CHENEY, Wash. — The Eastern Washington University (EWU) Board of Trustees received a new report put together by a task force of faculty and staff about potential budget cuts.
Dozens of people attended the meeting at EWU on Friday. The report outlines suggestions on where to make cutbacks, but also where to make greater investments.
Jane Ellsworth has taught at Eastern Washington University for more than 18 years. She teaches in the music department, where three out of four programs are in danger of being cut.
"They would have to come up with a good reason to get rid of me," Ellsworth said. "We were a little shocked at how large the proposed cuts were for us."
During Friday's board of trustee's meeting, staff and faculty in the school's Strategic Resource Allocation task force presented the report.
"One of the things that helped us through as the academic task force was a belief that something good could come out of this," task force chair Tony Masiello said.
The task force gave suggestions on where the university can save money and where they should spend more money. They say the university should spend more money on bachelor programs like computer science and communications. And they suggest cutting from programs like art history and data analytics.
"We have hope in the next part of the process that the recommendations will be honored," Masiello said.
The task force said the whole report was a long process but was one that was very much needed. Some faculty agree this will only help the university.
"I think a lot of the recommendations from the academic task force is not about cutting programs is more about finding efficiency and streamlining," said Pui-Yan Lam, the president of the EWU faculty organization.
"Our university priority is to serve students. And you clearly see that priorities reflected in the recommendations," Lam said.
But other faculty members like Ellsworth disagree.
"I am more fearful for students who whose quality of their experience at EWU will be affected by these cuts," Ellsworth said.
The task force said recommendations were made with financial data. If a program didn't reach an 85% threshold to financially support the university, it fell to the disinvest category.
The report is still in its early stages and the board didn't make any final decisions on its recommendations. The university said it could be a couple of years before they get a full plan in place and make any changes.
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