Program and department cuts

As the council continues to follow up on proposed program cuts announced last semester by MSU Provost Kim Wilcox, further cuts might be proposed and discussed, ECAC Chairman Harold Hughes said.

Michigan’s precarious economic situation and state budget cuts “almost guarantee” MSU will be affected, ECAC Vice Chairman Robert Maleczka said. He also said he would not be surprised if additional cuts are proposed this semester.

“If the state is seeing a cut in its revenue, there’s no way that we’re not going to be impacted by that,” Maleczka said.

Hughes said although another round of cuts might be in MSU’s future, he wants the set of cuts proposed in the fall will come to some kind of end this semester.

“The reason for cuts is not just money — it’s to have MSU positioned for the future and the future is going to be different from the past,” Hughes said.

Faculty health care

Modifications to the faculty health care system likely will continue to be a critical issue for several years, Hughes said.

Although there will not be a vote on the issue, governance will move forward with last semester’s proposed changes, which are expected to lead to a 10 percent reduction in cost, said Deborah Moriarty, University Committee on Faculty Affairs, or UCFA, chairwoman.

“We don’t want to jeopardize the quality of our health care just to save money,” she said.

Responses from a UCFA health care system survey sent to all faculty were taken into consideration in UCFA’s recommendations, which were submitted to Wilcox and MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon in early December.

The committee’s recommendation will be addressed at today’s ECAC meeting and changes to the system are slated to go into effect July 1, Moriarty said. She said MSU is expected to switch to an employer-based health care system one year later, in July 2011. If the system works well, it will then take over from the Blue Care Network, Moriarty said.

Minimum class sizes

Hughes said the question of minimum class sizes will be another important issue addressed this semester. Problems are arising from a rule that requires a minimum number of students to be enrolled in a class before it can be taught.

Students could be prevented from graduating on time or getting into certain graduate schools if a class is not taught one semester, he said.

But cost also is a factor in the requirement.

“If you’ve got a high-priced instructor and they’re teaching four or five students, compare that to someone teaching four or five hundred students,” Hughes said.

The issue was brought up in a September ECAC meeting after a faculty member expressed concerns about problems stemming from the requirement.