USA Cuts Entire Department

University Of South Alabama Usa The University of South Alabama is getting rid of an entire department to save money.

by Tiffany Craig

Published: Mon, December 15, 2008 - 6:21 pm CST Last Updated: Mon, December 15, 2008 - 6:35 pm CST

Cutting an entire department is how the University of South Alabama is dealing with budget cuts.

Ron Franks is the Vice President of Health Sciences. He says by getting rid of the Clinical Laboratory Sciences program, the school can save $200,000 a year.

Most graduates of the CLS program go on to do lab work in hospitals.

According to the program's director Vicki Barrett, medicine could not survive without the work on the professional that go through programs like this. "70% of all medical decisions and 80% of all diagnoses come directly from the testing CLS graduates perform in the clinical laboratory."

In recent years, CLS enrollment has dropped and Franks says there are only 9 students in the program with 5 faculty members.

Even with the dwindling numbers, Franks admits it was a hard decision to make. "The agony that we went through to reach this decision and the distress of those affected by it is almost immeasurable. I mean, it's just been an extremely difficult decision to reach."

Three of the faculty members will lose their jobs next year, another will be transferred and the fifth has already resigned.

Franks tells us that those already in the pre-professional phase of the program have some choices. The University of West Florida is offering in-state tuition for students willing to transfer. The University of Southern Mississippi is considering the same offer.

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southfan1981 Says:

Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 2:00 pm

KX, my understanding is that students in the professional component could complete it in FL. It’s a drive but less expensive than losing tuition and a lease for a semester. Like you said, if they are still a sophmore, those classes can be transferred somewhere else.

The real issue is nixing a program that has excellent job opportunities. Just how many of the Mitchell school of business undergrads have jobs lined up excluding being mall rats?

KxVicious Says:

Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 12:50 pm

Well what the heck did nitecruzr2u spend the student loan on? If the program didn’t exist, there wasn’t anything to sign up for. . .

If they were taking CORE classes, and dropped out, that’s just stupid, because classes can be TRANSFERRED to other universities.

southfan1981 Says:

Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 11:52 am

Kx, if you read that post, I bet you would realize this could not be an actual student accepted into the professional component of the program. PLEASE tell me they require a better grasp of writing skills. PLEASE?

rosepetal Says:

Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 11:41 am

the football program at south should generate income. so i think it will pay for itself. if it catches on big it should be a great asset for south and maybe they can get the program back.

KxVicious Says:

Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 11:00 am

You didn’t HAVE to drop out this semester. You CHOSE to quit going to your classes and waste your money…

nitecruzr2u Says:

Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 7:37 pm

This was my first year at University of South Alabama I was taking Clinical Lab Sciences and they dropped the program I am an out of state student.I had to drop out this semester because of their decision not to continue the program.I had to sign a lease at the apartment where I lived and now management is telling me I can’t break the lease,that I have to continue paying my rent. I had to take out a student loan just so I could attend college there and now I will be paying back a student loan just for one semester.I had to quit my job and move back home,this decision thay they made is affecting alot of students and the parents,it seems like the Clinical Lab Sciences program would be more important rather than paying a coach that much money a year.(now I’m stuck with a student loan and rent) had I known this I would have went to USM but I was told this was a great college for the major I was taking.

southfan1981 Says:

Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 11:18 pm

Kx, if only it were that simple. They did not take money from one discipline and give it to the athletic department. Allied Health decided not to reduce all of their individual departments. They cut one program.

KxVicious Says:

Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 11:11 pm

You know what I just realized???

South’s paying the new football coach, Joey Jones, $275,000 a year.

Shutting down this program just covered most of his salary!

southfan1981 Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 12:42 am

Kx, when my roommate was in Physical Therapy, there were only 12 students. These programs do not have HUGE numbers, they have a low student/faculty ratio, they are highly competitive and draw some good students to our university. If you check out the instructor’s in that program, the head was teaching SEVERAL classes.

KxVicious Says:

Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 9:24 pm

I mean, it really makes sense they cut the department. They only have 9 students and 5 faculty members.

SOUTH ALABAMA HAS FOOTBALL.

Woo!

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