GA Monies - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Jun 4, 2006

GA Monies

Date: Jun 4, 2006

i don't know about polymer science, but for 05-06 english received a $180,000 increase in university supplied GA money, including a mid-year bump of $30,000.

Date: Jun 4, 2006

Is the English increase to fund teaching assistanships? TA's are way cheaper than new faculty.

Date: Jun 4, 2006

yes--teaching assistants in the creative writing program. but doctoral programs need adequate and, more importantly, competitive stipends. so although TAs are cheaper than faculty, they're essential to doctoral programs.

Date: Jun 4, 2006

CoST Curious wrote:

I heard from one of the Polymer Science braggarts that Shelby saw to it that they more than doubled their University supplied GA monies. Aside from Bidness being torpedoed how did other departments fair? did all of the monies from Bidness go to Polymer?

This is not true. Polymer got three of the university assistantships, which amounted to about a third of their usual allocation.

Date: Jun 4, 2006

stinky cheese man wrote:

i don't know about polymer science, but for 05-06 english received a $180,000 increase in university supplied GA money, including a mid-year bump of $30,000.

Stinky, I'm not sure you mean to blame English. I hope not. Would that both the USM administration and the Mississippi legislature would realize that much more money is needed in many programs to build and sustain excellence. As far as I know, all USM graduate programs have been damaged by the administration's recent decision to "realize" a tiny bit of savings by raising the amount to be paid assistants without raising the funding. I'm happy that our graduates are getting something closer to a living wage, but we've all seen a net drop in how many assistantships could be rewarded.

I've been outspoken in my dismay that administrators claim they USM was "giving money away" to students, when one can think of administrative expenditures that surely represent actually reprehensible prodigality. I imagine that you, Stinky, are as dismayed as well. But please don't make the English department the bad guy, or any academic department for that matter. That is not the direction to look for blame.

Date: Jun 4, 2006

jameela--i'm not begrudging english getting the money. i may have concerns about the process and the apparent lack of transparency. sadly, the area receiving the money will not be a part of the NRC's doctoral program ratings.

Date: Jun 4, 2006

COB lost much of its GA money and its MBA program will suffer as a result. From the silence of faculty in other colleges, I must assume that they think that taking GA money from COB is a good thing. While there are those who are of a mind that Doctoral programs should have priority for funding, it is not in the interest of the taxpayers of Mississippi. MBA students spend one or two years in the program. Almost all get jobs at competitive salaries. Explain to me the wisdom of taking the money from COB and putting into a program for which there is a surplus of Ph.D.s. Moreover, most of those surplus Ph.Ds are from universities with much better reputations than USM. My comment is not directed at the English faculty since I am aware that there are many quality scholars in that department even though many quality faculty have left.

Date: Jun 4, 2006

Jameela Lares wrote:

....when one can think of administrative expenditures that surely represent actually reprehensible prodigality.

Egad! Literacy alert! What happened to that ole "quote of the week" award?

Date: Jun 5, 2006

COST faculty wrote:

This is not true. Polymer got three of the university assistantships, which amounted to about a third of their usual allocation.

If that is all they got, it doesn't doesn't go with the braggart's bluster about how the Polymer chair fought like he** to get what they "deserve". Maybe we need to send Myron over to teach their leader something about arithmatic.