Article archive / December 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 4. Source pages: 1, 3.
Dr. Bill McCown will help lead the newly formed College of Business and Social Sciences at the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) as Associate Dean. McCown has served as Interim Director of the Graduate School and as Professor of Psychology.
ULM recently announced plans to consolidate its five colleges into three. In a press release last month, the university officials noted, “The reorganization will see the university’s five colleges consolidated into three: the College of Arts, Education and Sciences; the College of Health and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and the College of Business and Social Sciences. The Graduate School remains unchanged.”
The new organization at Monroe is part of the University’s plan to cope with continued statewide budget cuts affecting all those in higher education. In a September meeting the Board of Regents reported that the total higher education budget for 2013-2014 is $2.628 billion, down $329 million from 2012-2013.
“These actions are consistent with our strategic plan,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Eric Pani, in the press release. “Our ultimate goal is always to educate students and prepare them for the job market and we will continue to do that.”
Dr. McCown told the Times that psychology will fall under the Business and Social Sciences, while family therapy and counseling will fall under the College of Health and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
He explained that the College of Business and Social Sciences will include political science, psychology, social work, accounting, aviation, marketing, and others.
“We’ve been happy because our online business program is highly ranked, 27th in the nation,” McCown said, “and we’re hoping that merging the business and behavioral sciences under one administrative roof will allow us to share resources, research and laboratories for greater effectiveness.”
Officials at ULM also announced the elimination of 25 positions in accordance with university reorganization due to recurring state-wide budget cuts over the last five years. Within the 25 positions, 19 jobs will be active employees and six positions are accounted for through retirements and unfilled vacant positions, said the report.
Approximately 300 university positions have been eliminated since 2009, according to a report in Hawkeye, ULM’s student newspaper. Cuts are expected to reduce approximately $2 million from the university’s budget.
ULM is one of nine universities in the UL System, the largest higher education system in Louisiana. Sixty- one percent of the UL System operating budget is self generated from the nine universities, while only 39 percent comes from state funds, according to ULsystem.net, as reported in Hawkeye.
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