SIUE proposes eliminating physics department as part of plan to reduce $10.3M deficit – NPR St. Louis

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville administrators had known the shortfall had been looming as operational expenses have increased and enrollment has grown stagnant or declined in recent years.
8 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Riverbender
1 year ago

Look at the important things at SIUE these days. For one its now in division 1 sports and, despite declining enrollment, it has more new buildings and more employees too. Thats what Illinois education is all about isn’t it- sports and jobs for the unions

JackBolly
1 year ago
Reply to  Riverbender

How many DEI administrators (all +$100k salary, the benefits on top) are at SIUE? Maybe that non-academic, period cost overhead should be cut first?

Freddy
1 year ago

Whew! For a brief moment I thought they would close the PSYCHIC department. All they know is more taxes are coming.

debtsor
1 year ago

I’m sure there aren’t many physics majors at SIUE…I’m known several physics majors in my life and every one of them has gone to very selective, highly competitive college, because physics is an extremely difficult subject.

Tubal-Cain
1 year ago
Reply to  debtsor

You are very right that physics is extremely difficult. When I earned my BS in physics over 50 yrs ago from UI there were only 29 people completing that program. It is a very general program that does not teach useful job skills. It is virtually impossible to obtain employment with only a BS physics and I strongly advise new college students to avoid the subject. The only reason that I made it from ghetto to middle class were hobby interests that highly impacted my skills as a R&D engineer. Twenty-one years later I was financially secure enough to obtain… Read more »

mqyl
1 year ago
Reply to  Tubal-Cain

My son, who had/has a very similar academic and work path as you, would agree that getting his undergrad in physics from a good school didn’t make him marketable to employers, despite what the school’s brochure trumpeted. He’s doing well now in the professional workforce but also had to go back to grad school first.

mqyl
1 year ago
Reply to  debtsor

Yes, why would you go to SIUE to major in physics? If you can’t get accepted at a good school to major in physics, you can always go to SIUE and major in something else. I don’t think SIUE is on the radar screen of many employers looking for physics graduates.

Brian Jones
1 year ago

Did they prioritize by avoiding who would squeak the loudest once the proposal would be announced? Scientists generally don’t have noisy protests and lots of press attention.

SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER

Home Page Signup
First
Last
Check what you would like to receive:

FOLLOW US

 

WIREPOINTS ORIGINAL STORIES

Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades

Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.

Read More »

WE’RE A NONPROFIT AND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE DEDUCTIBLE.

SEARCH ALL HISTORY

CONTACT / TERMS OF USE