It’s never easy to determine what areas of the university will be the victim of budget cuts. Every department at Youngstown State University is feeling the strains of less funding, and Maag Library is no exception.
As it stands now, e-resources — things like OhioLINK, EBSCO and other research databases — make up 65 percent of Maag’s budget. The fact that the cost of these resources is rising does not help.
Where is the line drawn? For any department, not just Maag Library, where do budget cuts go too far and start to impact the education of students?
Susan Clutter, chair of the Academic Senate Library Committee, said it’s the analysis of the usage of each journal to figure out who is using what. In her example, students from a small major may only use one journal, where as a large major may require several journals.
By cutting the only journal a small program needs in favor of one of the several for a larger major, it would throw the research ability of the students and faculty into turmoil.
It’s not that much different from budget cuts across the university. We hope that those responsible for making the decisions on budget cuts take this into account.
Cutting the budget of a small department for the sake of preserving a large one might not be the best decision for the students of YSU down the road.
The education of students should be a major factor in any decision the administration makes when it comes to cutting budgets and we need all departments to be treated fairly.
YSU is always looking toward the future and striving to be a better university for future students. The quality of education that is given to all students, both present and future, is greatly impacted by budget cuts.
The decisions that Maag Library must make are not specific to them. Every department on campus will face similar decisions. We hope that the education of students is given a very serious consideration when those decisions are made.