UCO to cut number of faculty and programs to meet budget

Earlier this morning, UCO President Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar held a Q&A forum over Zoom regarding the budget where she announced that the university will be cutting the number of faculty and programs offered in the future.

Though there were several other topics addressed during the session by Ainsley Martinez, such as new academic fees, the main story that caught the eyes of students and faculty members was reducing the number of faculty.

According to President Neuhold-Ravikumar, “By increasing the student-faculty ratio, we do have the power to build a budget that can stand on its own, without the crutch of cash, and begin to take advantages of opportunities that are presented to us.”

Many students are left wondering what this means for their professors and their classes. With the implementation of additional fees on tuition planned for the following school year, some weigh the cost of their education.

Matthew Sims, a student at UCO, explained how he felt regarding the news about faculty members, “I think getting rid of some of the programs to more centralize what the teachers are teaching, but at the same time I feel like they could have done it a little bit sooner.”

President Neuhold-Ravikumar and her team say their plans were weighed against other options, but this was the best one they could provide to the UCO community.

The faculty and program cuts do not have an official date or list on who is leaving as of yet, but President Neuhold-Ravikumar says that the community will know within the next few months.