Atiyeh’s plan calls for tuition freeze
From Associated Press
and Emerald Reports
Wednesday's weather wasn't all bad —
it was a sunny day for higher education in
Oregon. For what may be the first time in
years, the budget news, released Wed
nesday from Salem, was good
For the next two years students won't
pay higher tuition, faculty will receive a 2
percent pay increase and some ailing
programs will receive more funding at
state colleges and universities under
Gov Vic Atiyeh's proposed budget for
the 1983-85 biennium
University Pres Paul Olum said he is
"enormously pleased ' by the tuition
freeze and the increase in faculty
salaries
Chancellor Bud Davis also is "very
pleased'' with the governor's support
"It has been very clear to me and
others that tuition in our state system has
been too high," Davis said "In addition.
this budget allows for a 2-percent faculty
salary increase which had been
promised but not delivered
The proposed budget would increase
spending by nearly $80 million over the
$503 million budgeted for the current
period The tuition freeze alone would
cost $20 million The faculty salary in
crease, already approved by the State
Board of Higher Education, would cost
$6 1 million
The budget, which includes adjust
ments for inflation, also anticipates lower
staff and operating costs due to project
ed declining enrollments
But Olum expressed concern at the
continuation of "enrollment-linked fund
ing '
"I worry that this policy could force a
further spiraling down of enrollment," he
said
However. Olum and Davis said they
feel Atiyeh is making good on recent
campaign promises
it does seem 10 me inai governor
Atiyeh s proposals for the colleges and
universities show real concern for higher
education and a determination to fulfill
his long-stated committment to support
public higher education in this state."
Olum said
"(Atiyeh) has stood by his word that
Oregonians will continue to be offered
quality and affordable state-supported
higher education, which will play a vital
role in Oregon's economic recovery,"
Davis said
Sweetening the pot a bit more. Atiyeh
recommended adding $1 million for li
brary acquisitions and services and $3
million for maintenance projects that
were deferred when funding needed to
be cut because of state revenue short
falls
Bill Lemman. vice chancellor for ad
ministration. said both library acquisi
tions and building maintenance "had
surrerea miseraDiy irom ouagei cut
backs "
While current funding levels would be
continued for most other higher educa
tion programs, the proposal would add
$4 million to beef up high-technology
programs in both private and public
colleges
Atiyeh has said high-technology
education is a top priority because it is
considered crucial for attracting new
industry and improving the state s econ
omic development
Of the $4 million tor high-technology
education. Lemman said $13 million
would be spent in private programs and
public community colleges and $2 7 mil
lion would remain in the state system
Lemman said most of the money would
be used for electrical engineering pro
grams at Portland State University and
Oregon State, cell biology at the Univer
sity and computer science at all three
universities
Oregon daily _ _
emerald
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 84, Number 63
1
Thursday, December 2. 1982
i
Mixing teaching
with graduate work
By Joan Herman
Otttw EmmM
Some University graduate students
are in the twilight zone " They aren't
just students, but they aren't quite
professors
They are a group of about 900
graduate teaching fellows who do
everything from teaching classes to
researching specialized fields in var
ious departments and schools
Some GTFs also hold administrative
positions in places like the EMU or
Affirmative Action office, but the largest
group are teaching assistants whose
lobs include grading tests and papers,
holding office hours and sometimes
leading discussion groups and lab
sections
On top of all that, some GTFs take as
many as 16 hours of graduate level
courses, do research for their theses
and work an average of 12 to 15 hours a
week
Brenda Cochrane, a sociology GTF,
says overwork is probably the biggest
problem, and there is a “constant jug
gling of academic work and the work
you get paid for."
Cochrane, who is working towards a
doctoral degree in sociology and a
master's degree in industrial relations,
teaches Sociology of Women to 110
students and serves as the Graduate
Teaching Fellows Federation pre
sident. She says sometimes “it gets a
little crazy.”
Difficulties arise
Tom Keating, a special education GTF, says often he
works more hours than he 's actually paid for.
classes they have
never taught before
because "you’ve got to
prepare lectures
you've never given
before, go through
reading material
you've never read
before,” Cochrane
says. "You're starting
from scratch. It's al
most impossible to do
all that in 12 hours.
Tammy Maurer, for-,
merly a biology GTF for
five years, says it is not
uncommon to exper
ience job 'burnout.''
Teaching while taking
exams can be difficult,
she says
"It’s rough. The crux
is when you’re at the
point where you have
to do well and your job
is pulling at you. But we
all survive. We keep
each other sane,”
Maurer says.
A single parent,
Cochrane says the
high stress level of her
job creates "a real
problem in dealing with
Tammy Maurer, a five-year biology GTF and “former shy person, "says a teaching
fellowship is a challenge and a confidence builder.
relationships outside of school."
Tom Keating, a special education
GTF, says he usually puts in more hours
than he is paid for.
When he first started his job, Keating
says he worried about his qualifica
tions, but "you jump in over your head
and you start swimming. You don't sell
yourself short."
Keating works at the University's
neuromuscular education lab as a re
search assistant for the Bio Feedback
Project.
The project researches how environ
mental variables and training affect
people with cerebral palsy. His duties
generally include doing the mechanics
of the project, such as operating data
collection equipment and videotaping
clients.
In spite of the pressure, Cochrane, a
former high school teacher, says she
wouldn't want to go back to her old job
and enjoys the challenge of having full
responsibility for a University class.
"It’s fun to be able to design your
own class, teach it your own way and
plot it all out for yourself," she says.
Beyond a basic class description and
syllabus to follow, Cochrane says she
has almost "total leeway" to do her job,
and except for the title and the pay, she
is functioning as a professor.
Maurer, who at 27 looks younger
than some of her students, says she
enjoyed teaching because it gave her
the opportunity to dispel the non
science major's fear of science.
A former "shy" person, Maurer says
teaching helped her more clearly ex
press important ideas and question
scientific concepts she used to take for
granted.
Although she never had full respon
sibility for a class, Maurer did have
responsibility for lab sections.
Prior to her GTF position Maurer had
never taught a class and was "terrified"
of teaching for the first time, she says.
Although she still gets "butterflies,"
Maurer says she is more confident.
Although all three have different rea
sons, they agree money is an incentive
to being a GTF. In addition to having
their graduate tuition waived, GTFs are
paid fairly well, according to Cochrane.
Their pay scale is based on the full
time equivalency rating, which
depends on their graduate status and
how many terms they have been GTFs
Cochrane says most GTFs work 12 to
15 hours per week and earn from about
$4,000 to $6,000 for a nine-month per
iod.
But probably the biggest advantage
of being a GTF is the job itself.
“There aren’t too many people who
would get a job at 7-11 as opposed to
doing something more interesting and
challenging,” says Keating.