Cuts bring distress to Meredith campus

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CORRECTION

A story on Saturday's front page incorrectly identified a graduate degree earned by Meredith College President Maureen Hartford. She received a master's degree in college teaching, with a French discipline, from UNC-Chapel Hill.

****** Meredith College may have fewer than 2,300 students, but these scholars, along with teachers, staff and alumna, form a loyal and fiery group.

So when the possibility of budget cuts hit the Hillsborough Street campus this year, tempers boiled, rumors flew and students began gathering signatures.

It's a cycle that is repeating itself at colleges and universities nationwide as endowments shrink and the troubled economy dictates that more students need financial aid. But in an insulated world like Meredith, the Southeast's largest private women's institution, even the tiniest tweaks to programs or curriculum are amplified.

Administrators have cut about $1.4 million from this year's budget, discontinuing majors in French, women's studies and public history. Contributions to employee retirement accounts were stopped. Nineteen positions were eliminated in the spring, and five faculty members will lose their jobs soon because of the curriculum cuts. The reductions represent a 2.5 percent decrease from the $57 million budget set for 2009-2010.

A committee identified 11 majors for possible elimination, areas in which administrators say students were showing less interest. In addition to those cut, the list originally included religion and music.

"We were intellectually and emotionally involved in doing that review," said Meredith College President Maureen Hartford. "But we had to let go of some of those personal feelings and assumptions to do what needed to be done for the college."

Canceling the French major is "absurd," said Julia Houtchings, a 20-year-old French major from Siler City who started a petition in an effort to save the program. She became interested in the language in high school and plans to teach French or perhaps become an interpreter.

"I love the way it sounds," she said. "I love the way it looks. I love the influence it has on the English language."

Students such as Houtchings who are already majoring in the discontinued programs will be able to finish their degrees. Hartford herself earned a master's degree in French at UNC-Chapel Hill, so she understands the passion for the language. But at Meredith, that passion is dwindling. In the 2008-09 school year, just three students graduated with a degree in French.

Meredith was experiencing boom times just a few years ago. It constructed a science and math building, renovated dormitories and built a soccer field and track.

The campus is not alone in its budget crunch. Raleigh's Peace College, another private institution for women, saw its endowment shrink from $52 million to $37 million from the end of 2007 to the end of 2008. Peace College's current budget is $18.2 million. And UNC-Chapel Hill's endowment slipped from $2.2 billion to about $1.8 billion.

When Meredith students returned in August and learned about the budget-cutting proposals, the atmosphere was tense and stressful, said Amy Damone, student body president, who also serves as a student representative on the college budget committee.

They worried about the future of their programs, while they heard rumors from teachers about what might happen. More recently, administrators began holding forums to share the budget-cutting measures with students.

The brunt of cuts has fallen upon faculty and staff. There were no raises this year, and those making $90,000 or more were asked to take an additional voluntary 5 percent salary reduction. Along with the retirement cuts, the number of free classes that employees can take has been reduced from two to one.

Eloise Grathwohl, an English professor and chairwoman of the faculty council, has sent e-mail messages to faculty and staff, decrying further cuts to class offerings and advocating for a creative plan to return the school to growth.

"I think the faculty is realistic about this. We realize the atmosphere in which we're working," she said. "I'm convinced that when we come out of this situation that we'll be stronger."

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