Proposal to cut CABNR met with much debate
May 7th, 2010 | No Comments
On March 25 a group of 40-50 people stood in the Hillard Plaza, holding signs and banners and wearing t-shirts with “SAVE CABNR” printed across the front.
That’s exactly what they were trying to do: protest to save the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources from the $11 million dollar budget cut that will hit the University of Nevada, Reno by 2012.
The original budget cut proposal issued March 1 by Provost Marc Johnson called for closure of CABNR as a separate college, closure of the department of Animal Biotechnology, the Department of Resource Economics, the meat plant, and the Main Station Farm, as well as a plan to merge several departments and programs into the College of Science.
However, during the UNR faculty senate meeting held on April 22, faculty senators urged UNR president Milton Glick and the provost to reconsider the proposal, especially parts of it pertaining to CABNR. They voted to recommend that the provost discuss with CABNR’s members more about his proposal, as well as keep a lot of its programs while reducing administrative costs.
Glick and Johnson must have reviewed the senate’s recommendations and decided what to change in their proposal by May 14. On June 3 their recommendations will be reviewed and voted on by the Board of Regents at the campus.
However, many students at the protest to save CABNR were very worried about the proposal being in the hands of Glick and Johnson, and expressed strong feelings of negativity about the future of the school.
““Glick supports the budget cut proposal as it is, and the board of regents normally votes with Glick no matter what,” said 19-year-old Pre-vet major Hayley Rasmussen. “This situation seems a little hopeless right now.”
Among the people protesting and lamenting the possible loss of the school were several Pre-Vet majors, Animal Science majors, Biotechnology majors, parents, teachers, and one Alumni of CABNR named Erik Wingfield, 28.
“If they cut CABNR from UNR it would be like cutting out its heart – a lot of people take classes that are a part of it,” said Wingfield. “Aside from gambling Nevada is a mining and agricultural state.”
One freshman from the Pre-Vet school said that she came here from Las Vegas for CABNR, but now fears that she might have to go to school elsewhere.
“UNR’s Pre-Veterinary school is actually very good compared to most in the United States,” said Jennifer Falk, 18. “If CABNR gets cut a lot of students like me are out of luck.”
However, as of right now the budget cut proposal is exactly what it is – a proposal – and is not set in stone. But many students are still skeptical about both what is to come of CABNR and the validity of the proposal itself.
“If this proposal goes through they plan on dismantling a lot of the school,” said Rasmussen. “Because we are a land grant University we are supposed to have an agricultural department – it is even in our state constitution.”
In Article 11 section four of the Nevada State constitution it says, “The Legislature shall provide for the establishment of a State University which shall embrace departments for Agriculture, Mechanic Arts, and Mining to be controlled by a Board of Regents whose duties shall be prescribed by Law.”
Section eight also states that the Board of Regents must “organize and maintain” the departments mentioned in the previous section, and that “all the proceeds of the public lands donated by Act of Congress … shall be invested by the said Board of Regents in a separate fund to be appropriated exclusively for the benefit of the first named departments.” This separate fund is also supposed to remain “forever undiminished” with the state of Nevada being responsible for replacing any lost or misappropriated funds.
This means that if the school does end up being dismantled, and much of the land and property is sold or closed down, any money that is produced through that process would be reimbursed to the school of Agriculture. But the word “embrace” can probably be stretched as seen fit by the Board of Regents.
The future of CABNR, as well as the future of several other schools and departments at UNR, will rest on the shoulders of Glick, Johnson, and the Board of Regents. By June 4 their voting will have ended and the University will know what is to come of their colleges.
