
carefully to the input they
gave us and we have been im
plementing those priorities.”
Pierce said protecting filled
positions is important when
dealing with budget cuts, but
cuts of this magnitude called
for difficult decision making.
“It’s hard to make these
kinds of dollar amounts with
out affecting people’s posi-
tons,” he said. “We consid
ered other options, but it was
just very difficult to not in
volve people’s positions when
we get to this level of cuts.”
The total amount of cuts for
next year will not be decided
until July, but the university
is implementing cuts this se
mester to offset the amount
that could be required of them
later, according to Pierce.
In addition to these layoffs,
other restrictions have been
placed on travel and purchas
ing, according to Pierce.
“Having gone through that
very detailed process, we still
had some cuts to the academic
core, particularly in adjunct
professors and one-time lec
turers,” he said.
The academic core is con
sidered the most important
thing to protect when deciding
cuts to departments, according
to Fernandes.
“The academic core refers to
everything that happens with
in the classroom,” she said.
“It also refers to academic
support services that support
student’s education, and more
broadly it includes extra cur
ricular activities.”
Fernandes said every de
partment is feeling the effects
of budget cuts.
“I don’t think I could quanti
fy it in terms of most or least,”
she said. “Every department
that I know of is feeling the
pain in some way from the
cuts.”
Due to the budget cuts, de
partments have been informed
that requirements students
need to graduate will be the
most important focus, accord
ing to Fernandes.
“That is how we are able
to assure that students will
graduate. So that becomes the
most essential aspect of the
curriculum to deliver and oth
er aspects of the curriculum
may have to be put on hold
until we are able to get out of
the current budget reduction
situation,” she said.
Despite the current state of
the university’s budget, nine
new faculty have been hired
for next semester with the
See JOBS on page 5
Panel inspires students to think outside of the box
Kathy Woodward
kgwoodwar@unca.edu
Staff Writer
For students approaching
graduation, the diploma is not
the only thing they will take
away.
“Sometimes, there is some
thing beyond the degree. It’s
the experience itself that helps
you gain the knowledge you
need for your positions,” said
Lorraine Walsh, associate
professor in the department
of multimedia arts and sci
ences and moderator of the
Creative Careers panel, held
Thursday in Highsmith Student
Union.
Panelist Jennifer Mayer,
CEO of Charlotte Street Com
puters and UNC Asheville
alumna, recounted how her
degree aided in learning skills
that helped her climb up the ca
reer ladder.
“My undergraduate degree
was with A-B Tech where I got
my associate’s degree. I did
not need a degree in psychol
ogy to do my job, but my de
gree in psychology has assisted
me in marketing so much. A
lot of marketing requires cer
tain things you learn from
learned behavior,” Mayer said.
“I worked at Charlotte Street
for free for a little while, and
I didn’t know anything about
marketing. I remember asking,
‘How can I at least make $7.25
an hour?’ to someone who
knew more than me, and she
said, ‘You need to market’ and I
said, ‘What is marketing?’ and
then next week I was handing
out flyers at the flea market.”
Leslie Klinger, curator of
interpretation for the Bilt-
more Estate, said she was con
fused when entering UNCA,
but once focused, became very
successful in her field.
“I went to college and had
no idea what I wanted to study.
I think that helped me a lot. I
ended up with degrees in com-
See CAREER on page 4
Cuts impact
at-risk youth
programs
Jeremiah Reed
jjreed@unca.edu - Staff Writer
The clinching of handcuffs
and the clanging of shack
les can quickly turn hardened
teenagers into frightened chil
dren who go from tough talk to
scared straight.
However, the same goal can
be accomplished through inter
vention or other diversion pro
grams aimed at teaching more
than punishing. This is the route
Anthony Jones prefers.
“Every situation is a teach
able moment in my eyes,” said
Jones, chief court counselor
for the Buncombe County De
partment of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention.
“We try to intervene in a young
person’s life and offer them a
chance to help themselves and
prevent them from continuing
down a bad path. We try to take
a therapeutic approach instead
of punitive.”
However, those teachable
moments are harder to imple
ment than ever. As budget cuts
continue to ravage the state
of North Carolina, alternative
measures for at-risk youth and
juvenile offenders suffered ma
jor cutbacks resulting in the loss
of numerous programs.
“We’ve certainly been forced
to do more with less,” Jones
said. “The kids’ needs are in
creasing as the funding is de
creasing.”
According to reports from the
N.C. Department of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Pre
vention Program, the state eut
more than $30 million in the
past two years.
These cuts cost hundreds of
people their jobs and resulted
in several programs targeted to
ward at-risk youth being elimi
nated.
One example of these pro
grams is Camp Woodson, a wil
derness challenge camp located
in Swannanoa that uses outdoor
activities as a means to build
self-esteem and responsibility.
See JUVENILE on page 6