Part of an ongoing series about Iowa State’s response to state budget problems.

State budget cuts have been felt throughout the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, although each department has its own story.

There have been no budget cuts for this fiscal year, said Michael Whiteford, associate dean for administrative affairs and professor of anthropology, but departments are still dealing with cuts from two previous fiscal years.

“We have literally done everything under our power to prevent class sizes from getting too large and to prevent having to drop or cut classes,” he said. “There are instances where departments with shrinking resources have had to decrease, but the college office as well as [university] central administration has been very responsive [to] areas of crucial student need, [such as] English 104 and 105.”

Smaller departments may bear the brunt of cuts more than larger departments, he said.

“If 2 or 4 percent is cut in a small department, that department may have less flexibility than a large department,” Whiteford said. “That doesn’t mean large departments don’t feel the sting equally hard, but it can feel so critical in a smaller department.”

The main problem in dealing with the cuts is often timing, not money, said Michael Bishop, chairman and associate professor of philosophy and religious studies.

“We find out that we don’t have money in the spring to hire somebody but then the college or Provost’s Office will come through with money in the summer, but by that time it’s too late,” Bishop said. “When we do hire someone at the last minute it’s too hard to get them to teach large classes. If we can hire in the spring, we can get those people in large lecture halls.”

Whiteford agreed.

“There are instances where we say to departments that we have money [and ask them to] teach another critical course, and sometimes because money comes in too late they can’t hire someone to teach it,” Whiteford said. “There have been times we haven’t been able to meet students’ demands.”

Bishop said he appreciates the college and university administrators’ efforts to provide departments with resources to teach necessary classes despite budget constraints.

Charles Kostelnick, chairman and professor of English, agreed decision-makers are doing the best they can under the circumstances. The college has provided a little bit of relief to students by adding some classes, although English majors have had some difficulty getting into classes, Kostelnick said.

The Writing Center has no funds for next year, Kostelnick said. In the past two years its funds were decreased by 90 percent and the English department is keeping it going with faculty volunteers. The English department has also experienced increased enrollment in some classes, reduced releases for faculty research, reduced releases for newsletter and Web site maintenance, several courses being dropped and a slight reduction in administration, Kostelnick said.

The math department has been deeply affected by budget cuts not only in the past two years, but cuts made even earlier, said Justin Peters, chairman and professor of mathematics. Budget cuts have led to larger class sizes, he said. “The department has reached a point where we really couldn’t do with any less resources than we already have without cutting classes,” Peters said. He said the math help room has been maintained and there are Provost Office and other supplemental dollars to help keep resources available.