Recently, President Sue Thomas delivered her State of the University address where she discussed the future of our school. Thomas specifically addressed budget issues and how the deep cuts recently proposed by Gov. Eric Greitens will have a toll on the University. It was clear this was an address tailored to personnel and faculty as an action call to help make decisions. While we commend the administrators for wanting to include everyone in the decision making process, we, The Index Editorial Board, think there should already be a plan in place.
From the student perspective, we, The Index Editorial Board, are a little shocked with how Thomas presented these future changes. There was talk about how administrators have been discussing fixes and creating committees to determine a plan of action. Then there was talk about how everyone should be playing a role in addressing these problems. But there wasn’t a lot of talk about what those plans are, nor what those plans will look like in action.
In hindsight, there has been a lot of talk about the challenges that are currently facing the University, and that leaves students to wonder… It’s the end of February, and the new budget will take effect July 1, so not hearing any concrete plans concerns us.
We, The Index Editorial Board, want to know what plans are actually in the works because, at this point in time, we have yet to see anything, and it’s time. We want to know how the specific plan is intending to deal with cuts that will affect every member of this University and ultimately the future of the University we attend. If these plans are happening behind the scenes, we need to know. We often ask for transparency, but we’re asking for the University to take initiative in discussing its plans rather than just only creating yet another committee or having another discussion. We’re past that and to the point where decisions will have to be made, and while that might terrify us, we’re ready.