University of West Georgia students demanded during a meeting Monday that administrators find other ways to fill a $3 million budget gap that do not include cutting faculty.
Administrators recently sent notices to an undisclosed number of faculty members saying the university may not renew their teaching contracts at the end of the school year to fill the budget gap.
“I urge you, no, I demand you reconsider this,” one student said during a meeting Monday that was scheduled for one hour, but went 90 minutes.
The administrators said the gap has been caused by a decline of about 500 students this year. The University of West Georgia had about 13,700 students last year, the seventh-largest enrollment of any public university in Georgia. The university’s current 12-month budget is about $208 million.
University administrators and state officials held a meeting at its Carrollton campus Monday afternoon to explain the situation and answer questions. Officials apologized for poor communication about the situation and vowed to have some answers in two weeks.
Students asked if the university is considering cuts to other areas. Administrators said they’re exploring ways to cut expenses that include trimming the travel or technology budgets.
“It will be challenging to make up the loss of 500 students, but we will do everything we can,” the university’s interim president Micheal Crafton said during the meeting.
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