The Avion - October 13 2009
Tuesday October 13, 2009
Volume CXXVI Issue 6
Weekly Weather
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University cuts budget another 3%, affecting staff, students
Priyanka Kumar Staff Reporter The University has announced their latest three percent budget cuts, which have been in effect since Oct. 1. In an e-mail sent by University President Dr. John Johnson, department heads were informed that they must cooperate to balance their budgets. According to Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Richard Heist, the three percent cuts will be used to arrive at a total budget figure the committee needed to achieve. Therefore, the three percent cuts will not be applied to reduce faculty members’ salaries, but instead will affect spending for various departments and extra necessities. Some of the many departments that the budget cuts affect are Information Technology (IT), Housing, Student Employment, the College of Business, International Student Services, Career Services and Student Affairs. After the announcement, staff members immediately felt the impact of the cuts. According to Heist, 14 Daytona Beach staff positions were eliminated and eight positions within the University Administration were also removed this month. In addition, a 25 percent pay cut has been implemented for staff. “Although there has been a pay cut, staff get to keep their benefits, so it is better than not having anything at all,” Heist said. Asked if the four percent tuition increase helped the University this year, Heist stated that without it, the school would be in a worse situation. “The four percent did not cover all costs, but it did help a lot,” Heist said. Dr. Daniel Petree, Dean of the College of Business, noted that the tuition increase was essential. “Tuition did not cover the differences of what was necessary to cover the institution,” Petree said. Petree stated that despite the increase in tuition, the University is attempting to cushion the impact on students. “The collapse of the labor market ended last year, but it’s not recovering well. The collapse is no individual’s responsibility. The school has increased available financial aid, I think ERAU has done the responsible thing,” Petree said. According to Heist, a major driving force behind the cuts also derives from students not being able to pay tuition this semester. “What hurt us the most that necessitated cuts is the large number of students, in hundreds, that were delinquent in paying their tuition. This is the loss we weren’t counting on; the cuts were partially tuition-driven,” Heist said. Kathryn Parsons, Director of Student Employment, also mentioned that it is not the Administration’s intention to hurt students. “We’re reducing travel, some supplies, but there are no reduction of student employee’s hours,” Parsons said. According to Parsons, student employment is not thoroughly affected. Currently, 1,015 students are employed, which is a record high. Parsons shares the
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Daytona Beach campus budget figures
q 4453 undergraduate students enrolled at Daytona Beach campus q New undergraduate enrollment decreased 17.2 percent q 50 students is approximately \$1 million for the University q 4 percent tuition increase equalled about \$4.9 million for the University q 3 percent budget cut reduced costs about \$4 million for the University q Costs increased for utilities and health care q University scholarship amounts increased
Motorcycle/ Bicycle Safety Awareness Day Wednesday
On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Campus Safety and the Medical Emergency and Disaster Relief Club are co-sponsoring a Motorcycle/Bicycle Safety Day on the West Lawn. Information will be provided on Campus Safety programs, including the Lease-A-Lock program and the motorcycle training course. Students are encouraged to attend the event, which will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
same opinion as her colleagues, saying “I think I’d rather see our budget decrease than more people losing jobs because they really need to work.” Joe Busch, Director of Enterprise Technology Solutions from IT stated that within his department, people are working on a project to replace the current student e-mail service with the Microsoft Live system in order to reduce costs and provide better service. Busch also mentioned other ideas to reducing costs. “We want to lengthen the life of our computers by leveraging new technologies in virtualization from Citrix. This has the added benefit of allowing students to access the classroom software anywhere, anytime. IT will continue to look for ways to achieve more value out of our investments. That is a core part of our mission,” he said. The IT department did reduce staff positions, but Busch said that they are trying to do whatever they can to minimize further impacts. “We reorganized some of our teams in an effort to obtain operational efficiencies. We have always prioritized our projects and initiatives towards Please see “BUDGET” page A2
World’s longest wiffle ball game Friday
MBA students score high in national testing
