Florida A&M's State of the University

"We cannot keep doing business as usual."
- Dr. James Ammons

Prior to attending Dr. Bland's Mass Media Methods class, I wasn't expecting to attend the State of the University address, as a matter of fact, I didn't even know that it was going to take place. What I realized when I walked in, is that students weren't informed about this meeting. Whether this was due to poor communication, or the fact that our president was about to deliver some SCARY news, I'm still not sure.

What Dr. Ammons stated during this presentation was very troubling. As we all know, our country is going through an economic decline, and we are being hit by that blow. FAMUS revenue budget has been reduced by $26 Million. This will not be restored in the forseeable future. The budget is being discussed to receive another 15% cut. Layoffs will likely be unavoidable. Every division of the school will have cuts. Professors will lose jobs which will likely put entire programs in jeopardy.

Ammons said himself that the lookout is BLEEK. Hell, there's not going to be a STIMULUS PACKAGE to save us this time. We received 8 million dollars in stimulus funds in the past that helped save 347 jobs, but we aren't going to be receiving that money again in 2011 so we are facing an even larger decline. If my calculations are correct that means we're already down about 400 jobs and a lot more are to come.

The face of our university is due for a drastic change and not even our president knows what it will look like after we go through this process of consolidation.

"We can not just sit and wait for better times, we must develop a strategy and commit to our plans"

I'm worried about if I'll even have the opportunity to finish my degree program. America is going through the punches and unfortunately HBCU's are nowhere near the top priority.