When Ohio University's provost announced last week that she would fund course sections that would have otherwise been cut next year, she also said the school will bring in $1.8 to $2.2 million.
The $1 million Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit distributed to departments last week will keep 148 course sections and save 17 faculty positions through next year.
Through student tuition, Benoit estimates those courses will bring in $400,000 to $800,000 more than they cost OU.
Colleges had proposed cutting them as part of an effort to reduce the university budget by $13.75 million next year, but faculty and administrators say it could do more damage to cut from the revenue-generating side of the university.
If you cut credit hour production
not only does the college lose but everybody loses. ... You'd be spiraling down the drain said John Day, associate provost for academic budgets. So you've got to be careful about cutting the one area that makes money around here.
Benoit said it would not have been wise to cut those sections when they do generate so much revenue.
It wasn't a good investment to pull those sections away
she said.
About $300 million of the university's $684 budget comes from generating credit hours.
OU President Roderick McDavis said keeping the revenue from those courses is good, but it was more important to him to ensure students could get their coursework done on time.
That for me ... represents more opportunity for students to matriculate without feeling the adverse impact of the $13.75 million cuts
McDavis said. The fact that it generates revenue for us
to me
is icing on the cake.
McDavis decided at the end of March to give faculty and staff 1 percent, rather than 2 percent, raises. The $1 million difference went toward these additional sections. Benoit also had $400,000 to distribute to support general education courses that were at risk.
Department heads from the 13 units getting funding said the additional courses will allow them to meet demand for courses, to keep faculty teaching in their areas of expertise and to contribute to the scholarly environment for undergraduate and graduate students.
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Emily Grannis