Priyanka Kumar Staff Reporter In the spring of 2009, EmbryRiddle’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduating students took the Major Field Test (MFT) and placed in the top percentile in five subject areas. The three-hour test, designed to assess the end of the Business program, delivered scores that pleased the College of Business (COB) faculty at Embry-Riddle. The five categories included Marketing, Management, Finance, Accounting and Overall Strategic Integration. Students placed in the 95th percentile for Marketing and Finance, in the 90th percentile on Strategic Integration, and in the 85th percentile for Marketing and Management. In addition to questions, the assessment includes case studies to test applied knowledge. According to Blaise Waquespack, MBA Program Coordinator for the COB, this assessment is one of the tools used to evaluate how students are doing in their business classes and how well the knowledge is being put to use. “We’ve used surveys, research, views from graduates and employees and internships in the past, and now we’re also using the MFT at the conclusion of the BA 635 class,” Waquespack said. Likewise, Dr. Dawna Rhoades, Associate Dean of Research & Graduate Studies and a Professor in the COB, also noted that more schools are using the test as an outcome measure. “We look externally, we’ve had our faculty review each question and we’ve tracked it by semester and looked at different factors,” Rhoades said. Waquespack also stressed that students tend to take the MFT very seriously as the top scores prove to be so. “The MBA students are very competitive about the test, partially because they can see how they are ranked so they are definitely serious about it,” Waquespack said. Dr. Daniel Petree, Dean of the COB, added on a light note, “The lowest score was in the 85th percentile, we know [students] took it seriously.” Petree said that the MBA students were focused and pre-
Watermelon Bust brings Greeks together
Ainsley Robson Staff Reporter Every year the brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha nationally participate in raising food and funds for the North American Food Drive. Here at EmbryRiddle, this national philanthropy takes the form of a Watermelon Bust. During this week-long event, the brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha hold a series of competitions that involve sorority participation and collecting donations for the national philanthropy. The events that the sororities participated in included Watermelon Carving (won by Theta Phi Alpha), a Watermelon Eating Contest (won by Sigma Sigma Sigma), and a Watermelon Obstacle Course (won by Alpha Xi Delta). In the end, there could be only one winner and this year’s winner was Alpha Xi Delta, who also won the Watermelon Bust two years ago. This win was a close one that came all the way down to the last event, where only five points separated Alpha Xi Delta from Sigma Sigma Sigma. In the end, the brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha and the sorority sisters were able to have a little fun while getting the chance to be creative and competitive and collect food for the North American Food Drive.
This weekend, the Athletic Department at ERAU will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest wiffle ball game ever played. The game will begin at 10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16 and continue non-stop until 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18. The game is open to the public, and is being held to benefit the Central Florida Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation.
Aerospace Engineering speaker
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Dr. Jeff Forbes, Professor and Chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado, will be making a presentation at 5:30 p.m. in the IC Auditorium. Forbes’ presentation will focus on the graduate programs in Aerospace Engineering offered by the University of Colorado, and will include an overview of the scientific research programs being conducted. The event is sponsored by Sigma Gamma Tau, National Aerospace Engineering Honor Society, and is open to students, faculty and staff.
pared, and now the department is working on building motivation for the undergraduate students in the COB so they can follow the group that “significantly outperformed their peers” this spring. Last year, according to Petree, 40,000 students took the test from more than 400 undergraduate business and 200 MBA programs around the world. As far as credibility of the COB at Embry-Riddle, Petree stated that the program is as good as others all over the world.
“We try to produce graduates who can lead the aerospace industry and in order to do so, they have to be the best,” Petree said. Embry-Riddle’s Business program is currently accredited by The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), which contributes to the institution’s credibility. The ACBSP holds standards that help graduates and employers in terms of building “strong business relationships.” In comparison to past scores, Waquespack mentioned that since the Finance track was implemented to the course, the Finance portion of the MFT resulted in higher scores than previous years. Overall, Petree and Waquespack are quite impressed by the students. Petree noted that the high scores also reflect the faculty too. “This clearly shows that the faculty is excellent. I consider myself very lucky; they know their field and love their students. Our faculty is world class. We’re helping students learn state of the art and cuttingedge knowledge and discipline in the field,” he said. Waquespack shared the same feeling. “I’m very happy to see this, it makes me very proud,” he said. So far, Petree has been generally receiving positive feedback from past graduates. “I keep getting positive reports, their organizations love them,” he said. The MFT will continue to be administered as a measure of how much knowledge students are attaining in the COB and their courses here at Embry-Riddle.
AINSLEY ROBSON/AVION
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